Ecosytems and Sustainable Development VI

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Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI

WIT Press publishes leading books in Science and Technology. Visit our website for new and current list of titles. www.witpress.com

WITeLibrary Home of the Transactions of the Wessex Institute. Papers presented at Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI are archived in the WIT eLibrary in volume 106 of WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment (ISSN 1743-3541). The WIT eLibrary provides the international scientific community with immediate and permanent access to individual papers presented at WIT conferences. Visit the WIT eLibrary at www.witpress.com.

SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ECOSYSTEMS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

ECOSUD VI CONFERENCE CHAIRMEN E. Tiezzi University of Siena, Italy J.C. Marques IMAR - Institute of Marine Research C.A. Brebbia Wessex Institute of Technology, UK S.E. Jørgensen University of Pharmaceutical Science, Denmark

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE C.A. Booth J. Brandt T-S Chon B. Fath D.J. Hutch P.D. Jenssen S.E. Jorgensen B-L Li U. Mander N. Marchettini

J.C. Marques M.B. Neace S.N. Nielsen B.C. Patten Y.A. Pykh Y. Svirezhev A. Tadeu E. Tiezzi W.Timmermans

Organised by Wessex Institute of Technology, UK, University of Coimbra, Portugal University of Siena, Italy, In collaboration with The International Journal of Ecodynamics Sponsored by WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment Transactions Editor Carlos Brebbia Wessex Institute of Technology Ashurst Lodge, Ashurst Southampton SO40 7AA, UK Email: [email protected]

Editorial Board Y N Abousleiman University of Oklahoma USA D Almorza Gomar University of Cadiz Spain M Andretta Montecatini Italy J G Bartzis Institute of Nuclear Technology Greece J Boarder Cartref Consulting Systems UK H Boileau ESIGEC France A H-D Cheng University of Mississippi USA A Cieslak Technical University of Lodz Poland M da Conceicao Cunha University of Coimbra Portugal A B de Almeida Instituto Superior Tecnico Portugal C Dowlen South Bank University UK J P du Plessis University of Stellenbosch South Africa D Elms University of Canterbury New Zealand

A Aldama IMTA Mexico A M Amer Cairo University Egypt J M Baldasano Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya Spain A Bejan Duke University USA B Bobee Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique Canada C A Borrego University of Aveiro Portugal C-L Chiu University of Pittsburgh USA W Czyczula Krakow University of Technology Poland M Davis Temple University USA K Dorow Pacific Northwest National Laboratory USA R Duffell University of Hertfordshire UK A Ebel University of Cologne Germany D M Elsom Oxford Brookes University UK

J W Everett Rowan University USA D M Fraser University of Cape Town South Africa N Georgantzis Universitat Jaume I Spain K G Goulias Pennsylvania State University USA C Hanke Danish Technical University Denmark S Heslop University of Bristol UK W F Huebner Southwest Research Institute USA D Kaliampakos National Technical University of Athens Greece H Kawashima The University of Tokyo Japan D Kirkland Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners Ltd UK J G Kretzschmar VITO Belgium A Lebedev Moscow State University Russia K-C Lin University of New Brunswick Canada T Lyons Murdoch University Australia N Marchettini University of Siena Italy J F Martin-Duque Universidad Complutense Spain C A Mitchell The University of Sydney Australia R Olsen Camp Dresser & McKee Inc. USA

R A Falconer Cardiff University UK G Gambolati Universita di Padova Italy F Gomez Universidad Politecnica de Valencia Spain W E Grant Texas A & M University USA A H Hendrickx Free University of Brussels Belgium I Hideaki Nagoya University Japan W Hutchinson Edith Cowan University Australia K L Katsifarakis Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Greece B A Kazimee Washington State University USA D Koga Saga University Japan B S Larsen Technical University of Denmark Denmark D Lewis Mississippi State University USA J W S Longhurst University of the West of England UK Ü Mander University of Tartu Estonia J D M Marsh Griffith University Australia K McManis University of New Orleans USA M B Neace Mercer University USA R O’Neill Oak Ridge National Laboratory USA

K Onishi Ibaraki University Japan G Passerini Universita delle Marche Italy M F Platzer Naval Postgraduate School USA H Power University of Nottingham UK Y A Pykh Russian Academy of Sciences Russia A C Rodrigues Universidade Nova de Lisboa Portugal J L Rubio Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificacion Spain R San Jose Technical University of Madrid Spain H Sozer Illinois Institute of Technology USA E Tiezzi University of Siena Italy S G Tushinski Moscow State University Russia R van Duin Delft University of Technology Netherlands Y Villacampa Esteve Universidad de Alicante Spain

J Park Seoul National University Korea B C Patten University of Georgia USA V Popov Wessex Institute of Technology UK M R I Purvis University of Portsmouth UK A D Rey McGill University Canada R Rosset Laboratoire d’Aerologie France S G Saad American University in Cairo Egypt J J Sharp Memorial University of Newfoundland Canada I V Stangeeva St Petersburg University Russia T Tirabassi Institute FISBAT-CNR Italy J-L Uso Universitat Jaume I Spain A Viguri Universitat Jaume I Spain G Walters University of Exeter UK

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Editors: E. Tiezzi University of Siena, Italy J.C. Marques IMAR - Institute of Marine Research C.A. Brebbia Wessex Institute of Technology, UK S.E. Jørgensen University of Pharmaceutical Science, Denmark

Editors: E. Tiezzi University of Siena, Italy J.C. Marques IMAR - Institute of Marine Research C.A. Brebbia Wessex Institute of Technology, UK S.E. Jørgensen University of Pharmaceutical Science, Denmark Published by WIT Press Ashurst Lodge, Ashurst, Southampton, SO40 7AA, UK Tel: 44 (0) 238 029 3223; Fax: 44 (0) 238 029 2853 E-Mail: [email protected] http://www.witpress.com For USA, Canada and Mexico Computational Mechanics Inc 25 Bridge Street, Billerica, MA 01821, USA Tel: 978 667 5841; Fax: 978 667 7582 E-Mail: [email protected] http://www.witpress.com British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A Catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-1-84564-088-0 ISSN: 1746-448X (print) ISSN: 1743-3541 (on-line) The texts of the papers in this volume were set individually by the authors or under their supervision. Only minor corrections to the text may have been carried out by the publisher.

No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher, the Editors and Authors for any injury and/ or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. The Publisher does not necessarily endorse the ideas held, or views expressed by the Editors or Authors of the material contained in its publications. © WIT Press 2007 Printed in Great Britain by Cambridge Printing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publisher.

Preface

Imagine we had four planets, the first for humans, their houses, roads, schools, hospitals, churches and factories, the second for agriculture and its traditional purpose, production of food and textile fibres, the third for biomass for fuel to avoid global warming and absorb the exact same quantity of CO2 from the atmosphere as the fuel emits when it burns (zero greenhouse effect). The fourth planet would be left wild for the conservation of natural biodiversity, as taught by St. Francis of Assisi. Combining sciences and thoughts is essential for the sustainability of ecosystems as well as for understanding human life. Ecology, economics, chemistry, physics, climatology, informatics are pieces to be put together in order to compose the transdisciplinary picture of our complex world. As Herman Daly said, “the disciplinary structure of knowledge is a problem of fragmentation, a difficulty to be overcome rather then a criterion to be met. Real problems do not respect academic boundaries. We certainly believe that thinking should be disciplined in the sense of respecting logic and facts, but not disciplinary in the sense of limiting itself to traditional methodologies and tools that have become enshrined in the academic departments of neoclassical economics.” The economy and society cannot ignore the second principle of thermodynamics, the essence of Ilya Prigogine’s dissipative structure, the greenhouse effect, the biological and cultural diversities, the biophysical limits to economic growth and sustainability as a whole. The last 50 years have seen humans make incredible advances in scientific knowledge and technology, solving many problems and increasing health care and economic welfare. At the same time, people like us, who do not see science as a means for dominating the world and nature but as a path of knowledge for living in harmony with nature, feel an increasing discomfort. In other words, while science celebrates new peaks, it is clear to everyone that the quality of life has deteriorated, also in the psychological realm, with destruction of nature and high unemployment of youth, despite economic and industrial growth. Sustainability is crucial. And even aesthetics plays an important role. The word aesthetics is derived from the Greek to feel, distinguishing sensory from rational

knowledge. We must not let the wonders of the planet be destroyed by selfdestructive technological processes, but protect them by conserving their selforganisation. Ecosud proposes a bridge between scientific thought and this “environmental wisdom”, that can re-establish an interrupted dialogue between human communities and nature. This Volume contains the proceedings of the Sixth International on Conference Ecosystems and Sustainable Development that was held in Coimbra (Portugal) in September 2007. ECOSUD offers a unique opportunity and encourages the interdisciplinary communication between scientists, engineers and professionals working in ecological systems and sustainable development. The Conference objectives have evolved over the years, seeking to integrate thermodynamics, ecology and economics into “ecodynamics”. The proceedings has been arranged in the following sections: - Ecosystem modelling - Environmental management - Mathematical and system modelling - Environmental risk - Natural resources management - Sustainability indicators - Ecological areas studies - Energy and the environment - Socio economic factors - Sustainable tourism - Soil and agricultural issues - Sustainable waste management - Water resources The Editors would like to thank the members of the International Scientific Advisory Committee for their help in reviewing the papers and promoting the Conference, and the authors for their contributions. The Editors

Contents Section 1: Ecosystems modelling Simulating water conflicts using game theoretical models for water resources management S. Wei & A. Gnauck ..............................................................................................3 An eutrophication model for a lowland river-lake system A. Gnauck & B. Luther........................................................................................13 Section 2: Environmental management The UN Global Compact: moving toward sustainable development by adopting a new paradigm M. B. Neace .........................................................................................................25 Environmental monitoring during beach nourishment using relict sands (central Tyrrhenian sea) D. Paganelli, P. La Valle, M. Gabellini, L. Lattanzi, B. La Porta, A. Pazzini, M. Targusi & L. Nicoletti..................................................................35 An economic and environmental total life cycle costing methodology and a web-based tool for environmental planning of buildings S. M. Haddad, F. Haghighat & S. Alkass ...........................................................43 Section 3: Mathematical and system modelling Mathematical modelling applied to ecosystems: the Gödel’s theorem E. B. P. Tiezzi, R. M. Pulselli & E. Tiezzi ...........................................................55

A family of models to study the growth of Haloferax mediterranei in different conditions Y. Villacampa, F. García-Alonso, J. A. Reyes, R. Martínez-Espinosa & M. J. Bonete ....................................................................................................61 Lotus glaber Mill. Induced autotetraploid: new forage resource for the Flooding Pampas M. Barufaldi, Y. Villacampa, P. Sastre-Vázquez, F. García-Alonso & J. A. Reyes .......................................................................................................69 A phenological model for the soybean A. Confalone, Y. Villacampa, J. A. Reyes, F. García-Alonso & F. Verdú ..........................................................................................................81 Section 4: Environmental risk Modelling arsenic transport in a river basin: a case study in Finland Ä. Bilaletdin, H. Kaipainen, T. Ruskeeniemi & A. Parviainen ...........................91 Pollen contamination in Acacia saligna: assessing the risks for sustainable agroforestry M. A. Millar & M. Byrne...................................................................................101 Section 5: Natural resources management The Armenian forests: threats to conservation and needs for sustainable management R. Moreno-Sanchez, H. Sayadyan, R. Streeter & J. Rozelle .............................113 Contributions of biogeotextiles to sustainable development and soil conservation in developing countries: the BORASSUS Project M. A. Fullen, C. A. Booth, et al.........................................................................123 Section 6: Sustainability indicators Eco-dynamics of territorial systems: an Emergy Evaluation through time A. C. I. Pizzigallo, V. Niccolucci, A. Caldana, M. Guglielmi & N. Marchettini ...............................................................................................145

An investigation on sustainability indicators of vernacular environments: the case of Cyprus M. Oktay & O. Dincyurek .................................................................................155 Sustainability indicators for the housing market: proposals and applications L. Brandli, R. Kohler & M. A. L. Frandoloso ...................................................165 Section 7: Ecological areas studies Sustainable requalification of architectural and natural resources: the coastal village of Marzamemi S. De Medici & C. Senia ...................................................................................175 Phycological flora diversity in a coastal tropical ecosystem in the Northeast of Brazil S. M. B. Pereira, E. Eskinazi-Leça & M. F. Oliveira-Carvalho .......................185 Protecting open space at multiple scales along Utah’s Wasatch Front E. R. Buteau, R. J. Lilieholm & R. E. Toth........................................................195 GIS based land use planning and watershed monitoring as tools for sustainable development J. Alonso, J. Rey, P. Castro & C. Guerra .........................................................205 Stability and resilience in macrobenthic communities: the role of habitat disturbance C. Guerra, F. Cobo, M. González & J. Alonso .................................................215 Section 8: Energy and the environment Technological change dynamic and learning curve theory: application to the global energy system S. Kahouli-Brahmi ............................................................................................227 Efficiency analysis for the production of modern energy carriers from renewable resources and wastes K. J. Ptasinski....................................................................................................239 Environmental sustainability of CO2 capture in fossil fuel based power plants A. Franco & A. R. Diaz .....................................................................................251

Cooling needs for a warming world? Economics and governance of district cooling F. Becchis & G. Genon .....................................................................................263 Section 9: Socio economic factors The (in)validity of benefit transfer and its consequences for policy-making E. J. Bos & J. M. Vleugel ..................................................................................275 Coastal cities – urban infrastructures D. Blott ..............................................................................................................285 Petrol consumption towards unsustainable development: Iranian case study S. B. Imandoust .................................................................................................295 HIV/AIDS morbidity/mortality, access to social support and household utilization of natural resources in Ngamiland, Botswana B. N. Ngwenya & O. T. Thakadu.......................................................................303 Rural development in small mountainous settlements: case study of Bojnord region, North-eastern part of Iran M. Taleshi..........................................................................................................313 Green milieu: the milieu effects on sustainable development of watershed collaborations with a case study of the New York City Watershed Agreement J. Hoffman .........................................................................................................321 Achieving the MDG’s in Ghana: rhetorics or reality? J.-E. Gustafsson & J. E. Koku...........................................................................331 Section 10: Sustainable tourism Recreational trail planning in the context of seasonality P. Vassiljev, K. Kuldkepp, M. Külvik, A. Kull & Ü. Mander ............................353 A new method for tourism carrying capacity assessment V. Castellani, S. Sala & D. Pitea ......................................................................365 Environmental impacts caused by the tourist industry in Elafonisos Island and the Neapoli district, Greece B. S. Tselentis, D. G. Prokopiou, D. Bousbouras & M. Toanoglou..................375

Correlation between the moisture and quantity of biomass as a basis of sustainability of ecosystems (the example of plain deserts of Turkmenistan) V. Kostiukovsky .................................................................................................387 Environmentalism and sustainable development from the point of view of tourism Z. Baros & L. Dávid..........................................................................................395 Section 11: Soil and agricultural issues Application of the SWAP model for sustainable agriculture in an arid region B. Mostafazadeh-Fard, H. Mansouri, S. F. Mousavi & M. Feizi .....................407 River water qualities and types of agricultural production – a comparison between paddy farming and intensive livestock production areas S.-I. Mishima .....................................................................................................417 Emerging environmental and educational service of dairy farming in Japan: dilemma or opportunity? Y. Ohe................................................................................................................425 Effects of planting patterns on biomass accumulation and yield of summer maize L. Quanqi, C. Yuhai, L. Mengyu, Y. Songlie, Z. Xunbo & D. Baodi .................437 Section 12: Sustainable waste management A diagnostic model for M.S.W. landfill operation and the protection of ecosystems with a spatial multiple criteria analysis – Zakynthos Island, Greece T. Koliopoulos & G. Koliopoulou .....................................................................449 The environmental consequences of implementation of a council directive on landfill of waste in Lithuania G. Denafas ........................................................................................................463 Transformations in the solid and liquid phase at aqueous carbonization of oil shale ash M. Uibu, A. Trikkel & R. Kuusik .......................................................................473

Waste from the coal extraction process as raw material for the construction industry N. Quaranta, M. Caligaris, H. López, M. Unsen, M. Carrasco, R. Grether, M. Suarez & L. Beltramini .............................................................483 Use of waste powder coatings as binders for the manufacture of composite materials A. C. Abhyankar, N. R. Edmonds & A. J. Easteal.............................................493 New technology for waste fluorescent lamps treatment in Lithuania – characterisation and environmental impact I. Urniezaite, D. Jankunaite & E. Griskonis .....................................................503 Sustainable waste management in hospitals H. Daxbeck & P. Amrusch ................................................................................511 The waste prevention kit for enterprises, education, and households (WastePrevKit) R.-L. M. Hahtala, S. R. Huuhtanen, S. A. Kajaste, A. E. Karhu, S. H. Kemppainen, O. A. Linsiö & M.-M. A. Partti ..........................................521 Section 13: Water resources Assessment of seasonal variations in stream water by principal component analysis M. M. Taboada-Castro, M. L. Rodríguez-Blanco & M. T. Taboada-Castro...................................................................................533 Fostering sustainable water supply in urban and peri-urban areas of Ghana: the case of Ho Municipality J. E. Koku & J.-E. Gustafsson...........................................................................543 Author Index ...................................................................................................559

Section 1 Ecosystems modelling



3

Simulating water conflicts using game theoretical models for water resources management S. Wei & A. Gnauck Department of Ecosystem and Environmental Informatics, Brandenburg University of Technology at Cottbus, Germany

Abstract Water quality degradation and water scarcity are two serious problems in developing countries. Water management related to these problems usually involves multi-stakeholders with contradictory interests. In the absence of market and exclusive property rights, conflicts among those multi-stakeholders are unavoidable. Game theory can be an appropriate approach to simulate and resolve such conflicts. In this paper, the conflicts of multiple water stakeholders involved in water management of the Hanjiang River Basin in China are modelled as non-cooperative and cooperative games. Statistical and econometric regression models are used to formulate the payoff functions of different players. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and the demand-supply principle (DSP) are applied to compare the game outcomes. The results of the game simulations show that cooperation can make all the players better off, although some players may be worse off before the benefit is shared among the players by side payment. The results are not only a comparison of the different water stakeholders, but also benefit water administration for decision support. Keywords: water management, game theory, Hanjiang River, modelling and simulation, cost-benefit analysis.

1

Introduction

Water is essential for the existence of human and other species. However, water quality degradation and water scarcity are two serious problems in developing countries. It is estimated that in 2025, 5 billion out of the world’s 7.9 billion people will be living in areas where it will be difficult or even impossible to meet WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070011

4 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI basic water demand for drinking, cooking and sanitation [1]. Degradation of water quality and water scarcity usually result in conflicts of multi-stakeholders competing for scarce water resources [2], such as the disputes between the Arabs and Israelis, Indians and Bangladeshes, Americans and Mexicans, and among all the 10 Nile basin co-riparian’s [3]. The multi-stakeholders usually have contradictory or conflicting interests [4, 5], goals and strategies [2]. Wei and Gnauck [2] stated that the existing economic and regulation instruments do not work so well in solving these conflicts. The concept of considering the interests and benefits of the stakeholders are widely accepted in the world. Game theoretic analysis approach is an efficient technique to solve such conflicts since it studies the interests and benefits of the stakeholders. As for the water management, game theory was originally applied into the cost distribution in joint water resource projects i.e. waste water treatment, disposal facilities [6, 7] and water supply projects [8, 9]. Thus, the methods of equally cost allocation have been developed such as Minimum Core, Shapley value, Nash Bargaining Solution, etc. [10]. Later on many studies have focused on the application of game theory in solving water conflicts, such as pollution of transboundary rivers [5] and water allocation problems [5, 11, 12]. In this paper, the conflicts of multiple water stakeholders resulted from water quality and water scarcity are modelled using non-cooperative and cooperative games. The example is taken from Hanjiang River Basin in China.

2

Methodology and data collection

2.1 Methodology A water conflict or problem is modelled as a game or a set of games so that the problem can be analyzed and solved in the framework of game theory. The game modelling process consists of defining the conflicts, formulating these conflicts as a game, solving the game and interpreting the results. In this paper, noncooperative and cooperative game methods are used separately to model and simulate the water conflict (real or potential). In order to formulate the payoff functions of the players, statistical and econometric regression methods are used. In detail, regression models (linear regression, semilog regression, double-log regression, polynomial regression) are used to establish models of added values, water demands and waste water discharge of industries. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and demand-supply principle (DSP) are applied to compare the outcomes and results of the game modelling. 2.2 Data collection All the data is collected from monitoring stations, official reports, planning and Chinese yearly books. The main types of data include socio-economic data (population, industrial added value), water quantity data (water supply and water consumption of industry), hydrological data (inflow, outflow of Hanjiang River) as well as water quality data on Danjiangkou Reservoir in Hanjiang River Basin. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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5

Theory of game

3.1 Game and game theory A game is a metaphor of the rational behaviours of multi-actors in an interacting or interdependent situation, such as cooperating or coalition, conflicting, competing, coexisting, etc. [2]. An actor can be a country, a region, a group, an individual, organism, abiotic and biotic constituents and even nature proper. A game can be defined as G = {N, A, P, I, O, E}, i.e. N - Players, A - Action (Moves or Strategies), P - Payoff (or Utility), I - Information, Outcome and Equilibrium (NAPI-OE). NAPI are collectively known as the rules of a game. OE are the game results. Game theory is an approach to model and simulate interacting situations by cooperative and non-cooperative games. It studies the strategies and equilibrium or equilibria of the actors, and analyzes how they can do things better. The main task of constructing game models is to define the game rules and get the solution from game results. 3.2 Process of establishing a game model The process of setting up a game model can be summed up into the following questions: Who is involved in the conflict? What are their actions (strategies)? What is the payoff function of each player? Does every player know the payoff function of the others? Is the game a one-time game, continuous game, finite game or an infinite one? What is the equilibrium of the game if it is a non-cooperative game? Is the result better if all the players cooperate with each other? How to distribute the net benefit derived from cooperative games among the players?

4

Game theoretical models of water conflicts

Freshwater, especially transboundary freshwater has strong characteristics of public goods although it is not a real public good in economic sense. As for water use, there is a free riding problem. Every water user wants to use more water but pay less or nothing to treat water pollution. In game theory term, each player is rational and his aim is to maximize his payoff. At the end, water will be severely polluted if there is no cooperation between them. Such a kind of game is called the prisoners’ dilemma. The method to solve the game of the prisoners’ dilemma is to change the game rule and make players cooperate with each other. Cooperation may be self-organised through negotiations or it may be formed due to the forces of politics. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

6 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI 4.1 A non-cooperative game model n

MaxVi = ∫ [ Bi (d ) − Ci ( p)] e −δ t dt p , d ,t

(1)

t

where Vi is the payoff of every player i, d is water demand, p is water pollution (or waste water discharge), e-δt is discount factor, Bi(d) is the benefit function of water use of every player i, Ci(p) is the cost to abate pollution (or waste water discharge) of every player i. In the model of non-cooperative game, each rational player tries to maximize his welfares by maximizing the benefit and minimizing the cost. 4.2 A cooperative game model n

MaxU = ∫ [ B (d ) − C ( p)] e −δ t dt p , d ,t

t

(2)

n

MaxU i = Vi + max ∏ [(U B / Ψ )i ]

(3)

i

where U is the total benefit obtained from cooperative game; B(d) is the benefit function of water use in cooperative game; C(d) is the cost to abate waste water discharge (or pollution); Ui is the payoff of each player i; UB is the total net benefit obtained from cooperative game; Ψ is distribution factor of cooperative benefit. In the case of a cooperative game, all the players maximize their overall welfare by maximizing the collective benefit and minimizing the collective cost. At end of game, each player usually will be better off if a side payment is made between the players.

5

A case study of conflicts involved in Hanjiang River Basin

5.1 Hanjiang River Basin Hanjiang River Basin lies in 30°08´ - 40°11´N latitude, 106°12´ - 114°14´E longitude. The river originates in the southern part of Shaanxi Province, northwest China, flows through Shaanxi and Hubei provinces and joins the Yangtze River at Wuhan, capital city of Hubei, fig. 1. It is about 1,577 km long, being the longest tributary of Yangtze River. The basin covers an area of 159,000 km2, the second largest river basin in Yangtze River catchment. On the upper reaches of the river, the U-shaped Danjiangkou Reservoir covers an area of 1050 km2. Hanjiang River Basin belongs to the sub-tropical monsoon area. The climate is temperate and moist, with an annual precipitation of about 873 mm. The average annual runoff of the watershed is 51.3 billion m3. The river itself serves as water resource for drinking, industry as well as agriculture. According to the water quality monitoring data from 1989 to 2002, water quality in the Hanjiang River conforms to water class I ~ II of Chinese Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Water (GB 3838—2002). However, water quality of the middle and WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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lower reaches of Hanjiang River has deteriorated in recent years and is mainly reflected by the increase of concentration of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. The result has been four big algal blooms in low reach of Hanjiang River since 1992. The concentration of total phosphorus and total nitrogen reached 0.17 mg/L and 2.30 mg/L respectively in Hankou Monitoring Station during the algal bloom of February 2003.

Shaanxi

He'nan

Shangluo

Nanyang

Hangzhong Hanshui River

Ankang

Shiyan Xiangfan

Hubei

Jingmen

N

Xiaogan

Tianmen Qianjiang Xiantao

Wuhan r ve Ri

t ze ng Ya

Figure 1:

Sketch of Hangjiang River Basin.

5.2 Water conflicts Involved in Hanjiang River Basin The Danjiangkou Reservoir is the water source of the Middle Route of South to North Water Transfer (MRSNWT) Project. The MRSNWT project aims at transferring water from Danjiangkou Reservoir for 20 big cities and 100 counties in Beijing, Tianjing Municipalities, and Hebei, Henan, Hubei Provinces in order to solve the sever water scarcity there. In the case of Hanjiang River, the conflicts mainly result from this water transfer project. Firstly, water transfer sets a higher standard on water quality in Danjiangkou Reservoir, which will raise cost to reduce pollutants discharged from the cities on the upper rivers and around the reservoir. Secondly, a substantial amount of water diverted will cause a reduction of runoff and water level, and thus it will change the ecological condition in the downstream of the river. Furthermore, the reductions of runoff and water level will in turn break the balance of water demand and supply of the main river, which will aggravate the conflicts of water demand and supply, and exacerbate the existing pollution (eutrophication) problem. The conflicts involved in Hanjiang River can be illustrated by fig. 2. However, this paper studies only the conflicts between industries. Industry here does not refer to a certain industry, but it is a general term for all industries. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

8 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI

Water Beneficial Area (Beijing, Tianjin, Heben, Henan)

Upper River Bain (Shaanxi)

Reservior Area (Huben, Henan) Middel and Low River Basin (Huben)

Figure 2:

Water conflicts involved in Hanjiang River Basin.

5.3 Game theoretic modelling approach 5.3.1 The case The industry in the City of Beijing (P1) will transfer water from Danjiangkou Reservoir (R) in Hanjiang River. Water transfer will raise the cost to reduce pollutants produced by the cities on the upper river and around the reservoir, and it will also reduce the river flow and break the interests of the industry downstream of reservoir, fig. 3. Therefore, the conflict in this study area is unavoidable. 5.3.2 Assumptions The game is finite, dynamic and with complete information; All the players are rational, and their aim is to maximize their welfare; There is no intervention of administration during game processing, but the game processing is influenced by the current policies; The industries in the same administrative regions should cooperate with each other, say C1, C2, C3, C4, C6, and C7 cooperation with each other to form one player, it is the same for C8, C9, C10, C11, C12 and C13, fig. 3; The water deficit of player 2 is zero due to his rich water resource or because he can solve the deficit by himself when there is a deficit in the non-cooperative game; WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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12.63% of the losses of player 2 and 3 is caused by player 1 he shares only 12.63% of the total transferable water; Player 1 can make up his water deficit if he transfers water from the Hanjiang River, i.e. cooperates with player 2 and 3; All data are authentic. 5.3.3 Defining the game The players. The player set is expressed by N = {1,2,3}. Players 1, 2 and 3 refer to the industries in the City of Beijing and the provinces of Shaanxi, Hubei and He’nan in the upper river basin, as well as the Hubei part in the middle-low river, fig. 3. Player 1 P1 C3

P2

C5 C6

Player 3

C7

P3 P4

C1 C2

R C4

C8 Player 2 C9 C10

C13 C11 C12 C14

Figure 3:

Sketch of the players, Ci refer to cities and Pi provinces or municipalities.

The strategies. Generally speaking, every player has two strategies: cooperation and non-cooperation. They can be expressed as follows:  Si1 = C (4) Si =   Si 2 = NC In the cooperative situation, player 1 will transfer water from Danjiangkou Reservoir and he would like to compensate other players’ losses resulting from the water transfer. Player 2 agrees with the water transfer of player 1 and player 3 is willing to reduce waste water discharge. In the non-cooperative situation, players have their different strategies. For players 1 and 2, their WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

10 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI strategies are the measures or plans to obtain sufficient water for their development in different periods of time t (year), and they are expressed by: si = Wi ∈ S i = [0 , ∞ ) , i = 1, 2 t

(5)

For player 3, his strategies are to reduce the waste water discharge, and they are expressed by: si = Pi t ∈ Si = [0, ∞), i = 3 (6) The payoff functions. In this non-cooperative game model, the payoff functions of player 1 and 2 are formulated by water demand models since their strategies are to obtain sufficient water for development. For player 3, his payoff function is formulated by the model of waste water discharge. Equation (7) expresses the payoff function of the players.  f (Wi t ), i = 1  Vi =  g (−Wi t ), i = 2 (7)  h(− P t ), i = 3 i 

where Wit: the loss of water; Pit: reduction of pollutant source, i.e. waste water discharged from industry. Table 1:

Water demands and water deficits (108 m3) in non-cooperative game.

Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 Total Table 2: Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 Total

6

Water Demand Water Deficit of Player 1 of Player1 5.39 0.26 5.10 0.24 4.83 0.24 4.58 0.25 19.90 0.99

Water Demand of player 2 46.15 46.02 45.77 45.40 183.34

Water Deficit of Player 2 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Water demands and water deficits (108 m3) in cooperative game. Water Demand Water Deficit Water Demand Water Deficit of Player 1 of Player1 of player 2 of Player 2 5.39 0.00 46.15 3.05 5.10 0.00 46.02 3.14 4.83 0.00 45.77 3.23 4.58 0.00 45.40 2.87 19.90 0.00 183.34 12.29

Results

Tables 1 and 2 show the water demands and water deficits of player 1 and 2 in non-cooperative and cooperative games respectively from 2010 to 2013. In the non-cooperative game, player has a total water deficit of 183.24 million m3, but player 2 has no water deficit due to his rich water resource. In the cooperative game, player 1 gets the amount of water necessary to cover his deficit, i.e. zero WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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water deficit, but player 2 will face a total water shortage of 1.229 billion m3 due to the water transfer of player 1, table. 2. Besides, player 3 has to reduce 395 million tons waste water discharge in order to increase water quality for player 1 from 2005 to 2008 in cooperative game, table 3. The game results of payoffs are presented in the table 4. In the table, the first number refers to different years, the second, third and fourth numbers are the payoffs of player 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The first column refers to the payoffs resulting from the non-cooperative game, and the second column is the payoffs resulting from the cooperative game. These results show that the non-cooperative game will cost player 1 a total loss of 73.85 billion RMB from year 2010 to 2013, but it yields player 2 and 3 a benefit of 61.83 billion RMB. However, comparing the overall costs and benefits, there is an overall loss of 12.02 billion RMB when each player does not cooperate with the others. The cooperative game result shows that there is an overall benefit of 12.02 billion RMB, though player 2 and 3 lose 61.83 billion RMB. Therefore, all the players will be better off if a side payment is made between them at the end of the cooperative game. These results prove that the players should cooperate with each other so as to maximize the overall benefits. Waste water discharge (108 tons) of player 3 in non-cooperative and cooperative game.

Table 3:

Non-cooperation 5.05 5.37 5.63 6.01 22.06

Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 Total Table 4:

Reducing Amount 0.64 0.79 1.07 1.45 3.95

Payoff matrix of non-cooperative and cooperative game.

 (2005, −000.00, 000.00, 0.86)  (2006, −000.00, 000.00,1.06)   (2007, −000.00, 000.00,1.44)   (2008, −000.00, 000.00,1.95)  (2010, −146.29,140.36, 0.00)   (2011, −163.56,152.54, 0.00)  (2012, −191.88,165.33, 0.00)   (2013, −236.79,154.78, 0.00)

7

Cooperation 4.41 4.59 4.56 4.56 18.02

(2005, 000.00, −000.00, −0.86)  (2006, 000.00, −000.00, −1.06)  (2007, 000.00, −000.00, −1.44)   (2008, 000.00, −000.00, −1.95)  (2010,146.29, −140.36, −0.00)   (2011,163.56, −152.54, −0.00)  (2012,191.88, −165.33, −0.00)   (2013, 236.79, −154.78, −0.00) 

Conclusions

Water resource management is vital and complex because it usually involves water conflicts of multi-stakeholders with contradictory interests, goals and strategies. Game theory is a modelling approach which can be efficiently used to WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

12 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI solve these challenges. The conflicts in the Hanjiang River Basin are caused by the Middle Road of South to North Water Transfer (MRSNWT) Project. The results of the game simulations show that a non-cooperative game will cause a collective loss of 12.02 billion RMB, while the cooperative game will yield a collective benefit of 12.02 billion RMB, though player 2 and 3 lose 61.83 billion RMB. Therefore, each player will be better off if a side payment is made among the players at the end of the cooperative game. In conclusion, this game theoretical simulating approach not only facilitates a clear comparison of the different water users, but is also beneficial to water decision makers.

References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

Leete, R., Donnay, F., Kersemaekers, S., Schoch, M., & Shah, M., Global population and water, UNFPA report on Population and Development Strategies Series, number 6. UNFPA: New York, 2003. Wei, S.K. & Gnauck, A., Game theoretic approaches to model water conflicts on a river basin scale. Modelling and Simulation of Ecosystems, ed. A. Gnauck, Shaker Verlag: Aachen, pp. 22-40, 2007 Wolf, A.T., Criteria for equitable allocations: The heart of international water conflict. Natural Resources Forum 23, pp. 3-30, 1999 Fang, L., Hipel, K.W., & Wang, L.Z., Gisborne water export conflict study. Proc. of the 3rd Int. conf. on Water Resources and Environmental Research, ed. G.H. Schmitz, Dresden, Germany, Vol.1, pp. 432-436, 2002 Van der Veeren, R.J.H.M. & Tol, R.S.J., Game theoretic analyses of nitrate emission reduction strategies in the Rhine river basin. Int. J. Global Environmental Issues 3(1), pp. 74-103, 2003. Giglio, R.J. & Wrightington, R., Methods for apportioning the costs of a water resource project. Water Resourc. Res. 8, pp. 1133-1144, 1972. Dinar, A. & Howitt, R.E., Mechanisms for allocation of environmental control cost: Empirical test of acceptability and stability. J. Environ. Management, 49, pp. 183-203, 1997. Heany, J.P. & Dickinson, R.E., Methods for apportioning the costs of a water resource project. Water Resourc. Res. 18(3), pp. 476-482, 1982 Young, H.P, Okada, N. & Hashimoto, T., Cost allocation in water resource development. Water Resourc. Res., 18(3), pp. 463-475, 1982. Lejano, R.P. & Davos, C.A., Cost allocation of multiagency water resource projects: Game theoretic approaches and case study. Water Resourc. Res., 31(5), pp. 1387-1393, 1995. Wang, L.Z., Fang, L. & Hipel, K.W., Water resource allocation: A cooperative game approach. J. Environ. Informatics 2(1), pp. 11-22, 2003. Wei, S.K. & Gnauck, A., Water supply and water demand of Beijing – A game theoretic Approach for modelling. Information Technologies in Environmental Engineering, eds. J.M. Gómez, M. Sonnenschein, M. Muller, H. Welsch & C. Rautenstrauch, Springer-Verlag: Berlin and Heidelberg, pp. 525-536, 2007.

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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An eutrophication model for a lowland river-lake system A. Gnauck & B. Luther Brandenburg University of Technology at Cottbus, Department of Ecosystems and Environmental Informatics, Germany

Abstract Natural and man induced nutrient loads affect the functioning of freshwater ecosystems and restrict various water uses. In particular, internal pollution by nutrient remobilisation from sediment plays an important role in shallow water bodies. A sustainable management of such freshwater ecosystems can be achieved by using simulation models. To forecast the eutrophication process of a shallow river-lake system a modelling and simulation framework was developed including phosphorus remobilisation from sediment. Data are taken from the Lower Havel River. For water quality management decision control strategies based on the limiting nutrient concept and threshold values of LAWA are discussed. Keywords: eutrophication, water quality, modelling, phosphorus remobilisation, optimisation.

1

Introduction

Eutrophication of freshwater bodies is characterised by an increase of dissolved nutrients in water bodies, mainly phosphorus, carbon and nitrogen, by excessive growth of plants, mainly algae, and by restricted water uses due to anoxic water conditions as well as by odour problems [1,2]. The eutrophication process of freshwater ecosystems is supported by intensive man-made activities in river basins. Man-made impacts caused a shift from oligotrophic to eutrophic and sometimes to hypertrophic freshwater ecosystems. Now it has become clear, that sediments have been accumulating phosphorus over several decades so that they now function as internal phosphorus sources [3]. Compared with the amount of phosphorus in the pelagic zone of eutrophic lakes, the phosphorus content of the sediment of shallow water bodies is considerable higher. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070021

14 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI Sustainable management decisions to control the quality of freshwater ecosystems can only be achieved by using powerful simulation tools. Water quality models are widespread used for managing eutrophication problems [4]. Some eutrophication models contain optimisation procedures to get optimal results [5]. For a shallow river-lake system a modelling and simulation framework to control the water quality was developed. Time series analysis methods are used for process identification [6]. By means of wavelet analysis interrelations between water quality indicators and sediment could be identified, while [7] developed a single process model describing the phosphorus remobilisation from sediment. As a second step changing water quality levels are simulated by an eutrophication simulator [8] carried out within a MATLAB environment. To get a practicable software tool for simulation and optimisation an eutrophication simulator was coupled with an optimisation tool [9,10]. In this paper, optimised simulation results are presented for important water quality indicators such as phytoplankton biomass, phosphate phosphorus, ammonia nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen.

2

Process identification

The eutrophication process is stimulated by nutrient remobilisation from sediment supported by meteorological and hydrochemical conditions. Water temperature is one of the most important driving forces in freshwater ecosystems. Therefore, correlations between water temperature and phosphate were studied by time series analysis. In particular, wavelet analysis with a Daubechies wavelet at level 5 [11] was carried out. Fig. 1 shows the details of Daubechies wavelet analysis between both indicators at level 5. 0.08

0.06 0.04 0.02

0

-0.02 -0.04

-0.06 -0.08 -0.1

-0.12

Figure 1:

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Daubechies wavelet analysis of water temperature and phosphate phosphorus at level 5.

Heating and cooling of the water is accompanied by an opposite event of phosphate phosphorus because of temperature dependencies of chemical reaction rates. This result was confirmed by residual cross correlations where highest negative values could be found at lag 0 as can be seen from fig. 2. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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0.6

0.4

0.2

0

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8 -400

Figure 2:

-300

-200

-100

0

100

200

300

400

Residual cross-correlation function of level 5.

The process of P-remobilisation can be divided into four phases (table 1). Table 1:

Phases of temperature dependency of phosphate remobilisation.

WT changes Increase of WT Diminished increase of WT Decrease of WT Diminished decrease of WT

WT gradients f'(WT) > 0, f''(WT) > 0 f'(WT) > 0, f''(WT) < 0 f'(WT) < 0, f''(WT) < 0 f'(WT) < 0, f''(WT) > 0

P dynamics Storage of phosphate Start of P-remobilisation Increasing P-remobilisation Stop of P-remobilisation

For modelling the AQUASIM software was used [12]. Fig. 3 shows the model concept.

Water column

CO2 , CNO 3 , CSP

CO2 ,CNO 3 , CSP

Transportation, TW DO, NO 3, SP

Diffusion DO, NO 3, SP Active sediment layer

Decay

Figure 3:

P - remobilisation

Model concept of P-remobilisation from sediment (SP–soluble phosphorus, DO–dissolved oxygen, NO3–nitrate nitrogen) (modified according to [7]).

The input to each river-lake segment is given by three input boundary conditions for dissolved oxygen, nitrate and soluble phosphorus. The sub-model equation is given by


16 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI dPSED/dt = (-1)Θ·phi·hs(-Dsp/(1-ln(phi2))(P-(PSED/(hs·phi)))/hs/2 + Θ (cpcrit-cpEA/cpcrit)·(KFe CpFe+qp)) with Θ =1, if CpEA ≤ cpcrit, and Θ = 0, if CpEA > cpcrit. The parameters are phi – sediment porosity, hs - thickness of active sediment layer (m), Dsp – diffusion coefficient of dissolved phosphorus, P – dissolved phosphorus, CpFe – iron concentration in pore water, qp - ratio P/Fe of reducible iron, KFe – iron concentration in pore water with KFe = K1(TW)/36, cpcrit – critical value of CpEA, K1(TW) = K1(20) (0.1 · lg (2) / lg(K120) · (TEMP - 20) + 1) – temperature dependent decay rate of organic material in pore water, K1(20) – standardised decay rate organic material in pore water at 20°C, CpO2 – dissolved oxygen concentraqtion in pore water with CpO2 = O2/31,998, CpNO3 – nitrate concentration in pore water with CpNO3 = NO3/14.007, CpEA – electron acceptor concentration in pore water with CpEA = 2CpO2+5CpNO3.

3

The eutrophication simulator HavelMod

To simulate the eutrophication process in shallow water bodies a stationary 1Dmodel was developed within the MATLAB environment. Fig. 4 shows the model concept. FOTOP

I

TEMP

BOD

DO

Algae

NH4-N

Zoo

PO4-P

Qin

Qout NO2-N

NO3-N

Sediment

Figure 4:

Psed

Conceptual model of the eutrophication simulator.

Model state variables are given by the water quality indicators phytoplankton (algae), zooplankton (zoo), orthophosphate phosphorus (PO4-P), ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N), nitrite nitrogen (NO2-N), nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N) as well as WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


17

by dissolved oxygen (DO) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). The phosphorus remobilisation process from sediment was included in the phosphorus balance equation. Detailed descriptions of model equations, parameters, site constants and system specific parameters are presented in [10]. Qin and Qout describe the discharges into and out of the river segment or lake under consideration. External driving forces are photoperiod (FOTOP), solar radiation (I) and water temperature (TEMP). Model equations are given as follows: Phytoplankton biomass A (mg CHA/l) dA/dt = Q/V·(Ain - Aout) + G - UA·A·f - FRZ·Z·A·CR - RESP·TEMP·A P-remobilisation from sediment Psed(mg P/l) dPsed/dt = phi·hs·(-Dsp/(1-log(phi2))·(P-(Psed/(hs·phi)))/(hs/2) + Θ (cpcrit - cpEA)/cpcrit·KFe·cp·qp), where Θ = 1 if cpEA ≤ cpcrit and Θ = 0 otherwise Phosphate phosphorus P (mg P/l) dP/dt = Q/V·(Pin - Pout) + FRZ·A·Z·CR·( (1 - AZP)·KSA/(KSA+A) ) + RESP·TEMP·A - G + (1/4)·dPsed/dt Ammonia nitrogen NH4-N (mg N/l) dNH4/dt = Q/V·(NH4in - NH4out) + B3·NORGin - B1·NH4 - FA1·FUP·G Nitrite nitrogen NO2-N (mg N/l) dNO2/dt = Q/V·(NO2in - NO2out) + B1·NH4 - B2·NO2 Nitrate nitrogen NO3-N (mg N/l) dNO3/dt = Q/V·(NO3in - NO3) - (1-FUP)·FA1·G + B2·NO2 Filtrating zooplankton Z (mg C/l) dZ/dt = Q/V·(Zin - Zout) + FRZ·A·Z·CR·AZP·C·KSA/(KSA+A) - MORT·TEMP⋅Z Dissolved oxygen DO (mg/l) DOout) + K2·(DOsat dDO/dt = Q/V·(DOin + (a3·G/A - a4·RESP·TEMP)·A - K1·BOD - K4/zmix - a5·B1·NH4 - a6·B2·NO2 - a7·MORT·TEMP·Z

DO)

Biochemical oxygen demand BOD (mg/l) dBOD/dt = Q/V·( BODin - BODout) + K1·BOD - K3·BOD According to [13] temperature dependencies of physical water quality variables are modelled by sinusoidal functions. The saturation concentration of DO is expressed by a third order polynomial [14].



4

The optimisation tool ISSOP

A software tool ISSOP was developed in [9] to support manufacturing, organisational and logistic processes. It includes an optimisation interface of MATLAB models. The ISSOP architecture of discrete optimisation methods used is shown in fig. 5. The dialogue between external and internal models and optimisation methods is realised by a universal parameter interface. The following optimisation methods are included: CENUM – component wise enumeration, DISOPT – a quasi-gradient method, EVOL – an evolutionary optimisation strategy, SIMCARLO – optimisation by Monte Carlo method, SIMGEN – optimisation by a genetic algorithm. Other optimisation procedures can be added. Before starting an optimisation run each simulation problem is automatically transformed into the standard problem of optimisation. On the lowest level of this architecture simulation models, goal functions and internal process models are given explicitly. External static and dynamic simulation models can be implemented without any restriction. Convexity of goal functions is not necessary. The coupling of HavelMod with the optimisation tool ISSOP was realised by using the implemented universal open interface. Input variables of the simulation system are denoted by α1x1,...,αkxk, outputs are symbolised by y1,...,ym respectively. Goal functions are denoted by f1,...,fn with fi(M(α1x1,...,αkxk)) = fi(y1,...,ym) where i = 1,..., n, and arbitrary continuous functions can be used. They will be optimised simultaneously. If n > 1, the goal functions f1,...,fn are aggregated to a weighted sum S = Σ wi fi with Σ|wi|= 1 and wi are weighting factors. ISSOP uses the model variables and target values as input data and gives optimised state variables back to the simulation system.

Optimisation Methods CENUM

DISOPT

EVOL

SIMCARLO

SIMGEN

...

Universal Parameter Interface dynamic

static

Variables, States, Goal Functions Simulation Models

Figure 5:

Explicit Goal Functions

internal Amount of Purchase, Cost of Setup

...

Internal Process Models

...

The ISSOP optimisation architecture.



5

19

Experimental area and basic simulations

The Havel River with its tributary Spree River belongs to the catchment of the Elbe River. Both rivers form a basin which is characterised by small elevation differences between source and mouth, by shallow lakes, wetlands and marshy country, as well as by high evaporation rates. Only 25% of precipitation contributes to flow. The water quality is mainly influenced by the anthropogenic activities of the urbanised area of Berlin/Potsdam. Time series of water quality data from 1997 are taken into consideration as references, while time series from 1998 to 2002 from different measuring points along the course of the rivers were used for modelling and parameterisation. For water quality simulations the river basin was divided into several segments of different length. After validation procedures the eutrophication simulator was used to carry out basic simulations for the rivers Spree and Havel. Fig. 6 shows results of simulation runs for phytoplankton and for phosphate phosphorus (fig. 7). 0,10

1997

0,09

325 345 SPK0010

Chlorophyll-a (mg/l)

0,08 0,07 0,06 0,05 0,04 0,03 0,02 0,01 0,00 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Time (d)

Figure 6:

Basic simulation runs for the urbanised area of the river basin. Orthophosphate Phosphorus (mg/l)

0,30

1997

0,28

SPK0010 SPK0020

0,26 0,24

Hv0190 Hv0200

0,22 0,20 0,18 0,16 0,14 0,12 0,10 0,08 0,06 0,04 0,02 0,00 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Time (d)

Figure 7:

Basic simulation runs for orthophosphate phosphorus.


20 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI The phosphorus dynamics is determined by two different processes: a decrease of phosphate phosphorus due to phytoplankton uptake by diatoms in spring, and an extreme increase due to phosphorus remobilisation from sediment in fall. Because of the nutrient rich water body the bioproduction is high in spring and late summer. During the first four months the growth of diatoms can be seen while in late summer cyanobacteria dominate. In late summer and fall algal blooms collapse and lead to anoxic conditions at the sediment-water interface due to high decay rates of dead organic matter with high rates of oxygen consumption.

6 Optimisation results Two control strategies are taken into consideration. The first one is based on the limiting nutrient concept of algal biomass. The second one refers to the target values of the German Working Group LAWA regulations [15]. Input variables are denoted by x1 (phytoplankton biomass), x2 (orthophosphate phosphorus) and x3 (nitrate nitrogen), output variables y1, y2, and y3 respectively. To get optimised results for the model transfer function M(α1x1, α2x2, α3x3) = (y1, y2, y3) the following goal functions are considered: 1. phytoplankton biomass f1(t) = ΣxΣt y1(x, t) → min. 2. orthophosphate phosphorus f2(t) = ΣxΣt y2(x, t) → max. 3. nitrate nitrogen f3(t) = ΣxΣt y3(x, t) → max. Corresponding to the input variables following restrictions are valid for the parameters αi (i = 1,..,3): α1 = 1, α2 and α3 vary in the interval [0,1]. The results are as follows. Weights according to the limiting nutrient concept w1 = 90.5, w2 = -1.1 and w3 = -8.4 lead to a diminished phytoplankton maximum in late summer due to optimised nitrate concentrations (fig. 8). No effect of optimised orthophosphate phosphorus concentration can be stated. Optimal averages of goal functions are f1 = 44.991 µg/l, f2 = 1.472 µg/l, and f3 = 1.54 mg/l. re fe re n ce C H A o p tim ise d C H A

CHA (mg/l)

9

0 .1 6

8

0 .1 4

7

0 .1 2

6

0 .1

5

0 .0 8

4

0 .0 6

3

0 .0 4

2

0 .0 2

1

0

Figure 8:

10

o p tim ise d o -P O 4 -P o p tim ise d N O 3 -N

0

50

100

150

200 250 tim e (d )

300

350

o-PO4-P (10-3 mg/l), NO3-N (mg/l)

0 .2 0 .1 8

0 400

Eutrophication control according to limiting nutrient concept and LAWA regulations.



21

Weights according to LAWA w1 = 42%, w2 = -57% and w3 = -1% with results α2 = 0.03 and α3 = 0.91 lead to nearly the same behaviour of phytoplankton biomass in spring but to smaller differences of phytoplankton maxima and to low nutrient concentrations in late summer (fig. 9). Optimal averages of goal functions are f1 = 48.762 µg/l, f2 = 0.166 µg/l and f3 = 0.08 mg/l. In consequence, the LAWA strategy leads to significantly lower nutrient concentrations but to a slight increase of phytoplankton biomass. In eutrophication control by means of limiting nutrient concept results in lower phytoplankton concentrations but higher admissible nutrient inputs.

CHA (mg/l)

7

10 9

0.16

8

0.14

7

0.12

6

0.1

5

0.08

4

0.06

3

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2

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Figure 9:

optim ised o-PO 4 -P optim ised N O 3 -N

0

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200 250 tim e (d)

300

350

o-PO4-P (mg/l), NO3-N (mg/l)

reference C HA optim ised CH A

0.2 0.18

0 400

Control of algal biomass according to target values of LAWA.

Conclusions

A sustainable management to control freshwater ecosystems can only be achieved by using powerful informatic tools. The use of combined simulationoptimisation procedures to manage the water quality of rivers, lakes and reservoirs is an approach promising more theoretical understanding of complicated natural processes and software engineering methods. Phosphate remobilisation from sediment can be considered as a result of some contradictory processes of matter changes. Perspectives of developments of simulation frameworks for water quality management on a river basin scale may be seen in combinations of water quality simulation models, multi-objective optimisation procedures and visualisation tools.

Acknowledgements The author is very indebted to Prof. M. Freude from Landesumweltamt Brandenburg for providing the data and to S. Wei and J. D. Alegue for technical assistance.



References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

[8]

[9] [10]

[11] [12] [13] [14] [15]

Uhlmann, D.: Hydrobiology. Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1975. Goltermann, H. L. 2004: The Chemistry of Phosphate and Nitrogen Compounds in Sediments. Kluwer, Dordrecht. DiToro, D. M.: Sediment Flux Modelling. Wiley, Chichester, 2000. Biswas, A. K. (ed.): Models for Water Quality Management. McGrawHill, New York, 1981. Wierzbicki, A. P., M. Makowski and J. Wessels (eds.): Model-Based Decision Support Methodology with Environmental Applications. Kluwer, Dordrecht, 2000. Gnauck, A.: Time Series Analysis of Water Quality Data. In: ScholzReiter, B., H.-D. Stahlmann and A. Nethe (eds.): Process Modelling. Springer, Berlin, 1999, pp. 509-525. Hoffmann, A.: Mathematical modelling of phosphorus dynamics in rivers with special regard to phosphate remobilization from sediment. Diploma thesis, Dept. of Ecosystems and Environmental Informatics, BTU Cottbus, 1999. Gnauck A., Heinrich, R. and B. Luther (2002): Water Quality Management of a Sub-Watershed of the Elbe River. In: Pillmann, W. and K. Tochtermann (eds.): Environmental Communication in the Information Society. Internat. Soc. Environm. Protect., Vienna, pp. 524-531. Krug, W.: Modelling, Simulation and Optimisation for Manufacturing, Organisational and Logistical Processes. SCS Europe Publishing House, Delft, 2002. Gnauck, A., Luther, B., T. Wiedemann and W. Krug: Coupling of Simulators for Optimal Control of Water Quality. In: Gnauck, A. and R. Heinrich (eds.): The Information Society and Enlargement of the European Union. Metropolis, Marburg, pp. 373-380, 2003. Gnauck, A. and T. Tesche: Modelling the Sediment-Water Interaction for Riverine Lakes. Internat. Rev. Hydrobiol. 83(1998), Spec. Iss., 207-214. Reichert, P.: Concepts Underlying a Computer Program for the Identification and Simulation of Aquatic Systems. Dübendorf: Report ETH Zürich/EAWAG, 1994. Straškraba, M. and A. Gnauck, Freshwater Ecosystems. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1985. Thomann, R. V.: Systems Analysis and Water Quality Management. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1972. LAWA: Beurteilung der Wasserbeschaffenheit von Fließgewässern in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland – Chemische Gewässergüteklassifikation. Kulturbuchverlag, Berlin, 1998.


Section 2 Environmental management



25

The UN Global Compact: moving toward sustainable development by adopting a new paradigm M. B. Neace Mercer University, USA

Abstract This paper examines the UN initiative that encourages a new paradigm – a networking of scientists and their organizations, global businesses, NGOs and civil society organizations to implement its Global Compact’s ten principles to move human activity toward sustainable development (SD). The ten principles encompass a holistic approach to SD focusing on contributions of global enterprises acting through government agencies, civil society, local organizations and communities, both horizontally and most importantly, vertically. Sustainability does not occur in a vacuum. SD can only happen when there is recognition of its holistic underpinning of all life, particularly human activity, in all of its dimensions and interconnectedness. After a brief review of the UN Global Compact (UNGC), several holistic models are presented and discussed with focus on global business enterprises when implementing the new paradigm of competition – collaboration, transparency, interconnectedness – a holistic philosophy for commerce and community. The models suggest an approach that has potential to create win-win-win results; or as is known in the business community – triple bottom line (TBL). Applications of the TBL models can, and are, moving organizations and communities in which they operate toward SD. Keywords: UN Global Compact, holistic SD, collaboration, interconnectedness, transparency, triple bottom line, beyond globalisation.

1

Introduction

This is a work in progress; not only in terms of UNGC’s ten principles but also for my models used in this paper - where and how they are interconnected. Both are undergoing a co-evolutionary journey. Under the umbrella of WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070031

26 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI ‘Globalization,’ UNGC and models presented for discussion are evolving in a dynamic, complex world. As John Rennie Short [1] noted, globalization is bringing peoples closer apart and places further together. The UN has initiated numerous programs over the years addressing problems associated with poverty, underdevelopment, health, education, security, infrastructure – aimed at underdeveloped countries and poor of the world. These programs have had limited success for a variety of reasons including poor management, lack of coherence [2] and some hanky-panky internally. Prodigious amounts of energy and talent have been used in their creation. For example, the UN Millennium Development Goals, absorbed hundreds of hours (probably thousands) of leading scientists and policy makers from around the globe in its development, has a broad base of stakeholders including global businesses and has specific targets to reach in eight areas by 2015, yet to date has shown little progress of reaching those goals [3]. The paper will focus on how businesses can make significant contributions to UNGC goals in spite of a rather shaky UN track record. Both are going through an interesting global transition period.

2 UNGC The UNGC was inaugurated 26 July 2000. It is a clarion call for business leaders, large and small, global and local, to cooperate with UN agencies, labor groups and civil society to advance its ten principles in the areas of human rights, natural environment and anti-corruption. UN efforts in these areas, although lauded by most governments and NGOs, with successes here and there, but overall, results are less than satisfying. Some believe the battle is being lost [4]. As critiques have noted there is a need for integration, interconnectedness and collaboration across these often disparate programs. UNGC is expected to accomplish this goal using the creative, synergistic leadership of global companies [2]. Many global companies have initiated actions in these areas on their own, or as part of a part of a group professional effort, or in alliance with one or more NGOs. For examples, see: [5–8]. I will draw from these sites and others in discussing models that address the UN’s holistic concerns regarding efforts to enlist businesses and their leaders to bring creativity and innovation to the resolution of these global problems. The UN has grappled with these issues for many years, with a variety of initiatives, most often through individual programs and NGOs with limited perspectives, such as the UN Environmental Program (UNEP) and labor issues through ILO. UNGC, through its Ten Principles is an effort to synergize the talent and resources of business leaders from a holistic perspective - all inclusive with business leadership as it’s underpinning. To date over 2,500 organizations have signed on to adhere and promote the GCs ten principles. As originally drafted, there were nine principles. The tenth - regarding anti-corruption was added recently. Figure 1 outlines the ten principles. As a condition of membership all participants agree to uphold and promote the ten principles, not only individually but also in partnership with other members and communities at large. Each member must submit a WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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‘Communication of Progress’ (COP) every two years chronicling how they’ve upheld, made progress and promoted the principles. Failure to submit a COP can lead to an ‘inactive’ status. A benefit of being a GC member is having “rights” to use the UN symbol on products and communications. This has led to some abuses – greenwashing and ‘bluewashing’ - using the good image of the UN without accountability [9].

The Ten Principles The first two principles are derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: 1.

Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights within their sphere of influence; and 2. Make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses. The principles 3-6 are derived from the International Labour Organisation's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work: 3. Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; 4. The elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour; 5. The effective abolition of child labour; and 6. Eliminate discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. The principles 7-9 are derived from the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development: 7. Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges; 8. Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and 9. Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies; The 10th and last principle is derived from the United Nations Convention against Corruption: 10. Businesses should work against all forms of corruption, including extortion and bribery.

Figure 1:

3

The Ten Principles.

