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1 – 10 of over 71000Zhenhua Luo, Yixi Chen, Kang Cen, Haize Pan, Mengfan Zhong and Jian He
In recent years, to solve the contradiction between energy supply and demand, the Chinese Government has vigorously promoted shale gas development. With the rapid development of…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, to solve the contradiction between energy supply and demand, the Chinese Government has vigorously promoted shale gas development. With the rapid development of the shale gas industry, the environmental impact problems have become increasingly serious. Therefore, it is of great significance to carry out a comprehensive environmental impact assessment of shale gas development. This study aims to provide a theoretical basis for enterprises to make development decisions on shale gas projects by constructing a model of comprehensive environmental impact assessment for shale gas development.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the comprehensive environmental impact factors of shale gas development are analyzed from the two aspects of the natural environment and macro environment, and the index system of comprehensive environmental impact assessment for shale gas development including 7 secondary indicators and 24 tertiary indicators is constructed. Owing to the fact that qualitative indicators are difficult to quantify in the evaluation process, the method of intuitionistic fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (IFAHP) is adopted for evaluation. This method (IFAHP) can delicately describe the hesitancy degree of the decision-makers in the process of assigning a weight to the indicators, and make the weight assignment of each index more accurate. Furthermore, this method overcomes the shortcomings of the conventional methods, such as the complexity of calculation and the large amount of calculation.
Findings
The evaluation model is applied to a shale gas platform drilling project in Southwest China. Based on the ratings from 13 experts, the comprehensive environmental impact assessment grade of this project is good, indicating that the shale gas development project is feasible. The result is basically in line with the actual situation.
Originality/value
Based on the consideration of the natural environmental impacts of shale gas development, this paper also has considered the macro environmental impact of shale gas development, and has established the index system of comprehensive environmental impact assessment for shale gas development from the two aspects of the natural environment and macro environment. To overcome such difficulties as incomplete evaluation by decision-makers, cumbersome calculation process and a large amount of calculation, this paper has adopted the method of IFAHP to evaluate and has established a comprehensive environmental impact assessment model for shale gas development based on IFAHP.
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Sumer Singh, Jyoti Kumar and P.V.M. Rao
The purpose of this paper is to investigate and propose a framework for environmental impact assessment of packaging material being used to package a product.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate and propose a framework for environmental impact assessment of packaging material being used to package a product.
Design/methodology/approach
The research considers parameters identified in the literature by the use of “Delphi Technique”. Based on available data, methods of measurement of the parameters are carried out. Furthermore, a metrics is proposed for measurement of environmental impact. Based on the metrics, the research proposes a framework for environmental impact assessment by use of Dominic’s method. The research validates the proposed framework through Pahl and Beitz method.
Findings
The proposed framework establishes a metrics for measurement of 16 parameters for environmental impact assessment. The framework can be used to compare a set of alternate packaging material for the same product for its environmental impact. The framework also provides a quantitative measure of the environmental impact assessment of a product packaging.
Research limitations/implications
The research can be used to evaluate a packaging as compared to its alternate. It can also be used to propose suggestions for improving the environmental impact of packaging in comparison to its alternate.
Practical implications
The data considered for establishing of metrics for measurement of parameters for environmental impact may not be available in all practical situations in the similar way as considered in the research.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a framework for environmental impact assessment for product packaging considering data in the Indian scenario.
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Jelena Pubule, Dagnija Blumberga, Francesco Romagnoli and Marika Rochas
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the environmental impact assessment of power energy projects in Latvia. Every industrial activity and procedure influences the environment…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the environmental impact assessment of power energy projects in Latvia. Every industrial activity and procedure influences the environment and climate change: each to a lesser or greater extent. In Latvia, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure has been carried out for more than ten years, and during these years numerous impact assessments have been conducted. The main purpose of the EIA is to assess the possible impacts of the implementation of an intended activity, or planning document, on the environment and to consequently develop proposals for the prevention or minimization of negative effects. In turn, the project shall avert violation of the requirements specified in the regulatory enactments. Currently, particular global attention, including in Latvia, is being paid to two aspects of the energy crisis – energy dependency and climate change. The global experience has proven that with an increase in the consumption of energy, a deficiency of energy resources occurs. In this situation, public officials have increased the import of energy resources, rather than encourage a reduction of consumption. Consequently, the state becomes more dependent on imported energy resources. At the same time, scientists are researching alternative energy resources, and the development of new technology. Latvia is a country with limited resources. The development of the national economy is unthinkable without an increase in the production sector. In turn, the development of the production sector is connected with the intensification of production capacity and the resulting consequences to the environment.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes the form of a literature review and a case study.