The Transition

The timing is appropriate. Business is going through a transition – redefining itself in a world of globalization where stakeholders and communities external to the supply chains are often clamorous for inclusiveness. Mission statements are broadening with adoption of TBL thinking: at minimum, more effective and efficient integration, collaboration and ‘transparency’ of value creation streams, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

28 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI particularly working on environmental and security issues. Now, issues mentioned above are on the table. This fits ‘conveniently’ with the concept of ‘beyond globalization’ [10, 11]. Global companies and Western governments (Northern Hemisphere) have ‘pushed’ free markets with the assistance of IMF, WTO and a host of economic alliances for the past four decades with some degree of success (See [12]). Yet concerns by both those on the inside and outside abound: poverty appears to be growing as does abuses to Mother Nature (For an interesting review of this situation, see [13]). Most transitions are works in progress with occasional steps backward. The UNGC is an effort to adjudicate these many issues by enlisting the global corporate world – its leadership, innovative creativity and collaborative management skills. Corporate leadership has begun, in increasing numbers, transitioning toward broader visions for their organizations, including communities they operate in, including their impacts on the environment, including security (personal and resources), including concerns for poverty and the many issues it begets. In a book that traced this transition, Elkington [14] developed the précis – Triple Bottom Line. Triple Bottom Line (TBL) is a process of synchronous venturing for economic, environmental and social equity. For example, this would include synergistic integration of market/supply chain objectives, environmental concerns (especially as they increase costs), human rights and anti-corruption initiatives benefiting bottom lines of all stakeholders working collaboratively – delivering win-win-win outcomes (e.g., browse these web sites for TBL at work: [15–17]). A major element in the transition to TBL is value transformation (Figure 2). Without a change in mind-set regarding doing one’s job, TBL as an every-day process will not occur. Figure 2 is a value transformation paradigm that is crucial for TBL success. Value transformation allows for all to sit at ‘common’ table. Value shifting to the proactive/creative level leads naturally to synergistic activities blending economics, ecology and social issues through combinations of good science, best management practices and the inclusion of local stakeholders [18–20]. The global business community plays a key role in this process: they have the knowledge, they have the skills, they understand risk (the precautionary principle), and they have the ability to create win-win-win situations – triple bottom lines. Other stakeholders at the local level play pivotal roles in the development and application of sustainable initiatives, including research, education, and formulation of regulatory policies and transforming these preparations into good science and best management practices. It’s their lives too. Business acumen is required to bring order to disorder and to do it profitably. (See Figure 3.) Building on Norgaard’s [21] plea for pluralism, as does TBL thinking, it is essential for the global business community to recognize and respect that different groups and cultures have unique approaches to their view of the world, applying different assumptions and methodologies resulting in different models




Transformation of values. Figure 2:

29


Figure 3:

Integrated holistic TBL paradigm.

of the “same” phenomena. It is this very diversity and the synergy it creates that holds promise for progress toward a planetary system of sustainable development and some progress on UNGC’s ten principles. There is no one unifying paradigm. Planet Earth is always evolving with many paradigms— interacting, blending, competing, creating, dying—where Homo sapiens is an integral, and in fact, the dominant player in it’s evolutionary path at this point in its history. Only in this way can we truly develop holistic, interconnected, dynamic paradigms necessary for movement toward TBL operationally [9, 22, 23]. The next section focuses primarily on sustainable development, which in its broad context is holistic and includes goals of the ‘ten principles.’

4

Making sustainability operational

Limitations of present environmental policies and programs are well known; including bureaucratic ineptness and lack of will [24]; short term economicpolitical “remedies” at the sacrifice of long term biosphere reality [20, 25, 26]; application of reductionist paradigms when increasing evidence points to holistic dynamic general system [27–33]. Overcoming these issues is what the UN Global Compact is all about and why it requires expertise of global corporate leadership. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


31

A holistic perspective is required, including interconnectedness and local input. Norgaard [21], Rothschild [30] and Teilhard [33], among others, have developed holistic models demonstrating interconnections of man to his larger environment, the biosphere, and even the cosmos. Self organizing systems are ubiquitous in nature, as are economies of self organizing systems in which market structures spontaneously organize by demand for product/services and labor [34, 35]. Figure 3 expresses this integrated TBL holistic concept - a shift in values that recognizes continued development within each sector, but also the necessity for sharing and movement among the many bodies of knowledge—a transdisciplinary modus operandi, a recognition of interconnectedness and diverse cultures. Certainly no one expects to attain this level of maturity and harmony without disputation. Healthy debate and respect is necessary for real progress. In spite of our wrangles the process is under way, and evermore with global business enterprises playing a leadership role. We are not implying the battle is being won. To the contrary, even with a shifting in values and growing numbers of global enterprises taking positive actions, such as broadening their vision statements to include NGOs and local stakeholders, some authorities claim we are losing the battle [4].

5

Operationalizing a TBL platform

Figure 3 is a TBL platform. A paradigm that recognizes the necessity for networking internally and externally – information sharing, learning, feedback; and connectedness must be vertical as well as horizontal to be holistic and for sustainable development to have any opportunity of success [36]. Twenty-five years of “command and control” policies targeted at the most obvious and egregious environmental problems, by media, are complex and now only marginally productive [37]. Continued progress in alleviating biospheric problems due to man’s intrusions and consumption is proving to be complex and difficult. Assuring a sustainable and humane future requires global business leadership. Holistic and inter-vertical, new initiatives, such as the UN Global Compact are “forcing” creative strategic planning by global enterprises to the local level; e.g., community pollution prevention programs, local government partnering and business compliance assistance, developing social capital through civil society. Local stakeholders are directly involved and have the most to win or lose with the development and health of their immediate surroundings [38, 39]. Many observers of the present environmental dilemma believe a significant number of undesirable outcomes of a monomorphic elitist bureaucracy could have been avoided with local socio-cultural input and gradual withdrawal of central control [24, 38, 39, 40, 41]. Without input of local stakeholders, whether they be farmers, ranchers, small manufacturers, community leaders, global enterprises, or consumers, a sustainable strategy is impossible. No one is suggesting governments and their agencies abandon responsibility of serving their peoples. But a growing number of business leaders, professionals and scholars are suggesting gradual withdrawal of central control. In most wellWIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

32 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI educated communities with rising levels of human consciousness and awareness of the connectedness of all life forms [33] central control just doesn’t work; for example, the collapse of the Russian empire. Randhir and Lee [41] see roles of central governments as external observers, suppliers of technical know-how, nurturers of mutual trust among multi-stakeholders and assisting development of well-structured incentive systems. Government intervention achieves very little in the absence of local efforts [24]. Global enterprises have a tremendous opportunity to lead, integrate and set examples. Today, the metrics strongly suggest it is profitable to do so. Pushing environmental and social responsibility to local stakeholders, including local businesses using TBL strategies with their diverse cultures, is risky. Conceptually, this also mimics dynamic diversity of the biosphere. By their very nature freedom and diversity are unpredictable and uncertain. But that is the TBL’s stratagem’s very strength: open mindedness, broad mindedness, tolerance, continually evolving, continually collaborating and competing openly in the market place of ideas and beliefs [22, 29].

6

Conclusions

To approach a life-style that is sustainable, UNGC’s ten principles plus global business leadership will have to expand their linear-reductionist orientations to encompass a holistic view of man, Earth, and even the cosmos. Are the global enterprises of the world ready to utilize these resources in their economic and strategic planning? Are global enterprises ready to embrace fellow local stakeholders – horizontally and vertically – all integral parts of Planet Earth and its biosphere? Are they ready to create triple bottom line platforms using their leadership to bring coherence and synergism to creating a win-win-win world? The battle has just begun. Several respected scientific journalists claim that progress is modest at best and in several cases moving backwards [4]. For sustainability to move toward becoming a reality inter-vertical as well as interhorizontal general systems should be implemented as a matter of general course by global enterprises, global NGOs, local socio-culture communities. Capitalizing on self-interest, collaboration and creativity are essential, the very essence of UNGC. Global business organizations have opportunities as well as responsibilities to encourage this inclusiveness for the betterment of all, for creating triple bottom lines so all can achieve their potential in a safe, secure and sustainable world.

References [1] [2] [3]

Short, J. R., Global dimensions: space, place and the contemporary world, London: Reaktion Books, 2001. Ruggie, J. G., “The United Nations and globalization: patterns and limits of institutional adaptation,” Global Governance, Vol. 9, No. 3, 301-321, 2003. United Nations – Millennium Goals, www.un.org/millenniumgoals WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]

33

Speth, J.G., Red sky at morning: America and the crisis of the global environment, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004. World Business Council for Sustainable Development, www.wbcsd.org Sustainable Forest Initiative, www.sfiprogram.org The International Council of Chemical Associations, www.responsiblecare.org Cement Sustainability Initiative, www.wbcsdcement.org CorpWatch, www.corpwatch.org Henderson, H., Beyond globalisation, West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press, 1999. Rosenau, J. N., Distance proximities: Dynamics beyond globalisation, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003. World Trade Organization, www.wto.org Robins, R. H., Global problems and the culture of capitalism, 3rd ed., Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2005. Elkington, J., Cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st century business, Gabriola Island, BC, Canada: New Society Publishers, 1998. Toyota, www.toyota.com British Pump, www.bp.com GE Ecomagination, ge.ecomagination.com Royston, M. G., Pollution prevention pays, New York: Pergamon Press, 1979. Saunders, T. and L. McGovern, The bottom line of green is black: Strategies for creating profitable and environmentally sound business, San Francisco: Harper, 1994. Schmidheiny, S., Changing course: A global business perspective on development and the environment, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992. Norgaard, Richard B., “Environmental economics: An evolutionary and a pleas for pluralism,” Journal of environmental economics and management, (December), 382–394, 1985. Vedeld, Paul O., “The environment and interdisciplinary ecological and neoclassical economical approaches to the use of natural resources,” Ecological economics, Vol. 10, No.1, 1–13, 1994. Waldrop, M. M., Complexity: The emerging science at the edge of order and chaos. NY: TOUCHSTONE, 1992. Hess, K., Jr., Visions upon the land, Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1992. Hawken, P., The ecology of commerce, New York: Harper Collins, 1993. Rees, W.E., Sustainable development and the biosphere, Chambersburg, PA: ANIMA Books, 1990. Burrows, B. C., A. J. Mayne, and P. Newberry, Into the 21st Century, Twickenham, U.K.: Adamantine Press Limited, 1991. Daly, H.E., Steady-state economics, 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1991. Lovelock, J., Gaia: A new look at life on earth, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1979. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

34 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40]

[41]

Rothschild, M., Bionomics, New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1990. Stikker, A., The transformation factor, Rockport, MA: Element, Inc, 1992. Tarnas, R., The passion of the western mind, New York: Harmon Books, 1991. Teilhard, de Chardin, P., The phenomenon of man, New York: Harper, 1959. Arthur, W. B., “Complexity and the Economy,” Science, Vol. 284, (2 April), 107-109, 1999. Prigogine, I., Order out of chaos, NY: Bantam Books, 1989. Lewin, R., Complexity: Life at the edge of chaos, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992. Norgaard, R.B., Development betrayed: The end of progress and a coevolutionary revisioning of the future, New York: Routledge, 1994. deGraaf, H. J., C. J. M. Musters and W. J. TerKeurs, “Sustainable development: Looking for new strategies,” Ecological economics, Vol. 16, No. 3, 205–216, 1996. Enama, M. T., “Culture: The missing nexus in ecological economics perspectives,” Ecological economics, Vol. X, No. 2, 93–95, 1994. Neace, M. B., “Holistic sustainability: Local culture and global business – a unique opportunity,” in Management of natural resources, sustainable development and ecological hazards, eds. Brebbia, Conti & Tiezzi, Southampton, UK: WIT Press, 3-12, 2005. Randhir, T. O. and J. G. Lee, “Managing local commons in developing economics: An institutional approach,” Ecological economics, Vol. 16, No. 1, 1–12, 1996.



35

Environmental monitoring during beach nourishment using relict sands (central Tyrrhenian sea) D. Paganelli, P. La Valle, M. Gabellini, L. Lattanzi, B. La Porta, A. Pazzini, M. Targusi & L. Nicoletti ICRAM (Central Institute for Marine Research), Rome, Italy

Abstract This paper aims to underline the importance of monitoring studies during the execution of activities, like beach nourishment using relict sands, that plan the use of innovative technology. In fact, environmental monitoring studies allow prompt intervention in the case of unexpected events or interference factors. Potential negative repercussions on the marine environment could not be estimated through characterization studies carried out ante operam. This paper reports the monitoring study carried out for beach nourishment along the South Latium coasts (Tyrrhenian sea). In this area Posidonia oceanica meadows are present. In this context, a detailed and updated cartography and the knowledge of the P. oceanica beds distribution (a “priority habitat” in the UE Habitats Directive) allowed prompt identification of potential effects on the seagrass caused by specific technical procedures of the beach nourishment, not well-known in the planning phase of the project. Keywords: environmental monitoring, beach nourishment, Tyrrhenian sea.

1

Introduction

Among the different experimented technologies to control coastal erosion, beach nourishment with relict sands is considered a useful method to protect beaches, often preferable to the coastal defence structures (seawalls, groynes, emerged breakwaters) [1–3]. Nowadays, marine sand deposits exploitation is a very common technology both in Europe and in the rest of the world. The first documented beach nourishment project took place in USA during 1922-1923 at Coney Island, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070041

36 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI New York [4], while in Italy the first beach nourishment activity with relict sands took place at Pellestrina and Cavallino (Venice, Italy), and later on along the Ostia coast (Rome, Italy) [5–8]. Relict sands are constituted by marine deposits no more in equilibrium with the actual coastal sedimentary dynamics (paleo-beaches), occurring offshore and at great depth. Because the relict sand removal does not interfere with the coastal dynamics, the dredging of great volumes of sediments does not compromise the beach equilibrium. The employment of considerable volumes of sediments, together with the high biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea, determines that for beach nourishment activities particular attention must also be paid to marine environmental characteristic, as well as to technical and economic aspects of the Project. It is known that dredging activities involve physical and biological effects on marine environment. The physical effects are related to the substratum alterations (sediment morphology and granulometry) and to the resuspension of bottom sediments into the water column with a consequent increasing of suspended particulate matter (turbidity) [9–11]. The most relevant biological impacts are related to the benthic community and to the demersal fish assemblages, both closely associated to the sea bottom [11–19]. The increasing of suspended particulate matter, related to the increase of turbidity, could be very dangerous in case the dredging and beach nourishment take place in the presence of sensitive habitats (like Posidonia oceanica meadows, coralligenous biocoenosis, etc.) and/or of very sensitive species to abiotic parameters variations and to environmental stress (natural and anthropogenic). In this context, a particular attention is paid to P. oceanica meadows, a mediterranean endemic species, considered as a “priority habitat” in the UE Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), and listed in the “Natura 2000” like a Site of Community Importance (pSCI). This paper reports the methodological approach used by ICRAM to plan and improve the environmental monitoring study carried out off the coast of southern Latium (Tyrrhenian sea) for a beach nourishment operations with relict sands. P. oceanica meadows are present along this coast in shallow waters (between 15-30 m depth).

2

Study area

The study area is located in the central Tyrrhenian sea, along the Latium coasts from San Felice Circeo (Latina, Italy) to Sperlonga (Latina, Italy), fig.1. The shore is predominantly characterized by sandy sediments and by a gentlesloping sea-bed (1.3-2.2 %), with the presence of submerged bars. Between Terracina (Latina, Italy) and Lago Lungo (Latina, Italy), the superficial sediments show a finning seawards of the granulometry, following the bathymetry. Locally, the presence of Posidonia oceanica, make this sediment distribution irregular [20, 21].



Figure 1:

37

Study area.

In the study area the presence of P. oceanica seagrass identified two Sites of Community Importance (pSCI) according to the Directive 92/43/EEC: IT6000013 “Fondali tra Capo Circeo e Terracina” and IT6000014 “Fondali tra Terracina e Lago Lungo.

3

Characterization study ante operam

ICRAM, in 2004, has been encharged by the regional authority “Regione Lazio” to carry out the environmental monitoring study on an area located in the central Tyrrhenian Sea (southern Latium, Italy), off the coast of Terracina (Latina, Italy) in order to evaluate the environmental compatibility of the planned beach nourishment activities with relict sands. On the basis of the experience developed by ICRAM in the last years in planning and realizing environmental studies related to these activities, the monitoring sampling plan and the environmental parameters to study (benthic communities, demersal fish assemblages, superficial sediments and water column characteristics) have been defined. Recently, ICRAM’s studies and experiences allowed the realization of an environmental monitoring protocol related to relict sands dredging for beach nourishment [11]. Considering the presence of two pSCI characterized by Posidonia oceanica meadows in the study area, the characterization study ante operam has also involved an appropriate assessment of implications for pSCI sites according to the Directive 92/43 ECC (article 6, 3), in order to highlight potential effects of beach nourishment on P. oceanica beds and on their state of conservation. Analysis of bibliography regarding the P. oceanica meadows distribution in the study area has revealed the presence of old data and at an unsuitable scale [22]. For this reason, ICRAM and Regione Lazio has encharged the University of Rome “La Sapienza” to map the shallow P. oceanica meadows. Data obtained on physiographical and structural descriptors of P. oceanica seagrass (bed WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

38 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI density, upper and lower limits, bed typology), were confronted with the technical aspects of the nourishment working plan (volumes and type of sediments, period of activities, closure depth). Results showed that the most relevant effects, normally expected for this activities like the increasing of turbidity (with a possible regression of Posidonia limits) and burial events (due to beach nourishment), would have not caused relevant impacts on the meadows. In fact, the temporary increase of turbidity would have been limited to the utilization of sandy sediments and to the short period estimated for these activities. Besides, the greater depth of Posidonia upper limit (13–15 meters) compared to the maximum closure depth estimated by the Project (7 m) assured the absence of over-sedimentation. Therefore, in this specific case beach nourishment carried out according to technical specifications of the Project would have not caused relevant effects on P. oceanica meadows and on their state of conservation, ensuring environmental compatibility. Anyway, considering the innovative characteristic of this technology and the presence of P. oceanica, ICRAM decided to carry out a specific monitoring study during the execution of beach nourishment in order to intervene promptly in case of unexpected events.

4

Monitoring study during the activities

Beach nourishment was carried out in May-June 2006 using relict sands (a volume of 600.000 m3 sediments) dredged from a marine sand deposit located offshore Lavinio (Rome, Italy) in water deep between 80 and 100 m. These sandy sediments were carried to the nourishment shores (in water deep approximately 15 m) by means of a trailer suction dredge. For the replenishment of sediments on the beach a pipe about 1,5 km long and 90 cm in diameter was used. Direct observations made during the monitoring study in order to evaluate the evolution and the dispersion of the turbidity plume caused by the nourishment, identified some technical procedures, not predictable in the planning phase of the Project, capable of generating significant effects on marine ecosystems. In particular, during the beach nourishment the following was observed: - the need of an anchorage zone for the dredge during the hooking phase of marine pipes for the dumping of relict sands; - some anchorage zones were located upon P. oceanica meadow; - the use of dredge engines, necessary to stand the position during the dumping operations, also due to the low depth of bottom, created a significant dispersion of fine sediments in the water column near P. oceanica beds, fig. 2. All these observations, together with the knowledge of the real technical procedures used for the dumping, allowed prompt interventions fixing some additional technical instructions in order to protect the P. oceanica beds present in coastal shallow waters. In this case, it has been possible to provide some specific indications as the identification of some potential anchorage zones for the dredge. Besides, the use of the detailed and updated cartography of



Figure 2:

39

With red points the real anchorage zones of the dredge during beach nourishment are reported.

P. oceanica meadows realized by the University of Rome (fig. 3) suggested to use a support ship during the nourishment to obviate the driving of propellers, necessary to stand the dredge position during this activities, avoiding the dispersion of fine sediments near the Posidonia.

5

Conclusions

In the study case reported in this paper, the environmental monitoring plan arranged for the beach nourishment operations allowed prompt identification of potential effects on P. oceanica meadows caused by specific technical procedures of the activities, not well-known in the planning phase of the Project. In particular, considering the real technical procedures using for the nourishment and by means of a detailed and updated cartography of P. oceanica beds, it has been possible to propose some additional technical instructions in order to minimize effects on Posidonia seagrass in the shallow coastal waters. Our study indicates that the use of cartography and the knowledge of the marine benthic biocoenoses distribution, mainly of P. oceanica beds distribution (a “priority habitat” in the UE Habitats Directive) represent an essential instrument for planning environmental monitoring studies related to the beach nourishment.



Figure 3:

Distribution map of Posidonia oceanica meadows present from San Felice Circeo to Sperlonga (Latium, Central Tyrrhenian sea) (reduced scale).

In general, this paper aims to underline monitoring studies in presence of sensitive execution of the activity), above all in the case not yet well-established, that can generate environments.

the necessity to plan specific habitat (monitoring during the of use of innovative technology, unpredicted effects on marine

References [1]

[2]

[3]

Preti, M. & Albertazzi, C., Complex sand nourishment in EmiliaRomagna Region. In: “MEDCOAST‘03 - Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on the Mediterranean Coastal Environment”, Özhan E. (ed.), 7-11 October 2003, Ravenna, Italy, pp. 1639-1648, 2003. Ansaloni, I., Baraldi, E., Mauri, M., Montanari, G., A.M., Preti, M., Prevedelli, D., Rinaldi, A., Simonini, R. & Todaro, M.A., Effetti dell’estrazione di sabbie marine sulla comunità macrozoobentonica delle sabbie relitte dell’Adriatico Settentrionale. Atti del XIII° Congresso Nazionale della Società Italiana di Ecologia, Como, 8-10 settembre, 2003. Ansaloni, I., Cavallini, F., Graziosi, F., Iotti, M., Massamba N’Siala, G., Mauri, M., Prevedelli, D., Simonini, R., Montanari, G. & Preti, M., Recupero delle comunità macrozoobentoniche in seguito all’estrazione di sabbie relitte in un area al largo delle coste dell’Emilia Romagna. Atti del WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

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41

XV° Congresso della Società Italiana di Ecologia, Torino, 12-14 settembre, 2005. Green, K., Beach nourishment: a review of the biological and physical impacts. ASMFC (Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission). Habitat Management Series, 7, pp. 1274, 2002. Cecconi, G. & Ardone, G., La protezione delle spiagge della laguna di Venezia. In “Riqualificazione e salvaguardia dei litorali: idee, proposte e confronti tra esperienze mediterranee”, A. Tervisani e V. Petrocelli (eds.), ACLI Anni Verdi - Pro Loco Bernalda (MT), Patrocinio: Regione Basilicata, Amministrazione Provinciale di Matera, pp. 58-65, 1999. Nonnis, O., Nicoletti, L., La Valle, P., Celia Magno, M. & Gabellini, M., Environmental impact after sand extraction for beach nourishment in an area off Latium coast (Tyrrhenian sea, Italy). Littoral 2002, The changing coast. EUROCOAST/EUCC, Porto - Portugal (ed.), 3, pp. 81-84, 2002. Nicoletti, L., La Valle, P., Paganelli, D. & Gabellini, M., Il ripascimento mediante sabbie relitte: studi di compatibilità ambientale nell’esperienza laziale. Atti del congresso “Processi erosivi delle coste. Fenomeni di sedimentazione e trasporto: prevenzione e risanamento”, Vieste, 30 novembre 2002, pp. 48-53, 2002. Paganelli, D., La Valle, P., Maggi, C., Nicoletti, L., Nonnis, O. & Gabellini M., Il ripascimento della spiaggia di Roma (Ostia): Studio di compatibilità ambientale per lo sfruttamento dei depositi sabbiosi sommersi. Atti dei Convegni Lincei “Ecosistema Roma”, Roma 14-16 Aprile 2004, Bardi Editore, 218, pp. 359-365, 2005. Newell, R.C., Seiderer, L.J. & Hitchcock, D.R., The impact of dredging works in coastal waters: a review of the sensitivity to disturbance and subsequent recovery of biological resources on the sea bed. Oceanography and Marine Biology: an Annual Review, 36, pp. 127-178, 1998. Newell, R.C., Seiderer, L.J., Simpson, N.M. & Robinson, J.E., Impacts of marine aggregate dredging on benthic macrofauna off the South coast of the United Kingdom. Journal of Coastal Research, 20 (1), pp. 115-125, 2004. Nicoletti, L., Paganelli, D. & Gabellini, M., Aspetti ambientali del dragaggio di sabbie relitte a fini di ripascimento. Quaderno ICRAM n. 5, pp. 159, 2006. De Groot, S.J., The physical impact of marine aggregate extraction in the North Sea. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 53, pp. 1051-1053, 1996. Hitchcock, D.R., Newell, R.C. & Seiderer, L.J., Investigation of benthic and surface plumes associated with marine aggregate mining in the United Kingdom. Final Report, Contract Report for the U.S. Department of the Interior, minerals Management Service, Contract Number 14-35-000130763 Coastline Survey Ltd Ref. 98-555-03 (Final), 168 pp., 1999. van Dalfsen, J.A., Essink, K, Toxvig Madsen, H., Birklund, J., Romero, J. & Manzanera, M., Differential response of macrozoobenthos to marine



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sand extraction in the North Sea and the Western Mediterranean. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 57, pp. 1439-1445, 2000. Boyd, S.E., Limpenny, D.S., Rees, H.L., Cooper, K.M. & Campbell, S., Preliminary observations of the effects of dredging intensity on the recolonization of dredged sediments off the southeast coast of England (Area 222). Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 57, pp. 209–223, 2003. Boyd, S.E., Limpenny, D.S., Rees, H.L. & Cooperm, K.M., The effects of marine sand and gravel extraction on the macrobenthos at a commercial dredging site (results 6 years post-dredging). ICES Journal of Marine Science, 62, pp. 145-162, 2005. Simonini, R., Ansaloni, I., Bonvicini Pagliai, A.M., Cavallini, F., Iotti, M., Mauri, M., Montanari, G., Preti, M., Rinaldi, A. Prevedelli, D., The effects of sand extraction on the macrobenthos of a relict sands area (northern Adriatic Sea): results 12 months post-extraction. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 50, pp. 768-777, 2005. Nicoletti, L., Belluscio, A., La Valle, P. & Ardizzone, G.D., Monitoring of Posidonia oceanica Meadow after Beach Nourishment. In: “MEDCOAST‘05 - Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on the Mediterranean Coastal Environment”, Özhan E. (ed.), 25-29 October 2005, Kusadasi, Turkey, pp. 451-460, 2005. Marzialetti, S., Gabellini, M., La Porta, B., Lattanzi, L., La Valle, P., Paganelli, D., Panfili, M., Targusi, M. & Nicoletti L., Attività di dragaggio ai fini di ripascimento al largo di Montalto di Castro (VT): effetti sul popolamento a policheti. Biologia Marina Mediterranea, 13 (1), pp. 601-605, 2006. Cristofalo, G.C., I sedimenti attuali e recenti della piattaforma continentale interna tra Monte Circeo e la foce del Fiume Garigliano. Tesi di laurea sperimentale in Sedimentologia, 1992. La Monica, G.B. & Raffi, R., Morfologia e sedimentologia della spiaggia e della piattaforma continentale interna. In: “Il Mare del Lazio”, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”, Regione Lazio Assessorato Opere e Reti di Servizi e Mobilità, pp. 62-105, 1996. Ardizzone, G.D. & Belluscio, A., Le praterie di Posidonia oceanica delle coste laziali. In: “Il mare del Lazio”, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Regione Lazio Assessorato opere e reti di servizi e mobilità, pp. 194-217, 1996.



43

An economic and environmental total life cycle costing methodology and a web-based tool for environmental planning of buildings S. M. Haddad, F. Haghighat & S. Alkass Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montréal, Canada

Abstract This research is a translation of the international Kyoto protocol into practical steps towards effective environmental planning in the building industry. This research develops a methodology to quantify environmental impacts of building materials to be used along with standard life cycle costing evaluation (LCC) resulting in total life cycle costing (TLCC). Based on the developed methodology, the economic LCC of building materials is calculated according to the ASTM’s standard methodology, while their environmental impact is first quantified in tones of CO2, based on Global Warming Potential (GWP), and then translated into monetary value to be used in the environmental impact LCC. Quantification of studied materials emission is done with the help of “SimaPro”, a professional life cycle assessment tool, considering their total life span. Monetary value of quantified CO2 emission is then taken from actual CO2 stock markets (i.e. Point Carbon: www.pointcarbon.com). Total life cycle costing (TLCC) is then calculated from both the estimated economic and the environmental impact LCCs. The methodology aims at a number of building professionals: 1) designers, 2) material specification writers and quantity surveyor, 3) permit authorities, 4) research groups, 5) developers, and 6) manufacturers. The methodology is supported with a web-based design tool named “EconoEnviroTLCC Tool”. The tool’s main goal is to put the developed methodology into practice by building professionals to better plan to achieve sustainable buildings. The tool enables its users to evaluate LCC, environmental LCC and total life cycle costing (TLCC) of partial and/or complete building envelope elements. The tool’s results are presented in tabular and graphic formats. Keywords: life cycle costing, environmental impact, building materials, building envelope, environmental design support tool. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070051


1

Introduction

A joint study by the World Resource Institute and other international organizations [9] shows that Global energy use has risen by nearly 70% since 1971 (an average of 2% per year) and is poised to continue its steady increase over the next decades. In the building industry area, for example, the residential sector alone is responsible for 27% of the total world’s energy consumption. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that global energy consumption – and annual CO2 emissions – have risen by almost 50% from 1993 levels. This has great impact on our globe and our life as a result. Over the last few years, many national and international organizations have focused on issues related to Sustainable Built Environment. Many methodologies and tools, at different scales and localities, have been developed. Such tools play a very import role in promoting sustainability in the building industry [5]. The international community has come together, represented by delegates of most countries, to put a strategy to limit the human sufferings from the human negative influence on the environment. The Kyoto protocol, a landmark on the path of saving the environment in December 1997 [7], has defined clearer roles for participating countries with more specific environmental pollution figures and deadlines that participants have to abide with. In order to promote sustainable development, some protocol articles indicated that each participating country shall implement policies and measures in accordance with its national circumstances. The protocol states that participating parties shall, individually or jointly, ensure that their aggregate anthropogenic carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of the greenhouse gases do not exceed their assigned amounts, with a view to reducing their overall emissions of such gases by at least 5% below the 1990 levels in the commitment period 2008 to 2012. Life cycle costing LCC, the method used to “Justify a certain expenditure on a project/system by proving its savings along its life span” [1], has proven its viability in many fields, including the building industry. This research develops a methodology to evaluate total life cycle costing (TLCC) (both economic and environmental) of building materials. The mythology utilises the ASTM LCC principles on the economic evaluation and the Kyoto concept of emission trading on the environmental evaluation.

2

Economic life cycle costing and environmental impact life cycle costing

In the building industry, LCC is a straight forward method of comparing, projects, buildings or systems, old or new, to determine the lowest LCC amongst several alternatives. It is a very strong tool to justify higher initial costs to prove reduction along the total life span [10]. Such reduction could not be visible unless costs such as operation, maintenance, replacement and/or environmental savings are included. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


45

The method utilizes a technique that sums all relevant costs over a designated period of time, assumed to be the expected life span. When applied on buildings, in their design, renovation or even demolition stage, LCC could take into account some or all related costs such as: property, design, material, systems and equipment, construction or demolition, operation & maintenance and disposing of all involved elements. The summation could be in either present-value (PV) or annual value (AV) terms and takes into account discount and inflation rates. Several figures that are used in LCC calculations have to be actual costs (i.e. material costs) and could be taken directly from market or supplier prices or from pricing reference manuals such as RSMeans. On the other hand, some assumptions, during the calculation process, have to be made for other included elements such as maintenance costs, period of study, tax rate, inflation rate, nominal and/or real discount rates, initial and salvage monetary value of evaluated items [1,6]. The basic calculation of LCC of a project (building or system) in present value terms (PVLCC) could be expressed in the following equation (1) and graphically represented as shown in figure 1. N

LCC PV = ∑ t =0

Ct (1 + i ) t

(1)

where: Ct = sum of all relevant costs occurring in year t, N = length of study period in years, and i = discount rate. The above equation represents the summation of several equations that apply for life cycle of each building material separately; the process that is used in this research and applied in the developed EconoEnviroTLCC Tool and represented in the equation (2) [1] below. PVLCC = IC + PVM + PVR + PVF – PVS

(2)

where: IC = initial cost PVM = present value of maintenance and repairs cost, PVR = present value of replacements cost, PVF = present value of fuel and energy cost, PVS = present value of re-sale or salvage-value. On the other hand, life cycle costing of environmental impact of building materials is hard to comprehensively evaluate. A basic concept for evaluating environmental damage, of any material or activity, depends mainly on the balance between needs and benefit to stakeholders and end users. In other words, it depends on how much benefit and damage it does to its community in general. This is based on the concept of “social willingness to pay” to remove material/component and/or minimize the damage caused by the emissions from these materials or activities (Figure 2). This concept stays meaningless unless it is translated to measurable means such as: finding the costs adhered to removing and/or preventing the emissions of a material or activity from the environment. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

- PV of salvage value (PVS)

+ PV of energy & fuel cost

+ PV of replacement cost (PVR)

+ PV of maintenance cost (PVM)

+ Initial cost (IC)


Life cycle costing in present value terms (PVLCC = IC + PVM + PVR + PVE – PVS) Figure 1:

Calculation process of life cycle costing in present value terms.

where: TX = Tax, SE = Socially Efficient level of Emissions, MSC = Marginal Social Cost, MPB = Marginal Private Benefit, MPB’ = Max. Private Benefit (shifted).

BENEFIT ($)

MPB

MSC TX MPB’

SE

Figure 2:

PE

DAMAGE

Benefit-damage balancing of a building.

Assigning monetary values for environmental impact of materials/systems is a science that is still in its very early stages. There are few trials in this direction, among which the EIO-LCA [3], and the Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability tool [2]. However, the subject of this research is to develop a total life cycle costing for buildings and building materials that account for their direct costs and the cost related to their environmental impact. The research develops a methodology and a design support tool that could be easily and successfully used by building designers and/or officials to develop several alternatives for partial and/or complete buildings to choose the most economic and environmental friendly building material based on LCC principles.



47

A A A E

Figure 3:

3

Economic PV calculation

Env. Impact calculation

Mat. economic LCC

Material environ. LCC

Total life cycle costing calculation (TLCC)

Economic & environmental database

The monetary evaluation of environmental impact, the main subject of this study, is based on the concept of: “Cost adhered to prevent an environmental damage, or cost applied to remove it” [4]. This research develops a methodology that applies this concept and abides with the Kyoto protocol articles to establish monetary evaluation methodologies of the environmental impact of buildings and building materials. The protocol states that “some participating parties shall, individually or jointly, ensure that their aggregate anthropogenic carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of the greenhouse gases do not exceed their assigned amounts . . . etc. This concept of is translated into emission trading strategy; between countries (and companies as well) that have committed themselves to an emission ceiling as per the Kyoto protocol agreement” [7]. Any environmental impact monetary evaluation could be simply based on the concept of cost related to preventing or removing related impact(s), as mentioned above. Emerging from this concept, this research considers and applies costs adhered to removing the damage caused by CO2 in its monetary evaluation of environmental impact of building materials. CO2 emissions of building materials is simulated and quantified using an life cycle analysis tool (SimaPro) and then its monetary value is defined according the CO2 current market value that is accessible form CO2 market trading (i.e. www.pointcarbon.com).

TLLC

Economic and environmental total life cycle costing (TLCC) calculation process.

Total life cycle costing (TLCC) methodology

The Total Life Cycle costing (TLCC) that accounts for direct cost and the cost of environmental impact of building materials, are calculated as per the procedure highlighted below (figure 3): a.

Calculate economic life cycle costing in present value terms “PVLCC” (as shown above).


48 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI b. c.

Calculate environmental impact life cycle costing “EILCC” (as explained above). The sum of both PVLCC and EILCC is the anticipated total life cycle costing (TLCC), as represented in the equation below. TLCC = PVLCC + EILCC

(3)

where: TLCC = total life cycle costing of building envelope materials (in Dollars), PVLCC = economic life cycle costing (Dollars in present value terms), and EILCC = environmental impact cost of building materials (in Dollars).

4 The EconoEnviroTLCC Tool Beyond the developed methodology, as shown above, a design support tool, named the “EconoEnviroTLCC Tool” has been designed aiming at building designers and professionals to expand the methodology and put it forward for practice. The evaluation of the available sustainable tools showed that designers are still in-need for a total life cycle costing tool that integrates between economic and environmental costs buildings and building materials resulting in a total life cycle costing evaluation [5]. Even though that there are some trials in this regard, however, none of the available tools achieved as much features as those of the EconoEnviroTLCC Tool. Above all, none has been as straight forward towards buildings and building designers/professionals as the EconoEnviroTLCC Tool. The EconoEnviroTLCC consists of several input and output modules: • Introductory module, • Project module, • Material module (economic and environmental data), • Economic LCC module, • Environmental LCC module, • Graphics module, • Administrator’s module, and • Help module. Using the EconoEnviroTLCC Tool could be summarised in the following step: Inputs steps where a user can: • Start with creating a new project where he/she can define project’s location, year, discount rate, CO2 market price (per tone) and currency of the evaluation (figure 4). • Select building envelope elements (i.e. roofs, walls, doors, . . . etc.) and define their quantities (i.e. m3 or m2). WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


Figure 4:

Figure 5: •

• •

49

Creating a new project.

Selecting building envelope elements and building materials.

Select materials for each envelope element where for each selected material, a user can use default values or override them with his/her own values. These values include economic and environmental values such as: material unit price, life span, annual maintenance cost, salvage value, distance material to be brought to construction site, method of transportation and end of life scenario. All above mentioned elements affect the economic and environmental life cycle calculation; therefore, uses are advised to be careful about values they use (figure 5). Economic life cycle costing in present value terms (PVLCC) of selected materials could be seen separately (for each building envelope element) or combined for the project as a whole (figure 6). Environmental impact life cycle costing (EILCC) of selected materials could be seen separately (for each building envelope element) or combined for the project as a whole (figure 7).



Figure 6:

Figure 7:

Figure 8: • •

Economic LCC results.

Environmental LCC results.

Total life cycle costing (TLCC) results.

Total life cycle costing (TLCC) of the whole project could be seen in a separate screen showing both economic and environmental totals (figure 8). Bar graphic presentation of a single project that compares between its economic and environmental LCC could be presented, printed or saved to file.



Figure 9: • •

5

51

Project-to-project comparison in graphic presentation.

Bar graphic comparison could be selected to compare between several projects comparing between their TLCC, economic PVLCC and environmental EILCC in three separate graphs (figure 9). Help menu could be accessed at any time to assist users on how to use the tool.

Conclusion

The building industry, which has a large consequence on resource depletion and energy consumption, results in large negative environmental effects. Governmental, private and public organisations have worked throughout the last few years to save our environments. Their efforts resulted in developing strategies, treaties, methodologies and environmental tools. All role players in the building industry (i.e. owners, designers, manufacturers and authorities) carry a share of the responsibility in this regard. Building designers, where the starting point of building realization takes place, could be the most important players in the process. The developed methodology in this research equips building designers as well as other building professionals with the proper tool (the EconoEnviroTLCC Tool) to plan for environmentally friendly designs. The developed methodology where environmental impact of buildings and building materials are evaluated in monetary terms based on LCC standards opens the way to its acceptance internationally, where every one understands it. This research is a step, among the early ones, in the direction of evaluating the environmental impact. The outcome of this research helps not only to expand the understanding of environmental impact of building materials to all related individuals and groups, but also to increase the possibility of environmentally friendly building design planning and achievement.

References [1]

ASTM, E 917 – 99 (2000), Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Pennsylvania, United States. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

52 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI [2] [3] [4] [5]

[6] [7] [8]

[9] [10]

BEESR (2003), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Building and Fire Research Laboratory, Computer program and user manual, V3.0d, May 2003. Carnegie Mellon University Green Design Institute. (2006), Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) model, official website http://www.eiolca.net (2006). Goedkoop, M. and Spriensma, R. (2001), Third Edition, Eco-Indicator 99 methodology report, PRé Consultants (June 2001), Amersfoort, the Netherlands. Haddad, S., Alkass, S. and Haghighat, F. (2003), “Sustainable Building Design and Assessment Tolls, Current evaluation and future Expectations”; Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, pp. END-250, June 4-7 June, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. Kirk, S. J. and Dell’lasola, A. J. (1995), Life Cycle Costing for Design Professionals, Second Edition, McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York. UNFCCC (1998), Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC website, (http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.html). World Resource Institute (1998), Power Surge: Energy use and emissions continue to rise, A joint publication by the White, J., Case, K., Pratt, D., and Agee M. (1998), Principles of Engineering Economic Analysis, Fourth Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York. World Resources Institute, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Development Programme, and the World Bank. Zhang, K. (1998), Life Cycle Costing for Office Buildings in Canada, M.SC. Thesis, Department of Building Engineering, Concordia University (Supervisor, Dr. S. Alkass).


Section 3 Mathematical and system modelling



55

Mathematical modelling applied to ecosystems: the Gödel’s theorem E. B. P. Tiezzi1, R. M. Pulselli2 & E. Tiezzi2 1

Department of Mathematics and Informatics, University of Siena, Italy Department of Chemical and Biosystems Sciences, University of Siena, Italy 2

Abstract In the framework of evolutionary physics, we must deal with goal functions instead of state functions: ecodynamic models must be based on relations evolving in time; far-from-equilibrium thermodynamics (Prigogine) is the foundation for a new description of nature. But if energy and mass are intrinsically conservative and entropy is intrinsically evolutionary, how can entropy be calculated on the basis of energy and mass quantities (entropy paradox)? This question is still unanswered and all we can do is note that the ecodynamic viewpoint is different from that of classical physics and classical ecology. This paper is an attempt to deal with these concepts.

1

Introduction

Recently some studies in mathematical logic have examined the possibility of getting computers to understand the concept of the passage of time. Indeed, the study of real-time systems, in other words systems in which temporal evolution plays a primary role, has made interesting advances. Specifically, the properties to describe in these systems are not only qualitative, properties which classical temporal logic can express, but also quantitative. It would be interesting to develop logics that express “eternal” constraints, such as the three dimensions, on one hand, and that tackle the real meaning of evolution, and hence the importance of events and their successions, on the other. Nature is evolutionary in character. The more one seeks to comprehend her, in the etymological sense of enclosing, imprisoning, in our mental schemes, the more she creates relations and complexity, memories and creative possibilities. It WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070061

56 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI is the passing of time that prevents us from capturing the fleeting moment of global knowledge. It is also important to underline that: • Space, by its structure, is reversible; • Time, by its structure, is irreversible. In order to achieve an ecodynamic description we need to shift our attention from state functions to goal functions and to configurations of processes. Obviously the mathematical machine par excellence, the computer, cannot understand the concept of evolution, the arrow of time. As with all machines, it is indifferent to the irreversibility of time, incapable of understanding the real meaning of time. We may also underline the following two statements by Jørgensen and Svirezhev [1]: The presence of irreducible systems is consistent with Gödel’s theorem, according to which it will never be possible to give a detailed, comprehensive, complete and comprehensible description of the world. Most natural systems are irreducible, which places profound restrictions on the inherent reductionism of science. Many ordered systems have emergent properties defined as properties that a system possesses in addition to the sum of properties of the components: the system is more than the sum of its components. Wolfram [2] calls these irreducible systems because their properties cannot be revealed by a reduction to some observations of the behaviour of the components.

2

Discussion

2.1 Gödel theorem In 1931, the young Viennese Kurt Gödel published a brief memoir on “formally undecidable propositions of Principia mathematica and similar systems” which concerned the incompleteness of a large class of formal theories, including arithmetic, as well as the impossibility of proving their coherence from within the theories themselves. Gödel’s theorem [3] is often summarized as: “there is at least one formula of arithmetic that cannot be demonstrated” and with the following formula:

(∃ y)(x) : Dim(x, y)

(1)

Interpreted in meta-mathematical language, the formula says “there is at least one formula of arithmetic for which no sequence of formulae constitutes a demonstration”. Jørgensen and Svirezhev [1] and Wolfram [2] underline that Gödel’s theorem requires that mathematical and logical systems (i.e. purely epistemic, as opposed WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


57

to ontic) cannot be shown to be self-consistent within their own frameworks but only from outside. A logical system cannot itself (from inside) decide on whether it is false or true. This requires an observer from outside the system, and this means that even epistemic systems must be open. The impossibility of completely knowing the world is linked to the principle of Pascal, according to which the whole is more than the sum of its parts. This deals a heavy blow to reductionism. The mutual irreducibility of space and time makes it impossible to completely know living evolving systems. 2.2 Thermodynamic uncertainty “At the instant when position is determined, the electron undergoes a discontinuous change in momentum. This change is the greater the smaller the wavelength of the light employed – that is, the more exact the determination of the position. Thus, the more precisely the position is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known, and conversely” (Heisenberg [4]). According to the laws governing the Compton effect, p1 and q1 are related by: p1q1 ≈ h (2)

E1t1 ≈ h

(3)

Equation (3) is equivalent to eqn (2) and shows that precise determination of energy can only be had at the cost of a corresponding uncertainty in time. Another relation can be derived from the uncertainty between position and momentum. Let ν and E be the velocity and energy corresponding to momentum px, then

ν∆px

∆x

≥h

ν ∆E∆t ≥ h

(4) (5)

where ∆E is the uncertainty of energy corresponding to the uncertainty of momentum ∆p x, and ∆t is the uncertainty in time within which the particle (or the wave packet) passes over a fixed point on the x-axis [5]. Irreversibility of time is not considered, since in the quantum mechanical paradigm, time is assumed to be reversible. It is possible to link these concepts with the generalized uncertainty associated with the presence in the Universe of both conservative (space, mass) and evolutionary quantities (time, life span). In dealing with evolutionary (living) systems, we may introduce a third concept: that of Thermodynamic Uncertainty related to the intrinsic irreversible character of time. Let us say that a thermodynamic uncertainty arises from the


58 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI experimental existence of the arrow of time and from the experimental evidence that, during the measurements, time goes by. Since time flows during the interval of an experiment (measurement), conservative quantities (energy and/or position) may also change leading to further uncertainty. Astrophysicists have recently discovered that the mass of a star is related to the star’s life span; the greater the mass, the shorter the life span. This too may be related to the uncertainty principle. It seems that there is a sort of uncertainty relation between space and time, space being related to mass and energy, which are conservative quantities. 2.3 The role of entropy Entropy breaks the symmetry of time and can change irrespective of changes in energy, energy being a conservative and reversible quantity, whereas entropy is evolutionary and irreversible per se. The flow of a non-conservative quantity, negentropy, makes life flow and the occurrence of a negentropy production term is the difference with respect to analysis based on exclusively conservative terms (energy and matter). The situation is explained in Figure 1 “The death of the deer”: at the moment of death, mass and energy do not change, whereas entropy does. There is an entropic watershed between far-from-equilibrium (living) systems and classical systems (the dead deer or any inorganic non living system).

Figure 1:

The death of the deer.

We may conclude that in systems far from thermodynamic equilibrium (biological and ecological), entropy is not a state function, since it has intrinsic evolutionary properties, strikingly at variance with classical thermodynamics.

References [1]

Jørgensen, S.E. and Svirezhev, Y.M., Towards a Thermodynamic Theory for Ecological Systems, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2004.



[2] [3] [4]

[5]

59

Wolfram, S. Cellular automata as models of complexity, Nature, 311, 419-424, 1984 and Computer software in science and mathematics, Sci. Am., 251, 140-151, 1984. Nagel, E. and Newman, J.R. Gödel’s Proof, New York University Press, New York, 1985. Heisenberg, W. Über den anschaulichen Inhalt der quantentheoretischen Kinematik und Mechanik‚ Zeitschrift für Physik, 43, 172-198, 1927; English translation in Wheeler and Zurek, Quantum theory and measurement, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 62-84, 1983. Fong, P. Elementary quantum mechanics, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Massachusetts, USA, 1962.




61

A family of models to study the growth of Haloferax mediterranei in different conditions Y. Villacampa1, F. García-Alonso1, J. A. Reyes1, R. Martínez-Espinosa2 & M. J. Bonete2 1

Departamento de Matemática Aplicada, Universidad de Alicante, Spain Departamento de Agroquímica y Bioquímica, Universidad de Alicante, Spain

2

Abstract Haloferax mediterranei is a denitrifying halophilic archaeon able to grow with nitrite as the sole nitrogen source for growth in an assimilatory process under aerobic conditions. This haloarchaeon can also reduce nitrite in a respiratory process, where nitrite is the electron acceptor when oxygen conditions are limited. Due to this capability, Haloferax mediterranei could be applied in salted water bioremediation processes with the purpose of repairing the damage caused by the excessive use of fertilizers in agricultural activities. In this paper a family of different mathematical models has been generated to allow the study and the prediction of Hfx. mediterranei growth in high salt media with different nitrite concentrations. The relation between the growth and some variables are studied, for example nitrite concentration (N), oxygen concentration (O) and the time of growth (NH). This approach will allow us to analyse future Hfx. mediterranei uses as agent for bioremediation processes. Keywords: denitrification, Haloferax, bioremediation, modelling, stability.

1

Introduction

Denitrification is the reduction of nitrate or nitrite to gaseous nitrogen oxides. This pathway occurs mainly in bacteria and is used by most denitrifiers to support respiratory growth under anaerobic conditions [17]. Denitrification produces nitrogen loss in agricultural soils, and emitted N2O destroys the ozone layer and contributes to global warming. Deterioration of quality of inland and coastal waters is a serious environmental problem. Of particular concern is the WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070071

62 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI wastewater containing organic nitrogen [6]. Nitrogen compounds can be removed from wastewater by a variety of physicochemical and biological processed. However, biological nitrogen removal is more effective and relatively inexpensive, by this reason it has been widely adopted in favour of the physicochemical processes [1]. In this way, denitrification could fill an important function in waste treatment by removing excess nitrogen in local environments and by anaerobically degrading organic pollutants. Nevertheless, high salt concentrations exert adverse effects on the metabolic pathway mentioned above [5]. By this reason, extreme microorganisms (mainly halophiles) have focused the scientific attention in the last few years. Extremely halophilic archaea (haloarchaea) generally grow heterotrophically under aerobic conditions in hypersaline environments, although they possess facultative anaerobic capabilities [4]. It has been demonstrated that Hfx. mediterranei grows under anaerobic conditions using nitrate as terminal electron acceptor [8], and we observed the induction of respiratory nitrate reductase (Nar) activity in these cultures. These results agree with other studies in which nitratereducing and denitrifying activities are induced under oxygen-limiting conditions only in the presence of nitrate [17]. Recently, it has been shown that Hfx. mediterranei also grows in the presence of nitrite concentrations as high as 40 mM, although the growth is slightly slow if it is compared with the growth rate observed in rich culture media or minimal culture media under aerobic conditions [9]. Nitrite is present as a natural component of the nitrogen cycle in freshwater ecosystems, however, its concentrations are increasing in freshwater environments as a consequence of several anthropogenic sources such as effluents from industries producing metals, dyes and celluloids, urban sewage effluents and aquaculture [2]. This nitrogen source (nitrite) is very toxic to aquatic animals, microorganisms, even to humans, because nitrite is able to oxidise the iron of the hemoglobin molecule to methemoglobin. The last molecule is not able to transport oxygen causing anoxia and death [2]. Hfx. mediterranei could be applied in salted water bioremediation processes with the purpose to repair the damage caused by the excessive use of fertilizers in agricultural activities. This application could be beneficial in regions such as Comunidad Valencia or Murcia (Spain), where the water tables contain high nitrate and nitrite concentrations due to fertilization practices [7]. In this work, using the experimental data, it has been carried out several mathematical studies to predict the Hfx. mediterranei growth in high salt media with different nitrite concentrations. It has been used methodologies to generate families of mathematical models, selecting those suitable models to explain the Haloferax mediterranei behaviour under certain conditions.

2 Methodology 2.1 Physiological experiments Hfx. mediterranei (ATCC 33500T) was grown in a minimal culture medium (pH 7.3) with different nitrite concentrations (5–45 mM NO2−) as sole nitrogen source as described before [9]. The oxygen concentration [O2] was 100% when WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


63

the medium was inoculated with 5 ml of a seed culture grown with 20 mM nitrite as nitrogen source. Hfx. mediterranei was grown at 37◦C in a 2 L flask in a Biostat B fermentor (B. Braun Biotech International). The [O2] was estimated with a calibrated pO2 electrode (Metller) during Hfx. mediterranei growth. The growth was monitored by measuring the optical density (OD) at 600 nm using a Biofotometer (Eppendorf). Nitrite was quantified using the diazo coupling method [10]. 2 ml aliquots of the cultures were taken during the growth period in order to determine all cited parameters. 2.2 Mathematical studies There are several methodologies to mathematical formulation of the relations obtained from experimental data. The methodologies implemented in software such as SPLUS and SPSS share the common characteristic of determining simple and multiple linear relations in a similar manner [11,12]. It is also possible to obtain nonlinear relations so that for each execution, a type of equation is proposed, with coefficients calculated by applying the least squares method. To the automatic search among different models, we must cite [3,15], which present the Modelhss methodology, with which families of nonlinear models can be obtained in a formal language generated from different orders of vocabularies. The equations obtained in Modelhss are linear combinations of functions defined on the basis of vocabularies, and their statistical treatment is reduced to the multiple linear cases, as their parameters are linear. The methodology developed in [13] generates families of mathematical models with nonlinear parameters, and includes the study of linear models, based on the experimental data of the intervening variables.

3

Results and discussion

Previous physiological experimental analysis have revealed that Hfx. mediterranei could be an excellent model to establish new salted water bioremediation processes [9], because this haloarchaeon is able to reduce high nitrate and nitrite concentrations in presence of high salt concentrations. This ability is quite interesting from a biotechnological point of view because most of the denitrifying microorganisms are unable to develop these reactions under salted conditions [5]. We have analysed different mathematical models to predict the Hfx. mediterranei growth in cultures with high nitrite concentration, using methodologies studied in [11–16]. The followed mathematical expression has been found as the better model to predict Hfx. mediterranei growth under the cited conditions in methodology. It is proposed as a better model

C = −1.714e0.023 N + 0.003Ox + 4.259 ,

R 2 = 0.9

So it can write,


(1)


N=

1  1 ln  ( −C + 0.003Ox + 4.259 )  0.023  1.714 

(2)

It has been studied the stability of the models against perturbations in experimental data, applying the methodology implemented in [14,16]. It can be observed that for perturbations of 10% and 20% in the experimental data, the model is stable (Figure 1). In this figure is observed the variation that it is produced in the model when it has been carried out perturbations of 10% and 20% in experimental data. A

Perturbations in experimental data Figure 1:

B

Perturbations in experimental data

Stability of the models. A) the perturbation of experimental data was 10% and in B) the perturbation of experimental data was 20%.

Using the model and Eq. (2) it has been carried out an estimate of the nitrite present into the culture media during the growth at different times. These results can be observed in the Figure 2. It can be deduced that the behaviour inferred for the growth of Hfx. mediterranei in 45 mM nitrite is similar to the behaviour experimentally observed and described previously for 40 mM nitrite (Figure 3) [9]. The results obtained in (Figure 3) show that Hfx. mediterranei grows in the presence of nitrite concentrations as high as 40 mM. As can be seen in the OD curve of the figure 3, two different metabolic processes can be distinguish; i) the growth is especially slow during the first 10 days, a period of time in which the [O2] is higher than 2%. This phase of growth correspond to the aerobic nitrite reduction pathway where nitrite is used as nitrogen source for growth. When the oxygen is completely consumed, the rate of growth increased substantially, indicating that nitrite present in the culture media could act as nitrogen source and as the terminal electron acceptor under anoxic conditions. The nitrite present in the culture media was removed during the growth of Hfx. mediterranei, in fact, at the final of the stationary phase of growth (OD600 =2.2), only 20% of the nitrite present in the culture was not eliminated. As it has been described before, these metabolic pathways are usually inhibited under salted conditions. So it is possible to think that this haloarchaeon could be applied in water bioremediation



65

Hfx. mediterranei growth in 45 mM nitrite 120

2,5

100

50 OD 600 nm (growth) % Oxygen [Nitrite estimated] (mM)

2,0

40

1,5

30

1,0

20

0,5

10

[nitrite] (mM)

60

OD 600 nm

% Oxygen

80

40

20

0

0,0

0

200

400

600

800

0

Time (hours)

Figure 2:

The prediction of Hfx. mediterranei growth in a minimal culture medium with nitrite as the sole nitrogen source. OD at 600 nm; nitrite concentration in the culture medium; percentage of O2. Hfx. mediterranei growth in 40 mM nitrite

120

2,5

45 40

100

2,0

OD 600 nm

% Oxygen

60

30 OD 600 nm (growth) % oxygen 25 [Nitrite] (mM)

1,5

1,0

20

40

[nitrite] (mM)

35 80

15 20

0

0,5 10 0,0 0

100

200

300

400

500

5 600

Time (hours)

Figure 3:

Experimental Hfx. mediterranei growth in a minimal culture medium with nitrite as the sole nitrogen source. OD at 600 nm; nitrite concentration in the culture medium; percentage of O2..


66 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI processes with the purpose to repair the damage caused by the excessive use of fertilizers in agricultural activities. Besides, it has been demonstrated that Hfx. mediterranei growth can be predicted with mathematical approaches, which make easier the applications of this haloarchaeon in salted water treatments.

4

Conclusions

With the mathematical models obtained it has been able to compare and predict the experimental physiological results previously described from Hfx. mediterranei growth taken in account different parameters such as nitrogen source or oxygen concentration. The models obtained allow us to analyse and validate the experimental results carried out previously [9]. Our aim is to obtain new sets of experimental data under similar and different conditions to those consider in this article with the objective to generate new mathematical model. With this kind of studies, we contribute to the modern biocatalysts knowledge which is achieving new advances in environmental and healthy fields (using enzymatic or whole cells bioremediation).

Acknowledgements This work was supported in part by funds from AE/07/091 (MJB) and AE/07/074 (YVE) from Generalitat Valenciana. The authors thank Dr. F. Verdu and Dr Y. Villacampa for providing the mathematical models [13,15] and the stability of the models [14,16].