Findings
The power industry in Latvia has acquired a stable position in the national economy. It is necessary to elaborate the common approach of EIA power projects. During the process of impact assessment, principles of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) should be implemented, which enhance the quality and efficiency of the EIA. The use of LCA principles in the process of the EIA will allow the assessment of the designed activities and environmental impact of proposed alternatives to have greater objectivity.
Originality/value
The work concludes with suggestions on how to include the principles of LCA in the EIA procedure. This is to improve the impact assessment of energy projects.
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The increase in issues pertaining to the strategic assessment of territorial transformation has made it necessary to find new methods and tools that are able to consider the…
Abstract
Purpose
The increase in issues pertaining to the strategic assessment of territorial transformation has made it necessary to find new methods and tools that are able to consider the several factors at stake. The purpose of this paper is to examine the full range of impacts produced by a project in a territorial context and propose a real application concerning the construction of a new hydropower plant in Bulgaria.
Design/methodology/approach
Making use of checklists, network chains and specific impact matrixes, the paper tries to evaluate the overall environmental compatibility of the project.
Findings
The performed analysis highlights a final compatibility that in most cases is satisfactory, where the most critical states concern the disturbance to the fauna species living in the area and, above all, the impacts of the project on the landscape.
Practical implications
The work puts in evidence the necessity of further investigations for the definition of mitigation measures that are able to reduce the most relevant effects of the project, especially the visual impact of the dams.
Social implications
A part from the environmental issues, a key‐role in the general feasibility of large dam projects is played by the analysis of the social impacts. The paper puts in evidence the importance of considering in the evaluation, the effects of the hydropower plant on the community.
Originality/value
The general theme has an interdisciplinary nature and requires several issues to be considered: technical, economic, social and environmental aspects. The paper provides a comprehensive assessment framework in order to implement such an interdisciplinary approach.
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Developments at all levels between project and policy have a potential impact on human health. Health‐impact assessment (HIA) is a discipline that seeks to assess these impacts to…
Abstract
Developments at all levels between project and policy have a potential impact on human health. Health‐impact assessment (HIA) is a discipline that seeks to assess these impacts to safeguard and enhance human health. There is a growing consensus about the scope, methodology and context for HIA but there are also many unresolved issues. This paper reviews the main trends as they vary between the healthy public policy, environmental assessment and environmental epidemiology communities; and between retrospective and prospective, developed and developing economies and urban/industrial versus rural settings. There are unresolved issues associated with the nature of evidence, the link with economic appraisal, and with the core biophysical and social health determinants. The nature of the evidence used is examined and some resolutions are proposed. The growing number of guidelines testify to a demand by development agencies for HIA, but increased consensus is required to ensure that quality assessments are delivered.
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Kailash Choudhary, Narpat Ram Sangwa and Kuldip Singh Sangwan
This study aims to quantify and compare the environmental impacts of Marble-stone and Kota-stone flooring options widely used for buildings in India. The study discusses the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to quantify and compare the environmental impacts of Marble-stone and Kota-stone flooring options widely used for buildings in India. The study discusses the possibility of carbon sequestration through Bamboo cultivation in India.
Design/methodology/approach
The study has followed a standard life cycle assessment (LCA) framework based on ISO 14040 guidelines. Three distinct phases have been compared on midpoint and endpoint assessment categories – raw material, polishing and disposal. Primary data has been collected from the construction site in India, and secondary data has been collected from the Ecoinvent 3.0 database. Previous studies have been referred to discuss and calculate the area of bamboo cultivation required to sequestrate the generated carbon from the flooring.
Findings
The study has found that endpoint category damage to resources, and midpoint categories of climate change, metal depletion and agricultural land use are highly impacted in building floorings. The study has also found that the Marble-stone floor generates higher environmental impacts than the Kota-stone floor in most of the midpoint and endpoint impact categories. This difference is significant in the raw material phase due to the different compositions of stones. The study also found that Bamboo has excellent potential to act as a carbon sink and mitigate the generated carbon.
Research limitations/implications
This study excludes human labour, cutting and distribution of floor tiles made of Marble-stone and Kota-stone. The researcher can use the study to evaluate, compare and benchmark the various building flooring options from the environmental perspective. The study aids to the body of knowledge available on the various building flooring options by presenting the LCA or the environmental impacts generated by two flooring options. It is expected that the architects and builders can use these results to develop carbon-neutral buildings. This study provides a methodology for governments, constructors, builders and individuals to evaluate, compare and benchmark the various construction materials from the environmental perspective by computing the environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of the materials.