References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Ahn, YH. Sustainable nitrogen elimination biotechnologies: a review. Process Biochemistry, 41, 1709-1721, (2006). Alonso, A. and Camargo J.A. Toxicity of nitrite to three species of freshwater invertebrates. Environmental Toxicology, 90-94 (2006) Cortés, M. ; Villacampa, Y.; Mateu, & Usó,. J.L. ‘A new methodology for modelling highly structured systems’ Environmental Modelling Software 15, pp 461-470, (2000). DasSarma, S., and P. Arora. Halophiles, p. 458–466. In Encyclopedia of life sciences, vol. 8. Nature Publishing Group, London, United Kingdom, (2002). Kargi, F. and Uygur, A. Biological treatment of saline wastewater in a rotting biodisc contactor by using halophilic organisms. Bioprocess Engineering, 17, 81-85 (1997) Khin, T. and Annachhatre, A.P. Novel microbial nitrogen removal processes. Biotechnology advances, 22, 519-532 (2004) Legaz, F. & Primo-Millo, E. Influencia de la fertilización nitrogenada en la contaminación por nitratos de las aguas subterráneas. Levante Agrícola 318, 4–15, (1992). WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


[8]

[9]

[10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

[15] [16] [17]

67

Lledó, B., Martíınez-Espinosa, R.M., Marhuenda-Egea, F.C. and Bonete, M.J. Respiratory nitrate reductase from haloarchaeon Haloferax mediterranei: biochemical and genetic analysis. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1674, 50–59, (2004). Martíınez-Espinosa, R.M.; Richardson, D.J.; Butt, J.N. & Bonete, M.J. Respiratory nitrate and nitrite pathway in the denitrifier haloarchaeon Haloferax mediterranei. Biochemical Society Transactions 34, part 1, 115117, (2006). Snell, C.D. & Snell, C.T. Colorimetric Methods of Analysis, vol. 2, pp. 802–807, Van Nostrand, New York, (1949). S-Plus 2000. Guide to statistics volume 1,2. Mathsoft, Inc (2000). Spss. Inc. Software, Chicago, USA (1999). Verdu, F & Villacampa, Y. A Computational algorithm for the multiple generation of nonlineal mathematical models and stability study. Advances in Engineering Software. In Press. Verdu, F & Villacampa, Y. A computer program for a Monte Carlo analysis of sensitivity in equations of environmental modelling obtained from experimental data. Advances in Engineering Software. Vol. 33, Nº 6. pp.351-359, (2002). Villacampa, Y.; Cortés, M.; Vives, F. & Castro, M.A. ‘A new computational algorithm to construct mathematical models.’ Ecosystems and sustainable development II Ed. WIT Press (1999). Villacampa, Y; Verdu, F & Pérez, A. A Stability theory for model systems. Kybernetes. Vol.36, Nº.5-10.pp. 1-23, (2007). Zumft, WG. Cell biology and molecular basis of denitrification. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. 61(4):533-616, (1997).




69

Lotus glaber Mill. Induced autotetraploid: new forage resource for the Flooding Pampas M. Barufaldi1, Y. Villacampa2, P. Sastre-Vázquez3, F. García-Alonso2 & J. A. Reyes2 1

Cátedra de Genética y Fitotecnia, Facultad de Agronomía de Azul-UNCPBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2 Departamento de Matemática Aplicada, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain 3 Área de Matemáticas, Facultad de Agronomía de Azul-UNCPBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract Lotus glaber Mill., a perennial leguminous forage plant endemic to Europe and introduced into Argentina in 1930, has adapted to the Flooding Pampas region’s ecological characteristics, successfully becoming part of the native vegetation. Given its high nutritional value and the fact that it does not cause meteorism, this plant has great potential for increasing the productivity and quality of the Pampas grazing land. In Azul, a Buenos Aires province, an L. glaber genetic improvement programme resulted in an induced autotetraploid population called Leonel, through the use of colchicine. In addition to preserving the species’ valuable characteristics, this population has a series of significant morphological modifications compared to diploid populations. This paper compares the Leonel population in terms of the length and width of its central foliolae (LCF and WCF), its area (A) and the length/width ratio (L/W) of the central foliolae of the first expanded leaf from the apex, during the following seasons: mid-winter (1), late winter (2), and late spring (3) of 2006. Variance analyses, in a completely random sample with one factor, seasons, carried out for each variable, detected significant differences (1%) in all cases. Analysis of the L/W ratio has made it possible to determine the foliolae’s forms. During the winter period, seasons 1 and 2, the foliolae took a narrowly obovate shape, while in the spring they had an oblanceaolate shape. The results obtained lead to the conclusion that there is a high level of variation in length and width, as well as the foliolae’s shape and size. Keywords: Lotus glaber Mill., induced autotetraploid, forage legume, natural pastureland, mathematical modelling. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070081


1

Introduction

Flooding Pampas region of Buenos Aires province, whose surface area totals approximately 9 million hectares, is Argentina’s principal cattle-raising region. Eighty-five percent of its livestock feeds on natural pastureland, and the rest on cultivated pastureland (Sácido [1]). In most natural vegetable communities there is a small amount of native leguminous plants that can serve as forage, and the planting of conventional leguminous crops is limited by poor soil quality (García et al [2]). Lotus glaber Mill., commonly known as narrowleaf birdsfoot trefoil, is a perennial leguminous plant suitable for forage endemic to Europe. It was introduced in Argentina in about 1930, and it spread naturally in the pastureland of Flooding Pampas. During the 1970s, it attracted interest as a forage species, given its nutritional qualities and the fact that it does not cause meteorism. Numerous authors consider it an improved natural pastureland species, of great importance for the region’s livestock breeding (Barufaldi et al. [3]). The soils this species occupies have poor fertility and drainage, moderate sodium levels and low concentrations of available phosphorus. Frequent disturbances in local vegetation, such as agricultural work, overgrazing, fires in communities of tussock paspulum (Paspalum quadrifarium), and floods, have facilitated L. glaber’s colonisation (Juan et al. [4], Miñon et al. [5]). Its growth pattern is spring-summer-autumn, growing intensely in spring and early summer, later decaying with flowering and recovering quickly in the fall after going to seed. The fodder produced has a high nutritional value that varies little throughout the cycle, even during the seed-bearing stage. L. glaber is a diploid species whose chromosome number is 2n=2x=12. Its growth is semi-prostrate to prostrate, it has a pivotal root with lateral branching, and its stalk is round at the base and squared at the section of active growth. Its inflorescence is a typical umbellate, with 2-8 flowers joined by a short pedicel to a long peduncle. Each leaf consists of five foliolae, which are generally oblanceolate, ellipticoblanceolate or narrowly obovate (Kirbride [6]). Induced polyploids have been used in some forage species such as Dactylis glomerata ssp. lusitanica, Lolium perenne, Lolium multiflorum, Secale cereale, Trifolium pratense, Trifolium hybridum, and Lotus pedunculatus, for the purpose of obtaining improved autotetraploid cultivars or to generate interspecific hybrids. In general, the induced autotetraploids in ryegrass, rye, clovers and big trefoil show better establishment, higher in vitro digestibility and forage production, and better performance in response to such adverse factors as disease, frost and drought, than corresponding diploids. In Argentina, there have been scant efforts to genetically improve L. glaber, which has resulted in poor availability of cultivars. There are few antecedents for obtaining induced tetraploid plants (2n=4x=24) through the chromosomal doubling of diploid plants, and no tetraploid cultivars are on the market. In Azul, a Buenos Aires province, an L. glaber genetic improvement programme obtained an induced tetraploid cultivar population called Leonel WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


71

(2n=4x=24), (Barufaldi et al. [7]). This population was obtained through colchicine treatment of seedlings obtained from seeds collected from naturalised L. glaber populations. The programme aimed to obtain tetraploid cultivars with enhanced productive and health aspects, selected for the Flooding Pampas’s normal grazing conditions. In addition to preserving the species’ valuable characteristics, this population exhibits a series of significant morphological modifications compared with diploid populations. In previous articles referring to this improvement programme, increased dry material was detected when compared to a control diploid population (Barufaldi et al. [8]). It could be assumed that this increase is due in part to the larger size of the foliolae in the evaluated tetraploid (“tetraploid cytotype”), compared with diploids (“diploid cytotype”). Furthermore, in another article (Barufaldi et al. [3]) the area of the central foliolae in the Leonel population was studied, and a formula was determined that allows for the estimation of the foliolae’s area, based on its width. Most morphological diversity studies focus on the classification of species and the differences within species on a broad geographical scale, with the goal of generating strategies that optimise in situ preservation and examining inter- and intra-regional morphological diversity specific to species. Moreover, the study of populations’ morphological stability is also important when requesting the registration of varieties of agricultural plant species. The programme under way has the long-term objective of achieving an improved cultivar derived from the Leonel germplasm and registering it. In Argentina, marketing the seed of a new cultivar currently requires its prior registration with the National Seed Institute (INASE). There are two agencies that authorise its distribution: the National Cultivar Register (RNC), which regulates all species; and the Taxation System (RF), which applies only to cultivars from the major agricultural species. The latter is obligatory, authorising the marketing of seeds in the Inspected category, as well as those in the Identified category. All cultivars identified for the first time are registered with the RNC. The legislation in force, Decree No. 2183/91, distinguishes between “new” and “unknown” varieties, on one hand, and “publicly known” varieties. Whoever requests registration of a cultivar must describe its morphological, phenological and health characteristics in a way that distinguishes it from other cultivars, and make a commitment to maintain the material’s genetic purity. In the case of L. glaber, required information includes data on the typical (central) foliolae, and for this purpose it is necessary to determine: 1) its shape (linear, lanceolate, linear-lanceolate, oblong, oval, or other); 2) its length; and 3) its width. If the long-term objective is to achieve a new variety and register it, the description of its morphology, among other characteristics, has a clear importance. The central foliolae’s features are useful in the characterisation of the germplasm and for genetic and evolutionary studies (Urrea and Singh [9]). This study evaluated the seasonal stability of the central foliolae of the Leonel induced tetraploid population of Lotus glaber, in regard to size and shape, for the


72 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI purpose of determining whether there is morphological variation within the population during different seasons

2

Materials and methodology

All experimental materials and data were utilised in the Azul Agronomy School, Buenos Aires province (36º 45´ S, 59º 50´ W and 132 msm), Argentina, during 2006. The plant material was taken from the Leonel population. During the month of March 2006, 200 seeds were left to germinate in accordance with ISTA norms. The seedlings obtained were transplanted in 2-litre plastic planters, with soil and compost; when they reached the height of 15 cm they were permanently transplanted in 5-litre plastic planters and remained in a greenhouse under optimal temperature and irrigation conditions. The samples were obtained while the plants were in a vegetative state: season 1 (winter), season 2 (late winter) and season 3, at the start of the reproductive state (late spring). For each season, 40, 61 and 50 planters, respectively, were selected at random. Three stalks were taken at random from each plant, and from each of them the central foliolae corresponding to the first developed (expanded) leaf from the apex was utilised. For each of the foliolae, measurements were taken of: 1) the central foliolae’s length in centimetres, from the foliar lamina’s point of insertion in the petiole to the foliolae’s apex, and 2) the central foliolae’s width measured in centimetres at an angle perpendicular to the central nerve of the foliolae’s widest point. On the basis of this data, the central foliolae’s area was estimated using the model Af =1.76658 A - 0.4990925 (Barufaldi et al. [3]). The central foliolae’s shape is determined by its length and width, following the classification presented by (Hickey [10]). An analysis of variance has been performed, using a completely random design with one factor – i.e., seasons – and the variables of area, length, width and length/width ratio. Furthermore, for each season considered, linear regressions between length (dependent variable) and width (independent variable) were adjusted

3

Data analysis

The results of the variance analysis, applied to a completely random design and a model with a single factor (seasons) for the variables of area, length, width and length/width ratio of the central foliolae, are presented in tables 1–4. Significant differences were detected between the three seasons for the four variables studied. The means are compared through Duncan’s test, as reflected in tables 5–8. The sizes of the central foliolae, evaluated according to their area, proved to be significantly different for the three seasons studied. The largest sizes were found in the vegetative states, corresponding to seasons 1 and 2. During season 3 – that is, at the start of the reproductive state – the foliolae were at their smallest size. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


Table 1:

ANOVA for the variable: Area of the central foliolae. Dependent variable: Area. Squared = .229 (Adjusted R Squared = .225). Source Corrected Model Intercept season Error Total Corrected Total

Table 2:

Type III Sum of Squares

df

6,746(a)

2

224,369 6,746 22,736 253,288

1 2 449 452

29,481

451

Mean Square

F

Sig.

3,373

66,607

,000

224,369 3,373 ,051

4430,973 66,607

,000 ,000

ANOVA for the variable: Length of the central foliolae (LCF). Dependent Variable: LCF. R Squared = .077 (Adjusted R Squared = .073). Source Corrected Model Intercept Season Error Total Corrected Total

Table 3:

73


df

Mean Square

F

Sig.

1,521(a)

2

,760

18,810

,000

935,759 1,521 18,191 978,768

1 2 450 453

935,759 ,760 ,040

23147,731 18,810

,000 ,000

19,712

452

ANOVA for the variable: Width of the central foliolae (WCF). Dependent Variable: WCF. R Squared = .237 (Adjusted R Squared = .233).

Source Corrected Model


df

Mean Square

F

Sig.

2,259(a)

2

1,130

69,735

,000

Intercept

208,201

1

208,201

12853,395

,000

season

2,259

2

1,130

69,735

,000

Error

7,289

450

,016

Total

219,969

453

Corrected Total

9,548

452

For the LCF, the largest measurement of 1.53 cm was taken in season 3, which was significantly different from the other two seasons, which did not exhibit any differences among themselves. As for WCF, significant differences were detected for all the seasons (1, 2 and 3), with measurements of 0.68 cm, 0.78 cm and 0.60 cm, respectively.


74 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI Table 4:

ANOVA for the variable: length/width (L/W) of the central foliolae. Dependent Variable: L/W. R Squared = .416 (Adjusted R Squared = .413). Source Corrected Model Intercept season Error Total Corrected Total


df

Mean Square

F

Sig.

41,226(a)

2

20,613

160,115

,000

2118,421 41,226 57,932 2307,855

1 2 450 453

2118,421 20,613 ,129

16455,418 160,115

,000 ,000

99,157

452

Table 5:

Duncan’s test for the variable area. Area of central foliolae Alpha 0.001

season

N

3,00

150

1,00

182

2,00

120

Subset 1

2

,5586 ,7093 ,8765

Sig.

1,000

Table 6:

3

1,000

1,000

Duncan’s test for the variable LCF. Length of central foliolae: LCF Alpha 0,001 season

Subset

N

1

183

1,3973

2,00

120

1,4463

3,00

150

1,5325

Sig.

Table 7:

2

1,00

,038

1,000

Duncan’s test for the variable WCF. Width of central foliolae: WCF Alpha 0.001 season

N

3,00

150

1,00

183

2,00

120

Sig.

Subset 1

2

3

,5980 ,6842 ,7820 1,000

1,000

1,000



Table 8:

season 2,00 1,00 3,00 Sig.

75

Duncan’s test for the variable L/W. Length/Width ratio: L/W Alpha 0.001 Subset N 1 2 1,87 120 63 183 2,0885 150 1,00 1,000 0

3

2,6195 1,000

Analysis of the L/W ratio allowed for determination of the foliolae’s shapes. During the winter period, seasons 1 and 2, the foliolae were narrowly obovate, while during the spring they were oblanceaolate. These results lead to the conclusion that there is a high level of variation, in length and width, as well as the foliolae’s shape and size, during the states of vegetative development (seasons 1 and 2) and the start of the reproductive state (season 3), as can be observed in table 9. Table 9:

Measurements of variables studied for different seasons.

Seasons

Length Width

L/W

Shape

1 Winter

1,3973

,6842

2,0885 narrowly obovate ,7093

2 Late Winter

1,4463

,7820

1,8763 narrowly obovate ,8765

3 Late Spring

1,5325

,598

2,6195

oblanceolate

Area

,5586

3.1 Mathematical modelling Mathematical models have been determined for calculating the ratio of foliolae length as a function of width (length/width). Of the models studied, the best were linear models without intercept – i.e., linear regressions expressed by straight lines that pass through the origin. In all cases, the significance tests of the regressions for each season detected that the variable in question (width) made a significant contribution. Tables 10–12 show ANOVA, the estimates of the mathematical models and R2. Figure 1 shows the linear regressions without intercept for each season.



LCF Season 1: ANOVA, the estimates of the mathematical models and R2.

Mean Sum of Squares df Square Regression 355,801 1 355,801 Residual 8,339 182 ,046 Total 364,140 183 The independent variable is WCF. The equation was estimated without the constant term. Coefficients Unstandardized Standardized Coefficients Coefficients Std. B Beta t Error WCF 1,998 ,023 ,988 88,121

R ,988 Table 11:

R Square ,977

Adjusted R Square ,977

F Sig. 7765,326 ,000

Sig. ,000

Std. Error of the Estimate ,214


Mean Sum of Squares df Square Regression 250,427 1 250,427 Residual 4,065 119 ,034 Total 254,492 120 The independent variable is WCF. The equation was estimated without the constant term. Coefficients Unstandardized Standardized Coefficients Coefficients Std. B Beta t Error WCF 1,826 ,021 ,992 85,624 Std. Error Adjusted R of the Square R R Square Estimate ,992 ,984 ,984 ,185


F Sig. 7331,521 ,000

Sig. ,000


Table 12:

77


Mean Sum of Squares df Square Regression 350,257 1 350,257 Residual 9,879 149 ,066 Total 360,136 150 The independent variable is WCF. The equation was estimated without the constant term. Coefficients Unstandardized Standardized Coefficients Coefficients Std. B Beta t Error WCF 2,508 ,035 ,986 72,683

R ,986

R Square ,973

Adjusted R Square ,972

F Sig. 5282,792 ,000

Sig. ,000

Std. Error of the Estimate ,257

REGRESSIONS 3.5 3 2.5

LFC

2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0

0.5

1

1.5

AFC Season 1

Figure 1:

Season 2

Season 3

Regressions linear of the length in the seasons.



4

Conclusions

The results obtained demonstrate that there is important variation in the size and shape of the central foliolae between the vegetative period and the start of the reproductive state. The analyses of variance, using a completely random design with one factor – i.e., seasons – carried out for each variable, detected significant differences (1%) in all cases. For LCF, the largest measurement of 1.53 cm corresponded to season 3, which was significantly different from measurements in the other two seasons, which did not show significant differences among themselves. As for the WCF, significant differences were detected for all the seasons (1, 2 and 3), with measurements of 0.68 cm, 0.78 cm and 0.60 cm, respectively. Analysis of the L/W ratio allowed for determination of the foliolae’s shapes. During the winter period, seasons 1 and 2, the foliolae were narrowly obovate, while during the spring they were oblanceaolate. It has been established that in the former state the shape is narrowly obovate and in the second it is oblanceaolate. These conclusions are important because they constitute progress in the characterization of the new germplasm’s central foliolae. Subsequent studies will make it possible to complete the list of requisites for achieving a complete characterisation needed for registration. The results obtained allow us to conclude that there is a high level of variation in length and width, as well as the foliolae’s shape and size, during the states of vegetative development (seasons 1 and 2) and the start of the reproductive state (season 3).

Acknowledgement This work was supported in part by funds from AE/07/074 Generalitat Valenciana.

(YVE) from

References [1] [2]

[3] [4]

Sácido, M. (2001). Pampa Deprimida Bonaerense, Descripción, Estado Actual y Manejo Sustentable. Primer Congreso Nacional sobre Manejo de Pastizales Naturales. Santa Fe, Argentina. 9-11de agosto. pp. 26-28. García, E., Rambeaud, D. E., Serpa, G. P. & Serrano, P.M. (1994). Lotus tenuis Waldst et Kit.Un importante recurso forrajero para la Pampa Deprimida Argentina. Pergamino. Estación Agropecuaria. Boletín de Divulgación Técnica Nº 102. pp. 20. Barufaldi, M., Villacampa, Y., Sastre-Vázquez, P. and Verdú F. (2007). A systems study of lotus’s leaf area. Kybernetes. Vol 36, Nº2, pp. 225235. Juan, V.; Monterroso, L.; Sácido M. and Cauhépé (2000). Postburning legume seeding in the Flooding Pampas, Argentina. Journal of Range Managent, 53, pp. 300-304. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


[5] [6] [7]

[8]

[9] [10]

79

Miñon, D., Sevilla, G., Montes, L. & Fernández (1990). LOTUS TENUIS: leguminosa forrajera para la Pampa Deprimida. Boletín técnico Nº 98. INTA EEA, Balcarce. pp. 15. Kirbride, J. (1999). Lotus Systematics and Distribution. In: Trefoil: The Science and Technology. CSSA Special Publication Number 28. pp. 1-20. Barufaldi, M., Andrés, A., Crosta, H. & Eseiza, M.(2000).Obtención de una población autotetraploide de Lotus glaber Mill. (Lotus tenuis Waldst. & Kit). Revista de Tecnología Agropecuaria INTA Pergamino, Vol. V (15): pp.45-50. ISSN 0328-7750. Barufaldi, M. S., Crosta H., Eseiza, M., Cardozo, J., Schwab, M., Scenpio, V., Egoburo. D. ( 2002) .Evaluación preliminar del efecto de la poliploidía en Lotus glaber Mill. Taller interdisciplinario sobre aspectos genéticos, moleculares y ecofisiológicos del Lotus spp. y sus simbiontes. Sección: Taller de Mejoramiento Genético y Manejo de Cultivares. Organizado por el Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas -Instituto Tecnológico de Chascomús. IIB - INTECh / UNSAM - CONICET. Chascomús, 11-13 September. Urrea, C. and S. Singh. (1991). Variation for leaflet shape in wild and cultivated landraces of common bean. Ann. Rep. Bean Improv. Coop. 34:13. Hickey, L. J. (1974). Clasificación de la arquitectura de las hojas de dicotiledóneas. Boletín de la Sociedad Argentina de Botánica. Vol. XVI (1-2): pp. 1-27.




81

A phenological model for the soybean A. Confalone1, Y. Villacampa2, J. A. Reyes2, F. García-Alonso2 & F. Verdú2 1

Cátedra de Agrometeorología, Facultad de Agronomía de Azul-UNCPBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2 Departamento de Matemática Aplicada, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain

Abstract Predicting the time of soybean flowering is a critical step for crop management practices and for the development of crop models. The main objective of this study was to quantify the effect of the photoperiod and of temperature on the duration of the different phenological periods (flowering, first pod and physiological maturity), and to evaluate the response of a simple linear model for predicting phenological periods in Azul, centre of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It also used the methodology defined in the work of Summerfield et al. (Measurement and prediction of flowering in soybeans in fluctuating field environments. In: World Soybean Research Conference 4, 1989, Buenos Aires. Argentina Soybeans Association, 1989. pp. 82-87) which generates families of mathematical models with non-linear parameters and includes the study of linear models to obtain other models. Finally the sensitivity of the models to the variations produced by the experimental data was studied by applying the methodology used in Summerfield et al., Verdu and Villacampa (A computer program for a Monte Carlo analysis of sensitivity in equations of environmental modelling obtained from experimental data. Advances in Engineering Software. Vol. 33, Nº 6. pp.351-359, 2002) and Verdu and Villacampa (A Computational algorithm for the multiple generation of nonlineal mathematical models and stability study. Advances in Engineering Software. In Press). This allowed the model to be selected according to the criteria. Keywords: soybean, photoperiod, temperature, development, modelling, stability.

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070091


1

Introduction

Temperature and photoperiod produce qualitative changes throughout the soybean cultivation cycle and are therefore important for its development (Hadley et al., [8]; Summerfield et al., [17]; Grimm et al., [7]). Several studies have characterised the sowing-flowering phenological subperiod of soybean cultivation with regard to its sensitivity to temperature and photoperiod (Major et al., [12]; Jones and Laing, [10]; Hodges and French, [9]; Wilkerson et al., [22]; Rodrigues et al., [14]). Sensitivity to the photoperiod varies according to the genotype. The degree of response to the photoperiodic stimulation is the main determining factor of the area of adaptation of different crops. With sensitive soybean crops, the response to the photoperiod is quantitative and not absolute, meaning that flowering will occur anyway. However, the time required will depend on the length of the day, with the induction being faster with short days than with long days. In this way, floral induction provokes the transformation of the vegetative meristems (differentiation of stalks and leaves) into reproductive (flower primordia), determining the final size of the plants (number of nodes) and thus their potential yield. Late-maturing crops are generally more sensitive to the photoperiod than early crops (Lawn and Byth, [11]; Major et al., [12]). Garner and Allard [6] concluded that in environments with a constant photoperiod, temperature has a significant influence on determining the time of flowering. There is an inverse relationship between the average temperature of a site and the number of days needed to reach the flowering stage (Pascale, [13]). The effect of the photoperiod and temperature on the flowering period of soybean has been studied using a quantitative relationship between these variables. Major et al. [12] used a multiplicative model of temperature and photoperiod to describe the time of flowering of soybean. Sinclair et al. [15] used linear and logistic models based on temperature and photoperiod to predict the date of flowering of soybean crops. Predicting the date when the phenological events of soybean occur is important for crop management and for use in growth and production models (Wang et al. [21]). Knowledge of the dates of the occurrence of phenological events allows us to manage the crop better. We also avoid the periods of stress that characterise certain environments where soybean is cultivated and we can identify the relationship with the production of dry material and grain. Use of the concept of development rate (inverse to duration) developed by Wit et al. [23] was a major advance in the prediction of the phenological behaviour of soybean crops. Hadley et al. [8] used this concept to define the development rate as the inverse of the time between sowing and flowering (1/f). In this way, if a crop has a long period between sowing and flowering (f: days), it will have a low development rate (1/f: days-1). We can then analyse the length of the period by means of the 1/f as a linear additive function of the average temperature (T) and photoperiod (F) for the period in question, using the equation:



1 f

= a ′ + b′T + c ′F ,

83 (1)

where 1/f is the development rate, the values of T and F represent the average temperature and photoperiod between sowing and flowering, and a ′ , b′ , c′ are empirical coefficients; b′ and c′ are estimators of the sensitivity to temperature and photoperiod respectively. With genotypes that are not sensitive to the photoperiod or below a threshold photoperiod, equation 1 only includes the first two terms. This simple approach has been successfully used with soybean development prediction models for a wide range of genotypes and environments (Summerfield et al., [17]). This article aims to quantify the effect of photoperiod and temperature on the duration of the flowering period, as well as in other phenological sub-periods of the crop. To this end, families of models will be identified that allow us to predict the different phenological periods of soybean crops in Azul, in the centre of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

2

Materials and methods

An experiment was conducted from 1997 to 2002 on a Typic Argiudol in the experimental farm of the Facultad de Agronomía - UNCPBA, located in Azul, Buenos Aires, Argentina (36º45’S; 59º50´W; 132m elevation). Two indeterminate cultivars (Asgrow 4656 and Don Mario 4800 RR) were sown to achieve a final density of 30 plants/m2. The temperature and photoperiod data were obtained from the Centro Regional de Agrometeorología (Regional Agrometeorology Centre) FAAUNCPBA (CRAGM-Boletines 1997-2003). The treatments used in this work were with irrigation (soil kept at approximately field capacity) and without limitations of nutrients. The water applied daily to supplement rainfall was distributed by a drip system and was calculated using the methodology recommended by the FAO (Allen et al., [1]). The field capacity value was determined using the Cassel and Nielsen method (Cassel and Nielsen, [2]). Weekly soil water content measurements were made with gravimetric samples (Gardner, [5]). Monitoring of the temporal evolution of the phenology of the different bean crop sowing dates had to be carried out visually, three times a week, using the development stages key proposed by Fehr et al. [4]. Every two days, visual observations were carried out to check the foliar expansion of four marked plants. This was carried out for each plot and for each sowing date. A leaf was regarded as expanded when its base was flat, losing the characteristic rolled appearance of the young leaf. The plants in each plot were regarded as having reached a certain stage or phase of development when 50% of the plants showed the morphological characteristics described in the key.


84 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI In order to create the models, the following phenological phases equivalent to the key proposed by Fehr et al. [4] after sowing were analysed: •

Flowering (F): 50% of the plants with one flower open on any node on the main stalk (R1; Fehr et al., [4]). Start of pods (1V): 50% of the plants with 0.5 cm pods on any node on the main stalk (R3; Fehr et al., [4]). Physiological maturity (MF): 50% of the plants with mature pods (R7; Fehr et al., [4]).

• •

3

Models

In order to obtain the models defined on the basis of the experimental data, the methodologies defined by Spss. [16] and Verdu and Villacampa [19] were used. The former was used to seek linear models and the latter to obtain families of non-linear models in the parameters, also being able to obtain the linear models defined on the basis of Spss. [16]. The phenological stages defined by sowing-flowering, flowering-first pod and first pod-maturity were defined. For each of these stages, models were generated to study the days passed since sowing, f. Models were determined to show us their variation on the basis of the sum of the thermal time or “degree days” and the photoperiod. 3.1 Models for the Asgrow 4656 cultivar Mathematical models were developed for this cultivar that quantify the days since sowing. Of the family of models obtained, the linear model could be used for all phenological stages. The sowing-flowering stage obtained the model: (2) f = 0.1026 * Suma Temp - 0.0726 * F + 1.7 , R2= 0.9 The flowering-first pod stage obtained the model: f = 0.105 * Suma Temp + 8.639 * F - 137.924 , R2= 0.9 (3) The first pod-maturity stage obtained the model: f = 0.044 * Suma Temp - 12.975 * F + 231.823 , R2=0.9 (4) 3.2 Models for the D. Mario cultivar Mathematical models were developed for this cultivar that quantify the days since sowing. Of the family of models obtained, the linear model could be used for all phenological stages. In the sowing-flowering stage: f = 0.079 * Suma Temp + 5.77 * F - 85.98 , R2=0.9 (5) f =

3

0.079 * Suma Temp − 1.637 + ( 0.931*F -12.675 ) , R2=0.9


(6)


In the flowering-first pod stage: f = 0.082 * Suma Tempe + 8.79 * F -134.6347 , R2=0.9 In the first pod-maturity stage: f = 0.00557 * Sum Temp - 9.9817 * F + 166.384 , R2=0.9

85 (7) (8)

3.3 Stability of the models The stability of the models was studied by applying the methodology developed in (Verdu and Villacampa, [18]; Villacampa et al. [20]). The linear models of the Asgrow 4656 cultivar were stable when carrying out perturbations of up to 20% in the three phenological stages. The stability of the models (Eq. 2), (Eq. 3) and (Eq. 4) can be seen in Fig1, Fig 2 and Fig 3, respectively:

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.


86 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI The x-axis represents the percentage of the perturbation carried out on the experimental data and the y-axis represents the variation of a model as a percentage. The stability of the D. Mario cultivar was also studied. In this case, the linear models (Eq. 7) and (Eq. 8) are stable. However, the linear model (Eq. 5) corresponding to the sowing-flowering stage was not stable and only tolerated perturbations of up to 1% of the experimental data. This led to the new stable model defined in (Eq. 6) being obtained. The stability of the models (Eq. 7) and (Eq. 8) can be seen in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 respectively. In Fig. 6 it can be seen that the linear model defined by (Eq. 5) is not stable. Fig. 7 shows the stability graph for the model defined in (Eq. 6).

Figure 4.

Figure 6.

Figure 5.

Figure 7.



4

87

Conclusions

The models obtained show that the phenology of soybean is highly dependent on temperature and photoperiod. Each cultivar shows a different degree of sensitivity to each of the abovementioned factors, giving different models depending on the cultivar and the phenological stage in question. The linear models are seen to be stable except for the sowing-flowering phenological stage of the D. Mario cultivar. However, a stable non-linear model was obtained. The stability was analysed using perturbations of up to 20% carried out on the experimental data. The same methodology was used to generate models for the development rate 1/f as proposed by Hadley et al. In this case, the models were not stable, meaning that the models obtained for f were regarded as more appropriate. These models allow us to predict the phenology of soybean in the centre of the province of Buenos Aires.

Acknowledgement This work was supported in part by funds from AE/07/074 Generalitat Valenciana.

(YVE) from

References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Allen, R. G., Pereira, L. S., Raes, Smith , D , M., Crop evapotranspiration. Guidelines for computing crop water requirements, FAO Irrigation and drainage paper nº 56. FAO, 1998. Cassel, D.K.; Nielsen, D.R. Field capacity and available water capacity, In, Klute, A. (ed). Methods of soil analysis, Madison, ASA-SSSA, Monograph nº9, pp. 25, 1986. Cragm - Boletín Agrometeorológico del Centro-Sur de la Provincia de Buenos Aires.,Facultad. Agron. Azul, Buenos Aires, 1997,1998, 2002 y 2003. Fehr, W. R., Calviness, C. E., Burmood, D. T.; Pennington, J. S., Stage of development description for soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill, Crop Science, Madison, v. 11, pp. 929-931, 1971. Gardner, W.H., Water content In, Klute, A. (ed.). Methods of soil analysis. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA, Madison, WI, pp. 493-594, 1986. Garner, W. W., Allard, H. A., Photoperiodic response of soybeans in relation to temperature and other environmental factors, Journal of Agricultural Research, Washington, v. 41, pp. 719-735, 1930. Grimm, S.S., Jones, J.W., Boote, K.J., Hesketh, J.D. Parameter estimation for predicting flowering date of soybean cultivars. Crop Science, v. 33, pp. 137-144, 1993. Hadley, P., Roberts, E. H., Summerfield, R. J.; Mincchin, F. R. Effects of temperature and photoperiod on flowering in soya bean [Glycine max (L.) WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


[9] [10] [11]

[12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

[18]

[19] [20] [21] [22] [23]

Merril]: a quantitative model. Annals of Botany, London, v.53, pp. 669681, 1984. Hodges, T., French, V., Soyphen: soybean growth stages modeled from temperature, daylength, and water availability, Agronomy Journal, Madison, v. 77, pp. 500-505, 1985. Jones, P. G., Laing, D. R., Simulation of the phenology of soybeans, Agricultural Systems, Oxford, v. 3, pp. 295-311, 1978. Lawn, R. J., Byth, D. E., Response of soya beans to planting date in South-Eastern Queensland. I. Influence of photoperiod and temperature on phasic development patterns. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, Collingwood, v. 24, pp. 67-80, 1973. Major, D. J., Johnson, D. R., Tanner, J. W., Anderson, I. C., Effects of daylength and temperature on soybean development, Crop Science, Madison, v. 15, pp. 174-179, 1975. Pascale, A. J. Tipos agroclimáticos para el cultivo de la soya en la Argentina, Revista de la Facultad de Agronomía e Veterinaria, Buenos Aires, v. 17, pp. 31-38, 1969. Rodrigues, O.; Didonet, A., Lhamby,J.; Bertagnolli, P.; Luz, J. Resposta quantitativa do florescimento da soja à temperatura e ao fotoperíodo. Pesquisa Agropecuaria Brasileira, v.36, pp. 431-437, 2001. Sinclair, T. R., Kitani, S., Hinson, K., Bruniard, J., Horie, T. Soybean flowering date: linear and logistic models based on temperature and photoperiod. Crop Science, Madison, v. 31, pp. 786-790, 1991. Spss. Inc. Software. (1999). Chicago. EE.UU. Summerfield, R.J., Roberts, E. H., Lawn, R.J. Measurement and prediction of flowering in soybeans in fluctuating field environments. In: World Soybean Research Conference 4, 1989, Buenos Aires. Argentina Soybeans Association, 1989. pp. 82-87. Verdu, F & Villacampa, Y. A computer program for a Monte Carlo analysis of sensitivity in equations of environmental modelling obtained from experimental data. Advances in Engineering Software. Vol. 33, Nº 6. pp.351-359, 2002. Verdu, F & Villacampa, Y. A Computational algorithm for the multiple generation of nonlineal mathematical models and stability study. Advances in Engineering Software. In Press. Villacampa, Y; Verdu, F, Pérez, A. A Stability theory for model systems. Kybernetes. Vol.36, Nº.5-10.pp. 1-23, 2007. Wang, Z.; Reddy, R. V.; Quebedaux, B. Growth and photosynthetic responses of soybean to short-term cold temperature. Environmental and Experimental Botany, W. Conshohocken, v. 37, pp. 13-24, 1997. Wilkerson, G. G.; Jones, J. W.; Boote, K. J.; Buol, G. S. Photoperiodically sensitive interval in time to flower of soybean. Crop Science, Madison, v. 29, pp. 721-726, 1989. Wit, C. T.; Brouwer, R.; Vries, F. W. T. P. The simulation of photosynthetic systems. In: SETLIK, I. (Ed.). Prediction and measurement of photosynthetic productivity. Wageningen: PUDOC, 1970. pp. 47-70. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

Section 4 Environmental risk



91

Modelling arsenic transport in a river basin: a case study in Finland Ä. Bilaletdin1, H. Kaipainen1, T. Ruskeeniemi2 & A. Parviainen3 1

Pirkanmaa Regional Environment Centre, Finland Geological Survey of Finland 3 Helsinki University of Technology, Finland 2

Abstract Arsenic undergoes a number of changes in response to environmental conditions such as pH, redox potential and other soluble compounds and solid phases present in the system. As exact transfer modelling requires huge amounts of data, a relatively simple calculation method is needed for large sites. A model has to contain enough essential processes, state variables etc. but it should not require too much data, and the running of the model should not be too laborious. This is especially important for modelling tools designed to assist authorities in their tentative environmental reviews. The aim of this study is to develop a statistical arsenic transport model for surface waters using monitored data and to take into account the discharge of small rivers and the sub-catchments, calculated using a runoff model. Dilution, sedimentation and chemical processes are presumable processes regarding arsenic transport. The general form of the model is an advection-dispersion model and the first order kinetics. The advection-dispersion model, separately for particle bounded arsenic and soluble arsenic, has been used to simulate the total arsenic concentration. The driving process for particle bounded arsenic is sedimentation and the driving state variable for soluble arsenic is pH. The main conclusion of this study is that by using a quite simple mass balance model it was possible to simulate arsenic transport in surface waters for risk assessment purposes. Keywords: arsenic, transport model, RAMAS, surface water, advectiondispersion.



1

Introduction

RAMAS is a three-year project (2004 - 2007) funded by the participating organizations and the LIFE Environment programme of the European Union. The acronym RAMAS arises from the project title "Risk Assessment and risk Management procedure for ArSenic in the Tampere region". The project is targeting the Province of Pirkanmaa which comprises 28 municipalities, and has 469 000 inhabitants within its area. All over the world, numerous active or abandoned mine sites and ore processing plants bear potential to contaminate their surrounding soils and waters with metals and other compounds. One of the most harmful and rather common elements is arsenic. Because arsenic in ground water and surface water poses a risk to ecosystem and human health, more detailed information is needed on the factors that govern arsenic fate and transport in the environment. Arsenic undergoes a number of changes in response to environmental conditions such as pH, and redox potential and other soluble compounds and solid phases present in the system. These factors are important as they determine the fate and biological availability of the arsenic in mine tailings, effluent discharge and affected sediments. Several transport models have been proposed for the geochemical cycling of arsenic. Exact modelling requires huge amounts of data and detailed understanding of the whole system. Since this is rarely the case, relatively simple, but sufficiently sensitive calculation method is needed for large sites. A model has to contain the most essential processes, state variables etc. but it should not require too much input data and the running of the model should not be too laborious. The objective of the work presented in this paper is to develop such a transport model. All over the world a lot of different methods to purify drinking water from arsenic have been studied, as well as, technologies removing arsenic from contaminated soils and waters (e.g. Garelick et al. [1] and Thirunavukkarasu et al. [2]). These studies provide useful information on the behaviour of arsenic in process level. Much less studies have been carried out on arsenic transport in large river basins, even though this is a severe problem in many natural and anthropogenic areas (e.g. Bright et al. [3], Hancock et al. [4], Pettine et al. [5]).

2

Study area

The study area in the Vahantajoki river basin comprises an approximately seven kilometres long watercourse, here referred to as the transport route of arsenic, originating from the Ylöjärvi mining area and ending in the Lake Näsijärvi. The transport route begins from the Lake Parosjärvi, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the former mine and the tailings area. The lake is connected to the Stream Parosjärven oja, which flows into the Lake VähäVahantajärvi and into the Stream Vähä-Vahantajärven oja and, finally, into the Lake Näsijärvi, which is the major lake basin in the region. The sub-catchments of the Vahantajoki river basin are specified using a Digital Elevation Map.



93

The principal origin of the arsenic contamination in the surface waters of the study area is the copper-tungsten-arsenic (Cu-W-As) mine of Ylöjärvi, which was active during 1943-1966.The mining activities left behind two tailings areas of 4 ha and 17 ha, two open pits and underground galleries. It is estimated that about 4 Mt of tailings and waste rock is stored in the area. After closing the mine, the lake filled up again with water, and as a consequence part of the smaller tailings area, the open pits and the underground galleries filled with tailings were flooded, leaving a lot of arsenic, heavy metals and sulphides containing material subject to leaching of surface and groundwater. Reductive conditions are prevailing at the bottom of the lake, but two times a year seasonal temperature changes of the water mix the oxidative surface water with the deeper one, causing degradation and dissolution of the material. However, the main arsenic sources into the surface waters are the arsenic bearing sulphide minerals in the tailings areas. These minerals tend to weather and dissolve in contact with air and oxidizing rain water releasing arsenic and heavy metals into the environment.

3

Arsenic in the surface waters

The Ylöjärvi mine area provides a good reference area for developing a transport model of arsenic. The source term (the tailings area) is relatively well defined, there is long-term data on arsenic and heavy metal concentrations along the whole length of the transport route, as well as, studied information about the environmental impacts, which give some support for process level assumptions. To investigate the short-term dynamic changes in the arsenic transport a monthly monitoring of the surface waters and sediments of streams and lakes were implemented during the RAMAS Project in 2005. The conducted studies depict the gravity of the environmental impacts of the Ylöjärvi mine giving credible background information for further research and transport modelling of arsenic. Table 1 gives the arsenic concentrations in surface waters along the transport route. Table 1:

1 2 3 4 5 6

Arsenic (µg/l) at the various monitoring points of the Vahantajoki river basin. Data from the obligatory sampling under the supervision of the Pirkanmaa Regional Environment Centre reported by Carlson et al. [6] and Parviainen et al. [7].

Water sampling point Ditch from tailings to the Lake Parosjärvi Lake Parosjärvi surface Lake Parosjärvi bottom Stream Parosjärven oja 1 Stream Parosjärven oja 2 Stream Vähä-Vahantajärven oja Stream Vahantajoki alav mts Lake Näsijärvi surface Lake Näsijärvi bottom

Year 1982-1999 1975-2005 1975-2005 1975-2005 1975-2005 1975-2005 2005 2005 2005

Mean 258.8 66.6 155.3 60.2 57.9 16 7.1 2.9 23.4

Min 43 0.5 1.2 1 0.5 0.8 4 1.5 6


Max 580 160 910 380 850 65 14 6 66

Med 250 68 130 60 31 14 6.3 3 14

N 25 58 56 68 73 73 9 8 8


Figure 1:

RAMAS project surface water monitoring sites March – December 2005.

Monthly water samples collected by RAMAS imported new information about the dynamic changes in the arsenic transport complementing the annual, long-term monitoring data. In addition to arsenic, many other elements were analyzed from these water samples. These water samples used for the actual transport modelling of arsenic were collected from March to December in 2005 from the Lake Parosjärvi (sampling point 1), the Stream Parosjärven oja (sampling points 2 and 3), Stream Vähä-Vahantajärven oja (4), Stream Vahantajoki (sampling point 5) and Lake Näsijärvi (6) (fig. 1). Two sets of water samples were collected from each sampling point, filtered (0.45 µm) and nonfiltered. The filtered 60 ml samples were acidified with 0.3 ml of suprapure nitric acid. The non-filtered samples were used to assess the role of suspended material in the transport. The laboratory analyses were performed with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (AAG). The total arsenic values in this data progressively decreased from the Lake Parosjärvi towards the Lake Näsijärvi. The average concentrations of total arsenic in the sampling points were 109 µg/l in the sampling point 1 (surface), 118 µg/l in the sampling point 2, 60 µg/l in the sampling point 3, 19 µg/l in the sampling point 4, 7.2 µg/l in the sampling point 5 and 2,9 µg/l in the sampling point 6 (surface).

4

Model development

The aim of the arsenic transport model was to develop an empirical model using monitored data and to take into account the discharge of small rivers and the subWIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


95

catchments of the Vahantajoki river basin. The results of the sampling performed in 2005 were used in the study due to the limitations in the old data, which provided the total arsenic concentrations instead of the separation of dissolved and particulate-bounded fractions. The dynamical discharge values of small rivers in the study area can be calculated using the runoff model, VESISTÖMALLI, developed at the Finnish Environment Institute by Vehviläinen [8]. This model takes into account the meteorological and hydrological variables in the area. The model is based on a conceptual distributed runoff model, which is a Finnish version of the original HBV runoff model by Bergström [9], and water balance model for lake, river routing model and flood area models. Although quite rarely applied to metals, the mass-balance approach offers a useful technique for quantifying the transport of trace elements such as arsenic in surface water. In mass-balance considerations data on both hydrological conditions and chemical quality of water are taken into account simultaneously. Dilution, sedimentation and chemical processes are presumable processes controlling arsenic transport. The general form of the model is an advectiondispersion model and first order kinetics using eqn (1). The traditional advectiondispersion equation is a standard model for contaminant transport presented e.g. Kinnunen et al. [10]. In the model the river basin is divided into hydraulic elements parallel to the surface of the river basin. Hydraulic elements are considered to be homogenous and therefore differences in water quality are observed along the vertical axis of the river basin. The two basic principles of the model are the conservation of mass and the kinetic principle. The first principle implies conservation of mass even though material is changed in chemical and biological reactions from one form to another, while the kinetic principle states that the rate of change of a concentration is equal to the product of a coefficient and the concentrations of one or more variables that interact to cause the change. Estimation of parameters can be accomplished on the basis of experiments carried out in the field or in the laboratory, or parameters may be taken from the literature or estimated by calibration. c - ∂ A x ∂c = ∂  Ax D L ∂  ∂t ∂x  ∂x  ∂x

( Ax u c )+ S ( c,Fe,pH... ) Ax

(1)

c = concentration of arsenic t = time x = distance = area of the element Ax = dispersion coefficient DL u = advective velocity S = transformation processes The first term on the right-hand side describes diffusion and the second one vertical advection. The third term describes transformation processes, e.g. chemical transformation and settling phenomena. In this application diffusion is a minor factor. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

96 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI The starting point in developing the arsenic loss model was to assume that the transformation process obeys first order kinetics with a constant reaction rate coefficient. It means that all transformation processes can be defined by one constant reaction rate coefficient (eqn 2), since almost all transformation processes in the nature can be simplified. S = − ρc

(2)

ρ = reaction rate coefficient of transformation processes In fig. 2, the advection-dispersion model (eqn 1 and eqn 2) has been used to simulate the total arsenic concentration in different sampling points in 2005. 200 175

Stream Parosjärven oja 1 Stream Parosjärven oja 2 Stream Vähä-Vahantajärven oja Stream Vahantajoki alav mts

150

-1

As [µg l ]

125 100 75 50 25 0 01/05

Figure 2:

03/05

05/05

07/05

09/05

11/05

The simulation results of total arsenic concentration in different surface water sampling points from 2005 in the Ylöjärvi mine area using an advection-dispersion model and first order kinetics.

We can see that the results of the simulation are generally moderate in different sampling points but particularly in the beginning of the transport route (sampling point 2, Stream Parosjärven oja 1) a difference between the observations and the simulated results is quite significant. Therefore a more sophisticated description of transformation processes was tested. It seemed reasonable to divide total arsenic to particle-bounded and dissolved arsenic and to consider the different processes affecting the transport of arsenic, eqn 3.

c = c p + cs WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

(3)


97

cp = concentration of particle bounded arsenic cs = concentration of soluble bounded arsenic Particle bounded and soluble arsenic are behaving independently and these fractions have their own characteristic reaction processes. Generally we can write the following eqns (4–6): S = S p + Ss

(4)

S p =− ρ p cp

(5)

S s = − ρ s cs

(6)

ρ p = particle bounded arsenic process coefficient ρ s = soluble arsenic process coefficient There was no universal equation available and, therefore, for particle bounded arsenic sedimentation process was chosen as a principle factor controlling the arsenic transport in solid phase (eqn (5)). It is known that soluble arsenic reacts chemically in many ways. Complex ions of arsenic interact with secondary iron oxides and hydroxides, and in varying degrees with many manganese and aluminium precipitates. Clay and humus are also known to be good absorbents of arsenic. In this study the different correlations between soluble arsenic and other state variables were checked, but only the correlation of pH turned out to be significant (figs. 3 and 4). Therefore the equations (7) and (8) are the following:

ρ s = f ( pH ) ρ ' s

(7)

f ( pH ) = − 1.5 pH + 12

(8)

In fig. 5 the advection-dispersion model has been exploited separately for particle-bounded arsenic and soluble arsenic to simulate the total arsenic concentration in different sampling points. The driving process for particlebounded arsenic is sedimentation and the driving state variable for soluble arsenic is pH. When comparing figs. 2 and 5 it is evident the simulation result did not get essentially better, which suggests that the system is more complex and probably several factors not considered in this exercise are affecting the behaviour of arsenic. However, the model is capable to produce a fairly good estimate of the fate of arsenic in the transport route and the present version provides a sound basis for further developing work. The final simulation equations in this study were eqns (9) and (10) for particle bounded and soluble arsenic, respectively.


98 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI 180 160

Soluble As µg l

-1

140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

6.5

7.0

7.5

pH

Figure 3:

A correlation between pH and soluble arsenic in the Vahantajoki river basin in 2005.

7.5

7.0

pH

6.5

6.0

Stream Parosjärven oja 1 Stream Parosjärven oja 2 Stream Vähä-Vahantajärven oja Stream Vahantajoki alav mts

5.5

5.0 01/05

Figure 4:

03/05

07/05

09/05

11/05

The pH values in different surface water sampling points in the Vahantajoki river basin in 2005. The pH increases down stream and the variations become less drastic and abrupt. Ax

Ax

05/05

∂c p ∂t

=

∂c p ∂  A D x L ∂x  ∂x

 ∂ −  ∂x Ax u c p − ρ p c p 

(

)

∂c s ∂  ∂c  ∂ =  Ax D L s  − ( Ax u c s ) − ( 1.5 pH + 12 ) ρ ' s c s ∂t ∂x  ∂x  ∂x


(9)

(10)


99

175 Stream Parosjärven oja 1 Stream Parosjärven oja 2

150

Stream Vähä-Vahantajärven oja

-1

As [µg l ]

125

Stream Vahantajoki alav mts

100

75

50

25

0 0

Figure 5:

5

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

The advection-dispersion model, separately for particle bounded arsenic and soluble arsenic, has been used to simulate the total arsenic concentration in different sampling points in 2005.

Summary

The main result of this model development is that by using a quite simple mass balance model it was possible to simulate arsenic transport in different circumstances. Dilution, sedimentation and chemical processes are presumable processes regarding arsenic transport. One main goal of this approach was that on a catchment scale a relevant data survey should not be too laborious and expensive. The general form of the model is an advection-dispersion model and the first order kinetics. In order to improve the model and to understand the processes of a transport phenomenon, the particle bounded and dissolved fractions were treated separately. A fit of the simulation was better than using only total arsenic. The applied driving process for particle-bounded arsenic is sedimentation and the driving state variable for soluble arsenic is pH. Using this kind of approach the basic features of arsenic transportation can be studied and relevant data for risk assessment purposes can be produced. An advantage of this model is that it does not need very sophisticated data to achieve estimates of arsenic transport for surface waters in large catchments. The present model version provides a good starting point for future development.

References [1]

Garelick, H., Dybowska, A., Valsami-Jones, E. & Priest, N., Remediation Technologies for Arsenic Contaminated Drinking Waters. Journal of Soils and Sediment, 5(3), pp. 182-190, 2005. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

100 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI [2] [3] [4]

[5] [6] [7]

[8]

[9] [10]

Thirunavukkarasu, O.S., Viraraghavan, T. & Subramanian, K.S., Arsenic removal from drinking water using granular ferric hydroxide. Water SA, 29, pp. 161-170, 2003. Bright, D.A., Coedy, B., Dushenko, W.T. & Reimer, K.J., Arsenic transport in a watershed receiving gold mine effluent near Yellowknife, Canada. Total. Environ., 155, pp. 237-252, 1994. Hancock, T.C., Denver, J.M., Riedel, G.F. & Miller, C.V., Source, transport, and fate of arsenic in the Pocomoke River basin, a poultry dominated Chesapeake Bay watershed. U.S. Geol. Survey Workshop – Arsenic in the environment, Denver, CO, 2001 Pettine, M., Camusso, M. & Martinotti, W., Dissolved and particulate transport of arsenic and chromium in the Po River, Italy. Sci. Tot. Environm., 119, pp. 253-280, 1992. Carlson, L., Hänninen, P. & Vanhala, H., Ylöjärven Paroistenjärven kaivosalueen nykytilan selvitys. Geological Survey of Finland, Report S/41/0000/3/2002, 2002. Parviainen, A., Vaajasaari, K., Loukola-Ruskeeniemi, K., Kauppila, T., Bilaletdin, Ä., Kaipainen, H., Tammenmaa, J. & Hokkanen, T., Anthropogenic Arsenic Sources in the Tampere Region in Finland. Miscellaneous Publications of Geological Survey of Finland, Espoo, 2006 Vehviläinen, B., The watershed simulation and forecasting system in the National Board of Waters and Environment. Publications of the Water and Environment Research Institute. Helsinki, National Board of Waters and Environment, 17, 1994. Bergström, S., Development and application of a conceptual runoff model for Scandinavian catchments. SMHI reporter, RHO 7, Norrköping, 1976. Kinnunen, K., Nyholm, B., Niemi, J., Frisk, T., Kyläharakka, T. & Kauranne, T., Water quality modelling of Finnish water bodies. Publications of the Water Research Institute, 46, Helsinki, National Board of Waters and Environment, 1982.



101

Pollen contamination in Acacia saligna: assessing the risks for sustainable agroforestry M. A. Millar1, 2, 3 & M. Byrne2, 3 1

The University of Adelaide, Australia CRC for Plant Based Management of Dryland Salinity, Australia 3 Department of Environment and Conservation, Australia 2

Abstract Species developed for sustainable agroforestry may pose risks to remnant populations of closely related species via genetic contamination. Genetic contamination and the production of hybrid progeny may threaten the health and long-term viability of remnant populations. Acacia saligna is a native Western Australian species complex selected for further development for agroforestry in the agricultural areas of southern Australia. A. saligna shows great morphological, ecological, biological and genetic variation, and will be reclassified into a number of subspecies. This research aimed to develop genetic markers and use them to assess the levels and distances of gene flow via pollen dispersal between two of the proposed subspecies of Acacia saligna. Pollen dispersal from the abundantly flowering subsp. saligna into the poorer flowering subsp. lindleyi was high (32%). At the same site, pollen dispersal from subsp. lindleyi into subsp. saligna was much lower (14%). Most genetic contamination from subsp. saligna into subsp. lindleyi occurred at short distances (500 m t of rice straw produced each year [17]. Therefore, geotextile raw materials of rice and wheat straw and palm leaves are available bioresources. By the end of 2005, there were 2.52 m people with an annual per capita income 0

(1)

where Y is the output, l is the labour input, k is the capital input, and A is the technological change. The prices are constant. The total cost is:



C = pl l + p k k

(2)

where p l is the labour price, and p k is the capital price. The cost minimization program consists of minimizing the cost subject to the production function: α

min C = pl l + pk k subject to Y = A ⋅ l k

β

(3)

If we replace l and k by their expressions in the total cost expression, we obtain the following expression:

C=A

−

1

1

α +β

α +β

⋅Y

β α +β

⋅ pk

α α +β

⋅ pl

⋅a

(4)

α and β represent the scale effects. The main two drivers of endogenous technological change, represented by the A parameter, are the learning-by-doing and the learning-by-researching. The R&D expenditures (public and private) permit one to define the knowledge stock, which will be calculated on the basis of the following equation: (5) KS = (1 − δ ) ⋅ KS t −1 + R & D t−x

t

where KS t is the knowledge stock at time t , R&D t are the R&D expenditures

at time t , δ is the annual depreciation rate of knowledge stock and x is time lag for adding R&D to the knowledge stock. The A parameter is defined as follows: −λ −δ where λ < 0 and δ < 0 (6) A = Q KS where Q is the cumulative installed capacity and KS is the knowledge stock inherent to public and private R&D investments. λ represents the elasticity of the production to cumulative production and δ the elasticity of the production to cumulative R&D expenditures. The two parameters λ and δ therefore represent respectively the learning-by-doing and learning-by-researching rate. If we substitute equation (6) in equation (4) and if we assume that the inflationary effect of input prices can be taken into account by GNP deflator defined as: β α +β

pk

α α +β

⋅ pl

we obtain the following unitary cost function:


Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI λ

δ

c = Q α + β ⋅ KS α + β ⋅Y

1 − (α + β

231

)

α +β

(7)

⋅a

The equation that will be econometrically estimated is:  1 − (α + β  λ   δ  lo g c =   lo g Q +   lo g K S +  α + β  α + β   α +β + lo g a + ε

)

 lo g Y 

(8) where ε is an error term, c is the per-unit cost, Q is the cumulative installed capacity, KS is the knowledge stock and Y is the power generation capacity. The learning elasticities and the scale effects are calculated as follows:

α+β =

1 − (α + β ) 1 , λ = (α + β ) ⋅ µ where ψ = α+β 1 +ψ

where

µ=

λ α+β

and δ = (α + β ) ⋅η where η =

δ α +β

(9)

3.2 Data description and sources Global time series data of nine energy technologies were collected. They correspond to eleven regions in the world. Energy technologies were divided into two groups: conventional energy technologies and renewable energy technologies. These two groups are also divided into three subsamples: mature, evolving and emerging technologies. The database was provided by the LEPIIEPE (Laboratoire Economie Politique de l'Intégration Internationale et du Développement-Energie et Politique de l’Environnement), Grenoble, France. It has been assembled in the framework of the SAPIENT project (DG Research) to inform the world energy simulation model, POLES. The time series data needed for our estimations are provided in table 1. Table 1: Data Power generation capacities Government energy R&D Public knowledge stock Business energy R&D Business knowledge stock Energy technology cost

Description of the data. Unity MWe M$98 M$98 M$98 M$98 $90/kWe



4

Econometric estimation and result interpretation

The results of the econometric estimations are addressed in tables 2 and 3. We have used the OLS multiple regression technique. Detection of the possible multicolinearity among the explanatory variables was undertaken based on the Klein [5] test and the correlation matrix shows that no evidence of multicolinearity is suggested. The homescedasticity and independence conditions of residuals are also checked out. For the homescedasticity condition, we based on the White [6] test and for the residuals autocorrelation are based on Durbin and Watson [7] test, Breusch [8] test and Godfrey [9] test. The results show that the residuals are independent and identically distributed for all regressions. For the first two estimations, which correspond to coal and lignite conventional technologies, the returns to scale range from 1.076 to 1.326 meaning that increasing returns to scale may have taken place at the outset of the development and the deployment stages. The increasing returns to scale imply that these technologies face less market constraints in terms of commercial and expansion opportunities. They are, therefore, expected to be mature technologies that have reached the large diffusion stage. However, despite their mainstream position and widespread use, these technologies have low learning-by-doing and learning-by-researching rates, which range respectively from 2.80% to 5.32% and from 1.25% to 3.08%. This is not surprising since they are situated in the last stage of a technological change process: the diffusion and large scale deployment stage. Indeed, when technology is mature a doubling of cumulative installed capacity can take place rather slowly and over a long period of time due to saturation effects meaning that the prospects of cost reduction become limited. In the same way, the R&D expenditures flows are the least important compared to flows corresponding to an energy technology in the first stage of technological development process and, as consequence, the knowledge stock increases slowly. Table 2: Index 1. Y 2. Q 3. SC

Learning and scale effects estimation for conventional energy technologies. CCT -0.246 (-9.340)*** -0.060 (-3.668)*** -0.013 (-4.990)*** 1.326 -0.079 -0.018 5.32% 1.25% 0.967 31

LCT -0.071 (-2.972)*** -0.039 (-2.348)** -0.042 (-2.510)** 1.076 -0.041 -0.045 2.80% 3.08% 0.959 31

RS LBD elasticity LBS elasticity LBD rate LBS rate Adjusted R2 Number of observations ***significant at 1%, **significant at 5%, *significant at 10%.