Originality/value
This study compares two widely used building flooring options using the LCA methodology and evaluates the potential of bamboo cultivation near the buildings for carbon sinks. The study is unique because it shows the environmental impacts of two flooring options and the carbon sequestration method to mitigate/absorb the generated environmental impacts in or around the building itself through bamboo cultivation. This study may set the foundation for carbon-neutral buildings.
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Toshit Jain, Jinesh Kumar Jain, Rajeev Agrawal and Shubha Johri
Environmental impact and changes are becoming essential in textile and yarn industries, where reliable measurement of parameters related to processing harmful substances needs to…
Abstract
Purpose
Environmental impact and changes are becoming essential in textile and yarn industries, where reliable measurement of parameters related to processing harmful substances needs to be examined. Such findings can be cumulated using smart assessment like life cycle analysis. The ecological impact category, supply chain, and climate-changing factors were considered for the necessary assessment.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper applies the Life Cycle Assessment technique in the textile and yarn industry to estimate critical environmental potentials. The critical input for the fabric and yarn industry was put in the GaBi software model to estimate various environmental potentials.
Findings
Global warming potential, electricity, and raw cotton consumption in the fabric and yarn industry were critical concerns where attention should be focused on minimizing environmental potentials from cradle to gate assessment.
Research limitations/implications
This qualitative study is made via the industry case-wise inputs and outputs, which can vary with demographic conditions. Some machine and human constraints have not been implemented in modelling life cycle model for smart simulation. Smart simulation helps in linking different parameters and simulates their combined effects on the product life cycle.
Practical implications
This modelling approach will help access pollution constituents in different supply chain production processes and optimize them simultaneously.
Originality/value
The raw data used in this analysis are collected from an Indian small scale textile industry. In the textile fabrication industry, earlier assessments were carried out in cotton generation, impact of PET, cradle to grave assessment of textile products and garment processing only. In this research the smart model is drawn to consider each input parameter of yarn and textile fabric to determine the criticality of each input in this assessment. This article mainly talks about life cycle and circular supply assessment applied to first time for both cotton to yarn processing and yarn to fabric industry for necessary estimation of environment potentials.
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Saheed O. Ajayi, Lukumon O. Oyedele and Jamiu A. Dauda
Buildings and their construction activities consume a significant proportion of mineral resources excavated from nature and contribute a large percentage of CO2 in the atmosphere…
Abstract
Purpose
Buildings and their construction activities consume a significant proportion of mineral resources excavated from nature and contribute a large percentage of CO2 in the atmosphere. As a way of improving the sustainability of building construction and operation, various sustainable design appraisal standards have been developed across nations. Albeit criticism of the appraisal standards, evidence shows that increasing sustainability of the built environment has been engendered by such appraisal tools as Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), Code for Sustainable Homes (CfSH), Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficacy, among others. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of the appraisal standards in engendering whole lifecycle environmental sustainability of the built environment.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to evaluate the adequacy of sustainability scores assigned to various lifecycle stages of buildings in the appraisal standards, four case studies of a block of classroom were modelled. Using Revit as a modelling platform, stage by stage lifecycle environmental impacts of the building were simulated through Green Building Studio and ATHENA Impact estimator. The resulting environmental impacts were then compared against the assessment score associated with each stage of building lifecycle in BREAAM and CfSH.
Findings
Results show that albeit the consensus that the appraisal standards engender sustainability practices in the AEC industry, total scores assigned to impacts at each stage of building lifecycle is disproportionate to the simulated whole-life environmental impacts associated with the stages in some instances.
Originality/value
As the study reveals both strengths and weaknesses in the existing sustainability appraisal standards, measures through which they can be tailored to resource efficiency and lifecycle environmental sustainability of the built environment are suggested.
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Katriina Parikka-Alhola and Ari Nissinen
The “most economically advantageous tender,” as defined in the EUʼs public procurement directives, allows public purchasers to combine environmental aspects, price and other award…
Abstract
The “most economically advantageous tender,” as defined in the EUʼs public procurement directives, allows public purchasers to combine environmental aspects, price and other award criteria in decision making. The directives do not, however, determine how the environmental criteria should be built. Indeed, there could be different means to assess the “greenness” of competing tenders, and these various measurements of environmental impacts may lead to different assessments of the most economically advantageous tender. In this article, the determination of environmental award criteria is examined through a case study on a purchase of a goods transportation service, where the most economically advantageous tender is calculated by life cycle assessment and the environmental cost calculation method suggested by the EU, and compared to the results gained by the purchaserʼs equation. Also the contribution of the weighting for the “green” purchasing decision is discussed.