NUC 0.098 (4.062)*** -0.279 (-6.103)*** -0.212 (-2.279)** 0.910 -0.254 -0.193 16.14% 12.53% 0.581 31


233

The third non-renewable energy technology analysed, the light water nuclear reactors, present, in contrast, decreasing returns to scale and relatively high learning rates. The results are different from those obtained for the coal and lignite conventional energy technologies because the light water nuclear reactors technology is considered to be evolving rather than mature. More accurately, high learning rates are explained by the relatively short period of time needed for the doubling of cumulative installed capacity and by the increasing rate of R&D devoted to support the development of light water nuclear reactors. Indeed, they represent 86% of the functioning park and 79% of the park under consideration and have a large prospect for development. However, the decreasing returns to scale means that despite the fact that the nuclear technology benefits from the experience effects of doubling of cumulative installed capacities and from R&D flows, it still faces serious barriers to market diffusion inherent especially to nuclear accidents and to radioactive wastes. Compared to the renewable energy technologies, it does not appear as a priority in energy policy and environmental concerns despite its considerable participation in the provision of electricity. We conclude, therefore, that differences in learning rates and returns to scale effects between the three energy technologies, which are classified in the category of non-renewable energy technologies, are mainly due to the differences in their technological change stage. Other technology properties, like the environmental or the economic characteristics can largely influence the diffusion rate of energy technologies. Table 3:

Learning and scale effects estimation for renewable energy technologies.

Index 1. Y

WND 0.068 (5.752)***

BF2 -0.879 (-1.709)

2. Q

-0.332 (-7.605)***

-1.381 (-0.908)

3. SC

-0.278 (-8.119)***

-0.718 (-1.440)

DPV 0.148 (2.461)* * -0.075 (1.735)* -0.063 (4.592)* ** 0.871 -0.065

RS 0.936 -LBD -0.311 -elasticity LBS elasticity -0.260 --0.054 -LBD rate 19.41% 4.40% -LBS rate 16.52% 3.67% Adjusted R2 0.985 0.326 0.976 Observations 31 12 31 ***significant at 1%, **significant at 5%, *significant at 10%.

RPV 0.157 (2.536)* * -0.079 (2.284)* * -0.067 (3.495)* ** 0.864 -0.068 -0.057 4.62% 3.87% 0.974 21

SPP 0.391 (-2.893)**

HYD -0.036 (-2.571)**

0.317 (5.587)**

0.718 --

-0.061 (10.115)** * -0.014 (17.545)** * 1.037 -0.064

-0.061 -4.14% 0.681 16

-0.014 4.35% 1% 0.993 31

-0.085 (-2.496)**

The estimation results of renewable energy technologies group are presented in table 3. The wind energy technology, which is an evolving technology, presents almost the same scheme evolution as the light water nuclear reactors WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

234 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI technology. The learning-by-doing and the learning-by-researching levels are high and respectively equal to 19.41% and 16.52%. However, despite the considerable growth trend of cumulative installed capacity associated with the continuous knowledge stock increase and considerable subsequent cost decrease, the wind energy technology still faces important and several market barriers in reaching a significant share of electricity resource mix. Indeed, estimated returns to scale are equal to 0.936, which implies that this technology is subject to diseconomies of scale related especially to the lack of full cost competitiveness and to the reliance on public subsidies. Therefore, wind energy technology needs more specific technology policies to go up beyond the early beginning stage of technological change and to reach the maturity stage like, for instance, large hydropower energy technology. The latter represents one of the oldest renewable energy technology developed and utilised over a long period and has a major role in the electricity sector. It has accomplished large-scale deployment schemes and it is considered, therefore, a mature energy technology. This is ensured by scale effects estimation, which shows that large hydropower technology has benefited from economies of scale. On the other hand, estimations show a low level of learning effects meaning that the technology continues to evolve but at a slower rate. In general, hydropower energy technology exhibits the same characteristics as coal and lignite energy technologies. The decentralized and the rural photovoltaic energy technologies, which are both emerging technologies, have existed for a relatively short time and have achieved a lower degree of technological change progress during the period under consideration. This is why they have decreasing returns to scale and low learning rates: returns to scale range from 0.864 to 0.871 and the learning-bydoing and learning-by-researching range respectively from 4.40% to 4.62% and from 3.67% to 3.87%. As in the precedent cases, decreasing returns to scale means that technologies under consideration face barriers to diffusion greatly caused by their high investment costs and their low competitiveness potential. The low level of learning rates is interpreted as a lack of cost responsiveness to capacity expansion and also to R&D efforts. As a result of market barriers and low cost competitiveness, the technological change dynamic of emerging technologies has been slow and they are yet to gain a noticeable share of energy mix. The solar thermal power plant technology, which is also an emerging energy technology, presents almost the same schemes as the decentralized and rural photovoltaic energy technologies: decreasing returns to scale effects and low learning-by-researching rate. Nevertheless, the learning-by-doing rate is not calculated because of the problem of wrong sign, which is current in the literature estimating learning curve. The electricity production from waste estimation results cannot be interpreted because the coefficients are not significant. In sum, results of our estimations show that the main explicative factors of the differences in learning rates and returns to scale effects between the several considered energy technologies is their technological change stage characteristic: mature, evolving or emerging. Mature and emerging technologies present both WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


235

low learning effects, but the former has increasing returns to scale due to its large scale adoption and the latter has decreasing ones because of barriers to marketbased diffusion. The evolving technologies are situated in an intermediate situation between the mature and the emerging technologies and show a relatively high estimated level of learning rates, which means that they respond positively to diffusion promotion policy and that they have important opportunities of adoption. With regard to the Arthur hypothesis, when we compare the path diffusion of the conventional energy technologies to renewable energy technologies, we can argue that the observed lock-in and path-dependence situation on the conventional fuel resources is justified by the presence of increasing returns to adoption factors mainly in the form of economies of scale which act as selfreinforcing mechanisms and prevent the technological regime shift. The relationship is, thus, significant between increasing returns to adoption factors and the adoption decision. The renewable energy technologies seem to be unable to compete with the established energy system as long as the learning process is not achieved and conditions for technological path-breaking are not conceived.

5

Major policy directions

To overcome the several barriers to entry (technological, economic, societal and behavioural and regulatory), the transition process of renewable energy technologies should be boosted from the emergence stage to its self-sustaining growth path on the basis of both technology-push and demand-pull measures. These two complementary measures permit to enhance the learning system performance. The aim of technology-push measures is to overcome such barriers and to promote generation of the knowledge flows and development of technologies which are in the early stage of technological change process, whereas the aim of the demand-pull measures is to promote technical change by creating demand and developing markets for new innovative technologies and products. The combination of the two technology policy measures permits to overcome the supply and demand market barriers to entry, but the challenge still is to put policies in place and to ensure their synergy effects. At the basic stage, the technology push measures, like the government R&D as well as the financial support schemes (subsidies, tax credit…), are initially more important. As the energy technologies mature, policies supporting demand-pull will gradually be more effective in promoting technological progress. The compatibility between technological policies and the technological progress stage of the technology is hence crucial. In this context, technology policies supporting the transition process should rely on three policy directions. First, the development of focused micro and macro learning mechanisms. Second, the encouragement of new types of players and third the definition of flexible financing mechanisms, adapted to the characteristics of individual applications and environmentally consistent economic evaluation. Kamp [10] and Weber & Dorda [11] propose a new penetration–promotion approach based on these three directions for the transition WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

236 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI to a new technological regime called the strategic niche management approach. It is mainly based on the creation of protected spaces for the development and use of new technologies to conceive conditions for interactive learning that may extend beyond the individual technologies. Weber & Dorda [11] stress that the niche market approach contributes to the articulation of radical innovations, which may affect the structure of the conventional system and enhance the market diffusion process of the renewable energy by putting together the technological development with the institutional and organizational change, which are necessary for the success of technology. The market niche strategy provides an integrated approach, which merges the technology-push measures with the demand-pull in a unique evolving system.

6 Summary and concluding remarks The paper has two goals: to explain the sources of energy system lock-in and to analyse the factors for creating conditions for path-breaking. The results show that learning effects have been an important factor for cost decrease and thus for learning system performance improvements. They also show that the renewable energy technologies analysed present a potentially important prospect of diffusion, but require initial support from the technological policies before taking full economic and environmental advantages of the technological change regime shift. At the end of this paper, it is important, however, to note that from a methodological point of view some remarks are suggested. Indeed, technology learning rates are often based on econometric estimations of relatively short time series data where all series exhibit strong trends. This can engender several problems that seriously affect the quality of estimations. First, it is possible that some estimated elasticities could be statistically insignificant or even have an unintuitive sign (Cory et al. [12]). Second, the results of regressions could be spurious and the R-squares could overestimate the relationship between the endogenous and the exogenous variables. Moreover, despite its contribution in enhancing our understanding of the technological change dynamic in energy sector, the TFLC specification is still limited especially when trying to model some special effects as endogeneity effects between the cumulative installed capacity and the unit cost. The extension of the TFLC functional form should help to take account of these observed phenomena. Refining the data and the methodology permits to avoid econometric problems and strongly contributes to enhance our understanding of the energy technologies dynamic.

References [1] [2]

Tsoutsos, T. & Stamboulis, Y., The sustainable diffusion of renewable energy technologies as an example of an innovation-focused policy. Technovation 25, pp. 753-761, 2005. Arthur, B., Competing technologies, increasing returns, and lock-in by historical events. The economic journal 99, pp. 116-131, 1989. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

237

Jorgensen, U., Energy sector in transition: technologies and regulatory policies in flux. Technological forecasting and social change 72, pp. 719731, 2005. Berndt, E., The practice of econometrics: classical and contemporary. Addison-Wesley Publishing, Boston, MA, 1996. Klein, L., An introduction to econometrics. Prentice Hall, 1962. White, H., A heteroscedasticity-consistent covariance estimator and a direct test for heteroscedasticity. Econometrica 48(4), pp. 817-838, 1980. Durbin, J. & Watson, G. S., Testing for serial correlation in last squares regression. Biometrika 38, pp. 201-223, 1951. Breusch, T., Testing for autocorrelation in dynamic linear models. Australian economic paper 17, pp. 334-356, 1978. Godfrey, L. G., Testing fir higher order serial correlation in regression equation when the regressor contain lagged dependant variables. Econometrica 46(6), pp. 1303-1310, 1978. Kamp, L., Learning in wind turbine development. A comparison between the Netherlands and Denmark. Doctorate thesis, Utrecht University, 2002. Weber, M. & Dorda, A., Strategic niche management: a tool for the market introduction of new transport concepts and technologies. IPTS Report, 1998. Cory, K., Bernow, S., Dougherty, W., Kartha, S. & Williams, E., Analysis of wind turbine cost reductions: the role of research and development and cumulative production. AWEA's WINDPOWER conference, Burlington, VT, June 22, 1999.




239

Efficiency analysis for the production of modern energy carriers from renewable resources and wastes K. J. Ptasinski Department of Chemical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands

Abstract Two global problems related to the use of fossil fuels are fast depletion and environmental damage. Biomass has a great potential as a clean renewable feedstock for producing modern energy carriers such as biodiesel, methanol, and hydrogen. However, the use of biomass is accompanied by possible ecological drawbacks such as limitations of land or water and competition with food production. For biomass-based systems, a key challenge is thus to develop efficient conversion technologies. This paper presents the efficiency analysis based on the Second Law of Thermodynamics for production of energy carriers from biomass. It is shown that the exergetic efficiency of renewable energy carriers is lower than that for fossil fuels. The highest efficiency is achieved for hydrogen production from high quality feedstock that is comparable with fossil fuels. Keywords: renewable energy, biomass, second law analysis, exergy efficiency.

1

Introduction

The present world’s energy demand is met by fossil fuels, i.e. petroleum, natural gas and coal. Two global problems related to the use of fossil fuels are a fast depletion and environmental damage due to emissions of various gases as COx, SOx, and NOx. In the future our energy systems will need to be renewable and sustainable, but also efficient, cost-effective and safe. It is widely acknowledged that the solution to the global problems would be to replace the existing fossil fuels by renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind and biomass). WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070231

240 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI Biomass has several important advantages which can accelerate the transition to sustainable energy. Key feature are renewability, neutral CO2 impact, and unique versatility as a wide range of biomass sources can be used to make electricity and biofuels. However, the use of biomass is accompanied by possible ecological drawbacks, mainly limitation of land or water and competition with food production, Hanegraaf et al [1]. Moreover, agricultural production of biomass is relatively land intensive, and involves high logistics costs due to low energy density of biomass. Therefore an optimal utilization of biomass resources is desired. For biomass-based systems, a key challenge is thus to develop efficient biomass-to-biofuel conversion technologies. Energy systems are traditionally analyzed by energetic analysis based on the First Law of Thermodynamics. However, this type of analysis shows only the mass and energy flows and does not take into account how the quality of the energy and material streams degrades through the process. In this paper the exergy analysis, which is based on the Second Law of Thermodynamics is used to analyze the conversion of biomass to biofuels. The main purpose of this paper is to compare different biofuels for their production efficiency. The paper starts with an explanation of exergy concept in Section 2 as applied for biofuels evaluation. The following sections 3–5 present the efficiency analysis of conversion of various biomass feedstocks into biofuels such as biodiesel (Sections 3), methanol (Section 4), and hydrogen (Section 5). Finally, all biomass conversion processes are compared in Section 6.

2

Exergy concept for efficiency evaluation

Biomass cannot be directly used in modern energy systems but it must be converted into secondary energy carriers, mainly electricity and biofuels. This paper concerns the efficiency of biomass conversion into liquid and gaseous biofuels, such as biodiesel (Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbons), methanol, and hydrogen. The main application of biofuels is in transportation but they can be also used as chemical commodity. In 2003 the EU Biofuel Directive set the target of 5.75% market share of biofuels that was recently increased to 10% in 2020. Various biomass feedstock and conversion technologies are available for biofuels production. A wide range of biomass sources, such as traditional agricultural crops, dedicated energy crops, residues from agriculture and foresting as well as organic wastes can be used. The most attractive biomass-tobiofuels conversion technologies involve thermochemical biomass conversion, mainly gasification. In this process biomass is converted at high temperature into syngas (mixture of H2 and CO) which is subsequently used to produce various biofuels. Contrary to fossil fuels, there are numerous routes biomass-to-biofuel, characterized by various feedstocks, conversion processes and final products. The question what is addressed in this paper is how to select the most optimal biomass-to-biofuel conversion routes. Exergy analysis is a relatively new method of thermodynamic analysis that has recently been applied in different fields of engineering and science, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


241

Szargut et al [2]. The exergy method takes into account not only the quantity of materials and energy flows, but also their quality as well. The main reason of exergy analysis is to detect and evaluate quantitatively the losses that occur in thermal and chemical processes. The exergy balance of a process can be represented in the following form using exergy values of all streams entering and leaving the process:

∑Ε

j

+ Ε Q + ΕW =

IN

where

∑Ε IN

j

and

∑Ε

k

∑Ε

k

+I

(1)

OUT

are exergy flow of all entering and leaving material

OUT

streams, respectively, Ε Q and ΕW are the sums of all thermal exergy and work interactions involved in a process. The difference between the concept of exergy and those of mass and energy is that exergy is not conserved but subjected to dissipation. It means that the exergy leaving any process step will always be less than the exergy in. The difference between all entering exergy streams and that of leaving streams is called irreversibility I. Irreversibility represents the internal exergy loss in process as the loss of quality of materials and energy due to dissipation and it relates to entropy production Π in the system:

I = To Π

(2)

The exergetic efficiency is defined as the ratio between useful exergy output from the process to the necessary exergy input to this process.

3

Biodiesel (FT fuels) from wood

The Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process has a lively history of about 70 years, as mentioned by Schultz [3]. In the FT synthesis, synthesis gas containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide are converted into liquid hydrocarbons: n CO + 2n H2 →

[-CH2-]n + n H2O

∆H = - 159.2 kJ/mol

(3)

The most popular feedstock to provide synthesis gas for the FT process has varied through the years. During World War II, German vehicles were fuelled with coal-derived FT liquids. Today, natural gas is the most popular feedstock for synthesis gas production. Current developments focus on using biomass to produce clean FT fuels directly usable in the present transport sector. Figure 1 shows a block diagram of a biomass gasification process integrated with FT synthesis (BIG-FT). The overall process has been modelled using the flowsheeting programme Aspen Plus which contains process models and property data, that is often used in early stages of process development. Sawdust is considered by Prins et al [4] as a feedstock which contains 9.3% fixed carbon, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

242 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI 55% volatile matter, 0.7% ash and 35.0% moisture. The higher heating value of sawdust is 12.63 MJ/kg. The biomass is dried to 10 wt% moisture by indirect drying using reaction heat from the Fischer-Tropsch section. Dried biomass is autothermally gasified with air at a temperature of 900°C and atmospheric pressure. The product gas is cooled to 90°C, generating 50 bar and 20 bar steam, which are used in steam cycles for electricity production. The gas is subsequently cleaned, compressed to 25 bar and catalytically shifted in a watergas-shift (WGS) reactor. The gas is converted to gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons at a temperature of 260°C by cobalt-catalysed Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The total single-pass H2+CO conversion is 80%. The products from the FT reactor are cooled to 40°C, so that hydrocarbon liquids are condensed from the tail gas, which contains most of the naphtha (C5-C8). Diesel (C9-C22) and wax (C23+) are recovered as liquid products. These final products would be transported to a refinery for further work-up (e.g. fractionation, hydrocracking and/or hydroisomerisation). The tail gas from the FT work-up section is incinerated in a boiler and electricity is generated by means of a condensing steam turbine. air

steam

wood

I. Drying

II. Gasification

ash electricity

scrubbing water

IV. Gas cleaning

III. Gas cooling

Steam cycle 1

V. Compression

waste Steam cycle 2

tail gas off-gas

X. Power generation

water

IX. FT work-up

VIII. FT reactor

VII. Cooling

VI. Shift reactor

liquid hydrocarbons

Figure 1:

Schematics of a BIG-FT process.

The plant converts 57 ton/h of biomass into 5.6 ton/h of liquid FT products and 4.0 MW of electricity. The net output of hydrocarbon fuel is therefore 15.2% on weight basis. The exergy analysis shows that the biomass feed contains 210.8 MW exergy and the final liquid products contain 72.9 MW with co-production of 4.0 MW of electricity The overall exergetic efficiency is calculated at 36.4%, of which the exergy content of the liquid FT fuels is 34.5% of the exergy content in the biomass feedstock, while the electricity generated in the process amounts to 1.9% of the feed. Figure 2 shows that the largest exergy losses occur in biomass gasification and generation of power from FT tail gas. The high exergy losses in the gasifier are due to large entropy generation as large wood molecules (cellulose) are WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


243

converted into small molecules: H2 and CO. The maximum thermodynamic efficiency can reach 46.2% provided gasification temperature is lowered to 700°C, C5-C8 naphtha is included in the liquid FT product, and combined cycle is used for electricity generation. However, this optimal gasification temperature is rather low from the point of view of reaction kinetics in the gasifier.

Exergy losses (MW)

60

internal losses (irreversibilities)

external losses

50 40 30 20 10

p w or ku

ge ne ra tio n

ro ps er -T

Fi sc h

po we r

re ac to r ch

co ol in g ga s

sh ift

n pr es si o co m

cl ea nu p

SG

ga s

H R

ifi ca tio n ga s

dr

yin g

0

Figure 2:

4

Exergy losses per process section for the BIG-FT plant.

Methanol from sewage sludge

At present, methanol is an important industrial chemical and may play a significant role as a synthetic fuel for the future. The important advantages of methanol as a fuel are a higher energy content per volume than the other alternative fuels and minimal changes in the existing fuel distribution network. Currently methanol is twice as cheaper as ethanol. Finally, methanol can considerably reduce automotive emissions and requires no antiknock alternatives because of its high octane number. Presently the majority of methanol is made from natural gas, but also some methanol is made from coal, Macnaughton et al [5]. Both are converted into synthesis gas, via catalytic steam reforming in the case of natural gas, and through gasification in the case of coal. The further steps of the methanol plant are usually based on the ICI technology and include steps of syngas compression, methanol synthesis and distillation of crude methanol. Generally, methanol can be produced from any organic source including biomass, and municipal wastes. Sewage sludge is a by-product of waste water purification and it contains a reasonably high fraction of organic material, which is rich in carbon - the main constituent of methanol. The second constituent of methanol, hydrogen, can be obtained from water present in wet sludge during the gasification process. Conversion of sewage sludge into methanol contributes more to sustainable technology than traditional sludge processing as dumping and incineration, Ptasinski et al [6]. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

244 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI SEWAGE SLUDGE WATER MECHANICAL DEWATERING

HEAT

WATER THERMAL DRYING

(AIR)

ASH GASIFICATION

HEAT WATER GAS CLEANING

WASTE PRODUCTS

(AMINE) RECYCLE

M.WORK COMPRESSORS

METHANOL SYNTHESIS HEAT

AIR

PURGE

HEAT HEAT RECOVERY

PURGE WASTE WATER METHANOL SEPARATION HEAT

HEAT

METHANOL

Figure 3:

Schematics of the methanol-from-sludge process.

Figure 3 shows schematics of the proposed methanol-from-sludge process. The sludge from wastewater treatment contains only 1-2 wt% solids and is mechanically (up to 20 wt%) and thermally dewatered (up to 55-100 wt%). The solids contain 56% of organic materials which are rich in carbon (50.4%), oxygen (30.7%), and hydrogen (6.9%). In the gasifier a synthetic gas is produced at temperature range of 800-1000oC, containing mainly CO and H2. Next the syngas is cleaned from solid particles and gaseous components, and compressed to a pressure of 77 bar. The methanol synthesis is based on the ICI low pressure methanol process at temperature of 200oC according to chemical reactions: CO + 2H2 = CH3OH WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

(4)


CO2 + 3H2 = CH3OH + H2

245 (5)

As the conversion of syngas to methanol cannot be completed in one pass, a recycle stream is used to increase the conversion efficiency. The last step is the methanol separation from dissolved gases and from water in a distillation column. A part of the recycle gas from the methanol synthesis and gas from the methanol separation is purged and combusted in a heat recovery unit. The plant converts 50 000 tons dry solids/year into 4300 tons methanol/year at gasifier temperature of 1000oC and a dry solid content of the sludge leaving the dryer of 80 wt%. The net output of methanol is 8.6% on weight basis but on the exergy basis 22.8 MW of sludge exergy is converted into 15.4 MW of methanol exergy. The overall exergetic efficiency of this process is 56% when also the exergy of additional utilities is included. The total exergy losses are 14.8 MW that corresponds to 21 MJ/kg methanol. A breakdown by plant units of the total exergy loss is shown in Figure 4. Most of the exergy losses are associated with gasification, compression and thermal drying (7.8 MJ/kg, 6.1 MJ/kg and 3.9 MJ/kg methanol, respectively). The irreversibilities of other plant segments like heat recovery, methanol synthesis, methanol separation and gas cleaning are much smaller. The exergetic efficiency of this process is higher than that of thermal sludge treatment such as incineration. The technical feasibility of the proposed process should be demonstrated in a small-scale plant.

relativeirreversibility (%)

50 40

28.5

30 20

18.2 12.0

10 1.5 0

Figure 4:

5

36.1

2.2

1.5

n n ry sis rs tio g ing tio ve ra so he yin an nt co pa es e ica l y r f e e i Dr r s s ls sc mp at ol Ga no Ga Co He an ha th et e M M

Exergy losses per process section for the methanol-from-sludge plant.

Hydrogen from biomass and wastes

Hydrogen is one of the most promising energy carriers for the future. It can be used as a fuel in fuel cells for power generation and in the transportation sector. The concept of hydrogen economy assumes only two energy carriers: hydrogen and electricity. Currently 95% of hydrogen comes from fossil fuels but biomass has the potential to become a sustainable source of hydrogen. Biomass-to-H2 conversion technologies can be divided into two categories: thermochemical and biochemical. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

246 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI wet biomass

heat

I

oxygen

II Gasification

BFW

m. work

heat BFW

Drier

wet steam

III

Gas Cooling 1

steam

IV

Gas Purifaction

fly-ash off-gas

V Multi-stage Compression VI

heat

Steam Generation 1

steam HT-shift Reactor

VII

process heat

VIII Pressure drop

BFW

IX

Gas Cooling 2

heat BFW

X

Steam Generation 2

steam

steam LT-shift Reactor

XI

XII Water Separation

XIII

PSA

process heat waste water heat CO2 rich gas

hydrogen

Figure 5:

Schematics of the hydrogen-from-wood process.

The most widely practiced thermochemical process route for biomass-tohydrogen is gasification coupled with water gas shift, Ptasinski et al [7]. Figure 5 shows the flowsheet of the H2-from-wood process. The feed is wood which contains 78.4 wt% organic fraction, 19.8 wt% moisture and 1.84 wt% ash. The wood is first dried in the thermal drier to its final moisture content of 10 wt%. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


247

The partially dried wood enters the gasifier, where a syngas containing H2, CO, CO2 and H2O is produced at the temperature of 900oC. The syngas leaving the gasifier is cooled down, cleaned, and compressed to 30 bar. In two water gas shift reactors (400oC, and 150oC, respectively) CO is subsequently converted into H2 due to reaction: CO +H2O = CO2 + H2

(6)

1.40 1.20 1.00 0.80 0.60 0.40 0.20

Figure 6:

1073K

1173K

1273K

PSA

shif t Wa ter sep .

LT -

HT -

shif t Pre ss. dro p Gas coo ling 2 Ste am gen .2

973K

Pur ifica tion Com pre ssio n Ste am gen .1

Gas ifier Gas coo ling 1

0.00 Drie r

Exergy loss per unit [MW]

Water present in the gas leaving the shift reactors is separated in a flash unit at 20 bar and 25oC whereas CO2 is separated from H2 by pressure swing adsorption (PSA). Separation efficiency of H2 is 85% and 100% purity of hydrogen is produced. This plant converts 1000 kg/h wood into 76 kg/h hydrogen and 1330 kg/h CO2-rich gas. The net output of hydrogen on mass basis is thus 7.6% only. However, the exergy evaluation shows that 4.64 MW of wood exergy is transformed into 2.54 MW exergy of hydrogen and 0.61 MW of CO2-rich gas. The overall exergetic efficiency of this process is 65.7% and H2 contributes in 71% to this efficiency. A breakdown by process units of the total exergy losses for this process is shown in Fig. 6 for different gasifier temperatures. The principal exergy losses occur in the gasifier and theses losses decrease with decreasing gasifier temperature.

1373K

Exergy losses per process section for the hydrogen-from-wood plant.

Exergy analysis of thermochemical H2 production has been performed for other biomass feedstocks, including vegetable oil and manure, which contain various moisture content: 0, and 43.6 wt%, respectively. The results reveal that the exergetic efficiency decreases with increasing moisture content in the feedstock, as discussed in the next section. Hydrogen can be produced from biomass also using biochemical processes such as fermentation and anaerobic digestion. The most promising is the combination of dark and photo fermentation. The plant using this process can WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

248 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI convert 793 kg/h of potato peels into 57 kg/h H2 that corresponds to exergetic efficiency of 29.1% [7]. Anearobic digestion is the most well-known technology for biochemical conversion of biomass into biogas containing CH4 and CO2 which can be further converted into H2 by a conventional technique such as steam methane reforming (SMR): CH4 + 2 H2O = CO2 + 4 H2

(7)

The anaerobic digestion plant Vagron [7] converts the wet organic fraction of the household waste, containing mainly kitchen and garden wastes, into a biogas containing 65% CH4 and 35% CO2 that can be further processed into H2 as shown above. The exergetic efficiency of biomass-to-H2 conversion in this process is 36.3%.

6

Discussion and conclusion

Production of modern energy carriers such as biodiesel, methanol, and hydrogen from biomass can play a major role in future because it utilizes the renewable sources of energy. Very efficient biomass-to-biofuels conversion technologies should be developed due to ecological limitations set by biomass. Exergy analysis is a convenient tool for development and optimisation of future biomass processes. Exergy is regarded as the amount of ordered energy (work) present in biomass which should be conserved in produced biofuels as much as possible. Table 1 summarizes exergetic efficiency of all biomass-to-biofuel routes considered in this paper. The exergetic efficiency for hydrogen-from-natural-gas process is also reported in this table, as a typical value for fossil fuels, Rosen [8]. All reported biomass routes have lower exergetic efficiency compared to fossil fuels. The highest efficiency is for hydrogen-from-biomass processes from high quality feedstocks, such as wood or vegetable oil. The latter feedstock, which is carbon-rich and moisture-free, can compete with fossil fuels. Table 1:

Exergetic efficiency for biomass-to-biofuel processes.

Process Fischer-Tropsch Methanol-from sludge Gasification Gasification Gasification Fermentation Anaerobic digestion SMR

Biomass feed sawdust sewage sludge wood vegetable oil manure potato peels household waste natural gas

Biofuel biodiesel methanol hydrogen hydrogen hydrogen hydrogen hydrogen hydrogen

Exergetic efficiency (%) 36.4 56.0 65.7 79.1 35.8 29.1 36.3 78.0

The conversion efficiency of all investigated biomass-to-biofuel routes can be increased by improving the operation of biomass gasifier, which shows the highest exergy losses in all considered processes. Finally, the exergy concept applied in this paper is based on thermodynamics and therefore it is very WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


249

fundamental. However, more complex sustainability criteria should be also applied in order to cover other aspects such as environmental, social, en economical.

References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

[8]

Hanegraaf, M.C., Biewinga, E.E. & van der Bijl, G., Assessing the ecological and economic sustainability of energy crops. Biomass and Bioenergy, 15, pp. 345-355, 1998. Szargut, J., Morris, D.R. & Steward, F.R., Exergy Analysis of Thermal, Chemical and Metallurgical Processes, Springer Verlag: Berlin, 1988. Schulz, H., Short history and present trends of Fischer–Tropsch synthesis. Applied Catalysis A –General, 186, pp. 3-12, 1999. Prins, M.J., Ptasinski, K.J. & Janssen, F.J.J.G., Exergetic optimisation of Fischer-Tropsch fuels from biomass. Fuel Processing Technology, 86, pp. 375-389, 2004. Macnaughton, N.J., Pinto, A. & Rogerson, P.L., Development of methanol technology for future fuel and chemical markets. Energy Progress, 7, pp. 232-241, 2002. Ptasinski, K.J., Hamelinck, C. & Kerkhof, P.J.A.M., Exergy analysis of methanol from the sewage sludge process. Energy Conversion & Management, 43, pp. 1445-1457, 2002. Ptasinski, K.J., Prins, M.J. & van der Heijden, S.P., Exergy analysis of hydrogen production methods from biomass. Proc. of the 19th Int. Conf. ECOS2006, eds. C.A. Frangopoulos, C.D. Rakopoulos & G. Tsatsaronis, NTUA: Athens, pp. 1601-1608, 2006. Rosen, M.A., Thermodynamic comparison of hydrogen production processes. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 21, pp. 349-365, 1996.




251

Environmental sustainability of CO2 capture in fossil fuel based power plants A. Franco & A. R. Diaz Dipartimento di Energetica “L. Poggi”, Università di Pisa, Italy

Abstract This paper analyzes various possible options for the chemical capture of CO2 and their energy requirements, focusing attention on the introduction of the devices in well-defined power plant configurations. Capture technologies are proposed and the most suitable technology appears to be chemical absorption. Even if, in principle, this option appears interesting, under an energetic point of view it has a great impact on the thermodynamic performance of the plant, reducing drastically its efficiency. Keywords: CO2 capture, chemical absorption technologies, energy analysis.

1

Introduction

Fossil fuels retain the largest market share of the world’s electricity generation, but they are a source of CO2 emissions. These considerations have triggered discussions over the wide use of some fossil fuels, like coal, in order to see if capture and sequestration of CO2 emissions are possible. The aim of CO2 capture technologies is to remove the CO2 presents at the flue gas before it reaches the atmosphere, producing a concentrated stream that can be stored and transported. However, to capture the CO2 produced, a significant amount of energy is required. This means that power plants with capture technology require much more fuel per kWh generated, reducing net plant efficiency [1]. It also results in an increase in most other environmental emissions per kWh of electricity generated, producing a proportional amount of by-products relative to the same type of plant without capture. In addition, there is an increase in the consumption of chemicals, such as ammonia and limestone in De-NOx and De-SO2 technologies. These factors restrict the emissions reduction requirements to a not-always-available thermodynamic performance. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070241

252 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI Different technologies have been proposed in order to reduce the pollutant emissions or energy conversion systems. 1. 2. 3.

Removing the source of pollution from the fuel before it is burnt. Avoiding the pollutants during combustion (in-furnace measures). Removing the pollutants from the flue gases by “end of pipe“ methods.

CO2, SOx, NOx and PM are some of the emissions related to power generation that made fossil fuels combustion “unclean”. SOX, NOX and PM represent accidental emissions of the power plants, since the level of them is about 0.1-2 mg for each kWh of energy produced, the actual technology permits good possibility of reducing their level without significant energy requirements. CO2 is a structural emission of power plants. It is well known that recent Pulverized Coal Combustion (PCC) plants are characterized by a level of CO2 emission in the range between 850 and 900 g/kWh. The level of 750 g/kWh can be reached by Ultra Super Critical power plants (USC) and with Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle power plants (IGCC). However, when using coal it is difficult to break the barrier of 750 g/kWh. Using CH4, the emissions can be reduced by a factor of two reaching levels of 350-400 g for each KWh of energy produced. Indeed CO2 emissions are inevitably connected to the energy conversion system and therefore they are not accidental. In a coal based thermoelectric power plant the level of CO2 emissions is of about 3 kg for each kg of coal. In a natural gas combined cycle power plant the CO2 emissions level is also of the same order of magnitude. This first consideration is crucial in order to define the possible capture strategies and the environmental sustainability of their utilization. For this reason a preliminary analysis of the CO2 capture energy requirements is necessary.

2

Main technologies for CO2 capture

Capture techniques can be retrofitted to existing conventional fossil fuel based power systems or integrated into new power-generation facilities. These technologies can be performed in post- or pre-combustion processes. A summary of the possible pathways and of the technologies is given in Fig. 1. Post-combustion processes capture CO2 from flue gases produced by combustion of fossil fuels or biomass. Instead of being discharged directly to the atmosphere, the flue gas is passed through devices, which capture the CO2, while the remaining flue gas, with a low CO2 concentration, is discharged to the atmosphere. Flue gas from combustion approaches atmospheric pressure, which indicates that in post-combustion processes, a large volume of gases would be treated, involving the use of large-scale equipments. Due to the low CO2 partial pressure, absorption processes based on chemical solvents are currently the preferred options for post-combustion capture. The future of post-combustion methods is based on emerging capture technologies that are not yet in such an advanced stage of development. The energy required in CO2 post-combustion capture is, in general, quite large. This energy requirement reduces significantly the overall efficiency of the process (Fig. 2). WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


Post-combustion CO2 Removal from flue gas Separation Task: CO2 /N2

Pre-combustion fuel decarbonization

253

Oxy-fuel Separation Task: Air - separation unit O2/N2 CO2 separation

Absorption

Adsorption

Cryogenic

Membranes

-Chemical solvents

-Pressure swing/Temperature swing

-Liquefaction/Hybrid processes/Distillation

- Polymeric/Ceramic/ Ion transport

-Physical solvents

-Solid Sorbents (Zeolites, activated carbon, silicates)

Figure 1:

CO2 capture pathways.

2.1 Absorption Three different absorption processes can be distinguished: chemical, physical and dry solid absorption. Chemical absorption processes make use of the reversible nature of the chemical reaction of an aqueous alkaline solvent with CO2. A by-product is originated, which afterwards will be heated, to break the bound between the chemical solvent and the CO2, producing a CO2-rich stream and a regenerated chemical solvent. Fig. 3 illustrates an absorption process. The main absorption parameters are the flue gas flow rate, the CO2 content in the flue gas, the CO2 removal rate and energy requirements. The energy consumption of the process is the sum of the thermal energy needed to regenerate the chemical solvent, and the electric energy required to operate pumps, blowers and compressors. Amine-based chemicals are the principal commercial chemical solvents used to separate CO2 from exhaust gases including, (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA) and methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) [4]. Furthermore, salts of strong alkalis with weak acids offer various possibilities for chemical absorption process [5]. CO2 can be also physically absorbed by a non-reactive solvent according to Henry’s law and then regenerated using pressure reduction or heat. Exhaust gases with low CO2 concentration Wout Air

Power Process

Fuel

Energy

Flue Gas

CO2 Capture

CO2 to transport and stored

Figure 2:

End-of-pipe CO2 capture.



Flue gas

STRIPPING

Pre-treatment of Exhaust gases

ABSORPTION

Clean gas

Post-treatment of Exhaust gases CO2

Low Pressure Steam/ kg CO2 avoided

Figure 3:

Chemical absorption.

The absorption capacity of organic and inorganic solvents for CO2 increases with increasing pressure and with decreasing temperatures. Therefore, physical absorption methods are not suitable for flue gas CO2 capture, since the partial pressure of CO2 is low. This kind of technology could be very efficient, but only for high-pressure CO2-rich streams, such as those in pre-combustion processes in IGCC power plants [6]. The physical solvents used are Selexol, Rectisol, and Morphysorb. Another way is represented by dry solid absorption. A solid can be used instead of a liquid as a scrubbing medium for CO2 capture. In this process, the solid sorbent does not circulate between vessels because the sorption and regeneration are archived by cyclic changes, in pressure or temperature. 2.2 Physical adsorption An adsorption process consists of two major steps: adsorption and desorption. Strong affinity of an adsorbent for removing the undesired component from a gas mixture is essential for an effective adsorption step. The stronger the affinity the more difficult it is to desorb the gas impurity and the higher the energy consumed for regenerating the adsorbent. Several modes of operation are used to release or regenerate the adsorber gas from the solid. Pressure or temperature changes are used. In Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA), the gas mixture flows through a packed bed of adsorbent at high pressure, insulating the solid, and then desorbing the sorbed gas by lowering the pressure. In Temperature Swing Adsorption (TSA), the gases are adsorbed at a lower temperature, the solid is isolated and then the temperature is raised during the regeneration step to release the trapped gas. The main advantage of physical adsorption over absorption could be its simple, and energy efficient, operation and regeneration. 2.3 Cryogenic separation The cryogenic separation separates a gas component from a gas stream. The separation can be made producing a phase change (liquefaction or solidification) of the component that needs to be separated, thereby condensing it and removing WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


255

it as a liquid/solid from the gas mixture (Fig. 4). The condensation is fulfilled by a series of compression, cooling and expansion steps. Cryogenic separation for CO2 is only practical for a high-pressure stream with a high CO2 concentration, such as in pre-combustion capture or Oxy-fuel combustion. Cryogenic separation produces liquid CO2 that is ready for transport and storage. Quite a high-energy rate for cooling and compression is necessary. Water

POWER

CO2 + Vapour

Figure 4:

CO2

Cryogenic separation.

2.4 Membranes separation Membranes are special materials that allow either the selective transport (diffusion) or selective exclusion of a desired component [8]. The flow of gas through the membrane is usually driven by the pressure difference across the membrane. Therefore, high-pressure streams are usually preferred for membrane separation. Indeed, the low CO2 partial pressure difference that characterizes fuel gas provides a low driving force for gas separation membrane. Membranes can separate CO2 from a gas stream by size exclusion or by chemical affinity. There are many different types of materials (polymeric, metallic, ceramic) that may find application in CO2 capture. Nowadays, the removal of CO2 with commercially available membranes results in higher energy penalties on the power generation efficiency compared with standard chemical absorption processes.

3 Energy analysis of CO2 capture by chemical absorption Chemical absorption technologies are nowadays the only method that can be proposed to implement large-scale capture of CO2 from fossil-fuel energy combustion systems. Capture efficiency is higher than 90% and produces CO2 with a purity of 99%. However, the introduction of CO2 capture devices represents an important efficiency penalty on the thermodynamic performance of the power plant as well as a remarkable increase of the net cost of power generation with CO2 capture.


256 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI 3.1 Thermodynamic model to evaluate the energy required for CO2 capture The capture process can be divided in three main stages (Fig. 5): pre-treatment of the flue gas, in order to reach the desirable scrubber conditions, scrubber/stripper processes, and post-treatment of the produced CO2 stream. Energy consumption of the whole process is the sum of the thermal energy needed to regenerate the solvent and the energy required to deliver a high-pressurized CO2-pure stream.

Clean gas Capture process

CO2

Pre-treatment of Flue gases Trange(100-600)°C

SCRUBBER Trange(25-80)°C

CO2

Trange(80-140)°C

Flue gas

Figure 5:

Post-treatment of CO2 stream

STRIPPER

CO2 For sequestration

Chemical absorption flowsheet.

Electrical energy for compression, the pumping and blowing of the circulated solvent flow rate, or to operate the flue gas, are not considered in this analysis. The parameters used for the model are; the sorbent absorption capacity, depending on the CO2 concentration in the flue gas (lower CO2 concentration will require higher absorption capacity), the scrubber/stripper temperatures, depending of sorbent type, and the desirable CO2 temperature and pressure for transport and storage. The flue gases from a combustion power plant are usually quite hot, ranging from 60°C to 600°C, depending on the power system. Absorption being an exothermic process is favoured by low temperatures. Thus, it is desirable to cool down the flue gas to scrubber temperatures in order to improve CO2 absorption and minimize sorbent losses. A direct contact cooler (consisting a packet tower where the cooling fluid is water at 25°C) can be used to reduce the flue gas temperature to acceptable levels, also acts as a flue gas wash with the additional removal of fine particulates. The flue gas temperature directly affects the volumetric flow rate of gas stream. The heat duty, Q, to be removed from the flue gas at the cooler pre-treatment depends on the temperature and the mass flow of the flue gas together with the desirable absorption temperature required for the absorption, is: Q = mf cp (Tscb − Tf )

(1)

where mf is the mass flow of the flue gases, cp is the heat capacity of the flue gases, Tscb is the scrubber temperature and Tf the flue gas temperature. Since CO2 absorption might be a spontaneous reaction in order to facilitate the CO2 capture, at the scrubbing an exothermic reaction is fulfilled, thus no energy is demanded. The stripper process is the desorption process, where a high concentrate CO2 WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


257

stream is produced, the energy required for the sorbent regeneration is quite high and one of the most relevant energy consumption in the whole process. This energy is usually supplied by the low/medium pressure steam flow produced in a steam turbine and supplied by a reboiler. In any case, this required heat can be divided in three main contributions [7]. The sensible heat is the energy used for heating the scrubber solution to the stripper temperature is given by Vsen =

msol cp (Tsol − Tstrp ) mCO2 ∆H v

(2)

where Vsen is the ratio between the steam mass flow rate required and the mass flow rate of CO2, msol is the solution mass flow, cp is the specific heat of the solution, Tsol is the rich solvent hot solution temperature, Tstrp is the stripper temperature, mCO2 is the CO2 mass flow recovered and ∆Hv is the steam reboiler vaporization heat coming into the stripper at a given temperature. The recovery of CO2 from the chemical solvent needs energy to reverse the adsorption reaction. This energy reaction includes the enthalpy reaction and in the solution case, also the solution reaction of the dissolution in water, is given in eqn (3). Vdes =

∆H r ∆H sol + ∆H v ∆H v

(3)

where Vdes is the desorption ratio (kg of steam/kg CO2), ∆Hr is the reaction enthalpy, ∆Hsol is the solution reaction and ∆Hv is the steam reboiler vaporization heat coming in to the stripper at imposed temperature (all in kJ/kg steam). The CO2 recovered in the stripper must come out along with the help of a vapour stream. The mixture is composed of 1 mol vapour/mol CO2 and that the whole process occurs at constant temperature and pressure. Steam goes from the saturated vapour to the saturated liquid point at the stripper temperature, the vapour required for stripping is: Vstrp =

msteam mco

(4)

2

where Vstrp is the steam supplied for CO2 stripping (kg steam/kg CO2), msteam is the steam mass flow required from the reboiler at the stripper temperature, and mCO2 is the CO2 mass flow recovered. The total vapour required in the stripper is: VT = Vsen + Vdes + Vstrp

(5)

In order to obtain CO2 ready for transport, in the model a post-treatment at ambient temperature and 140 bar pressure is considered. After the stripper, the vapour-CO2 mixture is cooled down to 25 °C in order to separate water from the WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

258 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI CO2 before the liquefaction plant. For the model proposed here, it is considered that the vapour condensation occurs in a direct contact cooler with water at 25°C. In order to liquefy the pure CO2 stream produced, a three-stage intercooler compression is used. The energy required to compress the produced CO2 to sequestration parameters for efficient transport and storage, can be estimated as: Wc =

mCO2 cp ∆T

(6)

ηc

where Wc is the compression energy, mCO2 is the CO2 mass flow recovered, cp is the CO2 specific heat, ∆T is the temperature difference in each stage, ηc is the compression efficiency in the different stages. 3.2 Energy analysis In Table 1, the energy requirements for the different CO2 chemical absorption technologies are displayed. The high energy consumption needed to capture the CO2 emissions is pointed out. Using coal as fuel, the energy requirement is of the order of 1/5-1/6 of the calorific value of the fuel. Considering a general thermoelectric plant configuration based on coal, for each kg of coal 3 kg of CO2 is produced, the energy required to remove CO2 corresponds more or less to the electric energy produced by the plant, reaching pointless solutions. This result emphasizes the perspective of CO2 capture only in case of integrated configurations. From this, we can see the necessity to promote solutions in which the capture process uses the marginal energy of the plant. Indeed, the conclusion is that the strategy cannot be applied in the same way to all the plants. Figs 7 and 8 describe two different situations. In the first, a CGAM power plant, the integration between the plant and the capture is possible without a particular penalty (mainly in terms of second law analysis). Low steam pressure coming out from the heat recovery steam generator is used for capturing the CO2 without subtracting output power to the plant. In the second case, the capture is possible only by subtracting a consistent amount of the low-pressure steam from the boiler; the result is a strong reduction of the plant output power. Under this perspective, solutions like IGCC coal based power plants can be interesting. 12 MJel

1 Kg coal 30 MJ

3 kg CO2 18 MJth

Figure 6:

6-18 MJ steam

CO2 capture energy balance.



Table 1:

Energy required for chemical absorption CO2 capture.

Figure 7:

Figure 8:

CGAM plant with CO2 capture.

Coal plant with CO2 capture.


259


Effect of CO2 capture on the overall plant performance.

Coal fired power plant χ 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

χm2 [kg/s] 0 1.89 3.79 5.69 7.59 9.49

(1-χ)m2 [kg/s] 21.7 19.8 17.9 16.0 14.1 12.3

ηII 0.41 0.38 0.35 0.32 0.29 0.26

Wout [MW] 30 27.8 25.7 23.5 21.40 19.25

CGAM power plant χmvs [kg/s] 0 1.50 3.00 4.51 6.01 7.51

(1-χmvs) [kg/s] 14 12.4 10.9 9.48 7.98 6.48

ηII 0.50 0.48 0.46 0.44 0.42 0.40

Wout [MW] 30 29.68 29.36 29.04 28.72 28.40

The results shown in Table 2, where a link between the amounts of CO2 captured (χ) and the required kg of steam for each kg of CO2 recovered (ms) is reported, demonstrate that the most significant reduction takes place in the electrical output of the steam turbine. This is due to the different points where the low-pressure steam used for the CO2 recovery is taken into the energy generation process. While for the gas turbine, the low-pressure steam used for the CO2 capture process does not affect the energy generation process of CGAM plant. Considering the results discussed in this section, it is clear that the future of CO2 capture should not only be based on overcoming the limitations of the existing solvents [9], and on the reduction of energy consumption for solvent regeneration and of equipment sizes, but also on the development of particular plant configurations where the marginal energy of the plant can be used for capture.

4

Conclusions

In spite of great research efforts and the great emphasis connected with the development of pollutant emission control, the concept of CO2 capture in power generation and heating processes is still in a development phase. The paper focuses attention on the connection between the capture technologies (mainly chemical absorption technologies) and the thermodynamic performance of the power plant. It is shown that the energy consumption required to capture the CO2 emissions is quite high varying from 2 to 6 MJ for each kg of CO2 emitted. Depending of the fuel used and the power plant configuration, the energy required for CO2 capture and separation processes causes a significant power plant efficiency reduction, which necessitates an agreement between the desirable amount of CO2 to be captured and the permitted energy consumption for maintaining acceptable performance of the plant. In general, it is possible to conclude that CO2 capture strategy is sustainable only if the marginal waste energy of the plant can be used; but this is not always possible.



261

References [1] [2]

[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Hendriks, C., Carbon Dioxide Removal from Coal-Fired Power Plants, Energy & Environment, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1994. White, C.M., Strazisar, B.R., Granite, E.J., Hoffman, J.S. & Pennline H.W., Separation and capture of CO2 from large stationary sources and sequestration in geological formations-coalbeds and deep saline aquifers, J. Air Waste Manag. Assoc., 53, 645-715, 2003. Leci, C.L. & Goldthorpe, S.H., Assessment of CO2 removal from power station flue gas, Energy Convers. Mgmt. 33 (5-8), 477-485, 1992. Rao, A.B. & Rubin, E.S., A technical, economic, and environmental assessment of amine-based CO2 capture technology for power plant greenhouse gas control, Environm. Sci. Technol., 36, 4467-4475, 2002. Salvador, C., Lu, D., Anthony, E.J. & Abanades, J.C., Enhancement of CaO for CO2 capture in a FBC environment, Chem. Eng. Jour., 96, 187195, 2003. Wolsky, A.M., Daniels, E.J. & Jody, B.J., CO2 capture from the fuel gas of conventional fossil-fuel-fired power plants, Envir. Prog., 13, 214-219, 1994. Erga, O., Juliussen, O. & Lidal, H., Carbon dioxide recovery by means of aqueous amines, Energy Convers. and Mgmt., 36, 387-392, 1995. Favre E., Carbon dioxide recovery from post-combustion processes: Can gas permeation membranes compete with absorption? Journal of Membrane Science 294, 50-59, 2007. Bai, H.L. & Yeh, A.C. Removal of CO2 greenhouse gas by ammonia scrubbing, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 36, 2490-2493, 1997.




263

Cooling needs for a warming world? Economics and governance of district cooling F. Becchis1,2 & G. Genon1,3 1

Fondazione per l’Ambiente, Italy University of eastern Piedmont, Italy 3 Turin Polytechnic, Italy 2

Abstract Energy use outlook in developed countries shows a particularly fast growing component: the demand for cooling. This demand of energy for indoor air conditioning represents a challenge for environmental policies, a potential enemy of energy efficiency and energy saving and, definitely, an issue at stake for global climate policies. The trend of energy demand for cooling purposes also brings many problems for the generation capacity and the management of peak loads. The technologies for centralized trigeneration (electricity, heating, cooling) seem promising but do not always enter the market with convincing commercial strategies. Nevertheless, the presence of district heating from cogeneration plants in large metropolitan areas (like in Turin, Italy) represent the possibility of developing district conditioning. The preliminary conclusions of the research are as follows: 1) given the assumed technology and the trend for indoor air-conditioning demand, district cooling brings net social benefits from both sides of industrial figures (global investments, maintenance and running costs) and environmental externalities; 2) some cautionary remarks are due in relation to the assumptions, sometimes questionable, about emissions rate per kWh, energy efficiency in electricity production, discount rate, market prices of alternative technologies, plumbing and networking costs. The analysis does not encompass the distribution of costs and benefits among stakeholders (among the others: electricity producers, network owners, end users), a question that is more relevant in the political local arena. Keywords: district heating, district cooling, energy efficiency, environmental cost-benefit analysis, energy externalities.



1

Introduction

In the domain of environmental policies energy planning at local level can get interesting results in terms of energy efficiency and, consequently, reduced emissions and use of natural resources. In particular, combined heat and power (CHP) reaches high levels of efficiency in energy conversion: using waste heat from power generation plants to supply thermal energy for domestic or industrial purposes, reduces the energy (and environmental) content per unit of product/service. The growing demand of energy for indoor air conditioning represents a further challenge for environmental policies, in the context of troubled Kyoto implementation. The trend brings strong implications for the generation capacity and the management of peak loads; furthermore it is deemed to produce negative environmental externalities such as air emissions from plants that produce electricity, ozone depleting gases (for the old installations, to be banned in few years), end-of-life equipment disposal, indoor noise, water use for cooling purpose in electric plants, and aesthetic impacts. In spite of the relative large diffusion of CHP for electricity and heat production, the possibility of trigeneration, which adds cold production for air conditioning to traditional CHP, is less known. Technologies for trigeneration, presented in the following paragraph, seem promising but not yet able to enter the market with convincing commercial strategies. The presence of networks for district heating from cogeneration plants in large metropolitan areas (like the south part of Turin, Italy) or commercial-industrial district, represents a possibility of developing district conditioning (DiCon): given some assumptions about the technical options for electricity production, heat is practically free and the existing network represents an irreversible (sunk) cost that can serve also for district conditioning purposes. DiCon enhances the energy efficiency of buildings and contribute to significant environmental results in terms of CO2, PM10, NOx, noise, water use for cooling purposes in the CHP plant. In a recent study [1] supported by Provincia di Torino and AEM Torino Spa, the main technological, economic and environmental constraints surrounding a virtual district conditioning project in different scenarios have been outlined. Starting from a definition of a possible catchment area, composed of communities instead of single independent homes, the simulation sets the average energy demand for cooling purposes and the consequent running condition for the polygeneration system in the different scenarios. Consequently, an economic and environmental assessment has been conducted, from the perspective of the society as a whole: commercial and financial implications for a possible real project are not considered. After a survey of the state of the art technologies for trigeneration, the paper summarizes the economic and environmental parts of the study and its interesting conclusions about potential benefits not only from the environmental side but also from an industrial perspective.



2

265

Material and methods

2.1 The market for cool In Europe 40% of the total demand of energy comes from buildings mainly for heating and cooling purposes: 70% of this share is related to civil buildings with fossil fuels as main energy vectors. In a typical commercial building, cooling need can account for 20% of energy consumptions, with a foreseeable increasing trend in the near future. For example, domestic chillers where 5 million in 1990 in EU countries but market estimates say that the number will be 25 million in 2020 [1,3]. 2.2 Technologies for polygeneration: state of the art District conditioning consists in a centralized production of cold water (about 5-8 °C) and the supply of this fluid to the users through a pipe network. The room conditioning is operated with specific devices (panels or fan coils) located in each single room, which are fed with cold water. A first advantage with respect to small air coolers is that the centralized production can be obtained using medium and large power chillers, characterized by higher efficiency. Moreover, a positive effect on the environment can be obtained using absorption or adsorption chillers instead of the more usual vapour compression chillers. Those machines allow replacement of the most part of the electricity with thermal energy, provided through hot water, usually at a temperature between 85 °C and 120 °C. When thermal energy is available as waste energy or as by-product of a power plant, it is possible to increase the overall efficiency of the system, which means that the global emissions and resource depletions are reduced without reducing the users’ demand. Economic benefits can be also achieved. District conditioning is economically sustainable in temperate climate zones, when a district heating network already exists. In this case it is possible to use the network at high temperature, which can also be reduced with respect to the winter values, to feed thermal chillers located in users’ buildings. In those cases where the request for air cooling is large, it could be advantageous to provide the service through a specific district network, operating at low temperature. On this basis, numerous district networks are operating in Germany (for instance in Dresden, Kassel, Mannheim), U.S.A. (for instance Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia where networks operate on areas constituted by 200 to 400 buildings, feeding commercial users, industries and universities) and Japan. From both energy and economic point of view, it is also necessary to consider that the performance (COP) of vapour compression chillers varies between about 2.9 and 4.4, depending on the scale. These indicators are defined as the ratio between the thermal energy subtracted to the indoor environment and the electricity required. It is also necessary to consider that electricity is produced in power plants, with an average efficiency of 38%. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

266 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI The alternatives represented by thermal chillers are characterized by lower efficiencies (COP). In particular the COP of the absorption chillers is about 0.8, while this value is about 0.65 for the adsorption chillers. Nevertheless, it is necessary to consider that thermal energy can result as a by-product or a waste of a productive process, such as in power plants. On this basis the following considerations are formulated. 2.3 Economic and environmental aspects, actors involved The economic assessment of complex projects from the social point of view aims to reduce the information asymmetry which hinders appropriate public choices in complex markets with relevant failures (externalities, public goods). The analysis here presented has been conducted from the social point of view, beyond the private interest of the actors involved in the project (technology producers, buildings designers, energy producers and distributors, big final users such as hospitals, communities and malls). As known, firm’s and consumer’s choices and investments are addressed to profit, personal utility, market shares and other private goals; externalities and public goods, strongly relevant for the society as a whole, can not play a big role. Furthermore, it can happen that projects which present a positive global balance and are consistent with profit or utility goals cannot find a path to implementation because of inertia. Inertia appears when institutions, firms or individuals resist to changes in economic decisions: uncertainties about costbenefit structure and costs-sharing, sunk costs, information shortage, time costopportunity and psychologic costs are the main responsible of inertia. As the economic analysis will demonstrate later, it is not sufficient for a project to show positive savings in respect to “doing nothing scenario” if the distribution of costs between actors and through the time is not clear. 2.4 District cooling in a case study: introduction The virtual project here considered can be summarized as follows: a) in the absence of the project the business as usual (B.A.U. scenario) foresees air conditioning through electrical appliances and associated electricity demand (80% of domestic chillers and 20% of centralized chillers), for a catchment area that grows up to 2.2 million cubic meters, in 20 years (see Figure 1). b) the district cooling project (the project) requires initial investments, running costs and dismission costs that are compared with the corresponding costs of business as usual. c) for simplicity, cost analysis contains elements that in more sophisticated CBA are normally broken up (taxes and welfare contributions). d) main environmental externalities (CO2, NOx, PM10) are taken into account in the scenarios (project and business as usual); data about other negative externalities such as noise, water use, aesthetic impacts are not available. e) the analysis does not consider the distribution of relevant costs among different subjects (plant managers, final users, network owners and so on), with consequences that will be shortly discussed in the final part of the paper. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


267

Users' trend (cubic metres) assumed during BAU and Project scenario 2,200,000 2,000,000 1,800,000 1,600,000 1,400,000 1,200,000 1,000,000 1

Figure 1:

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Trend hypothesis for the buildings volume served each year in the BAU and Project scenario.

2.5 District cooling in a case study: project description and energy analysis The case-study considered in this project is based on the south area of Turin, where a district heating network provides heat to the buildings in this area for winter heating and in some cases for domestic water. The network is fed by a large power plant and some auxiliary boilers. The maximum heat flow is about 610 MW and the total volume of buildings is about 22,000,000 m3 In this study district conditioning has been considered available for 10% of the total volume, quota to be reached in 20 years (see Figure 1). In the analysis, the operation of district conditioning has been considered for 800 hours at the nominal power, without any time shift between the users. The specific energy request of users has been assumed as 30 W/m3 To comply the with the users’ request, about 66 MW of cold water, through thermal chillers it is necessary that the network provides 83 MW in case that absorption chillers are used or 95 MW in case of absorption chillers are used. If vapour compression chillers were used, the electric energy need would be between 40 and 60 MW, depending on the equipment size. Energy, economic and environmental analysis must be performed considering that in case a cogenerative plant is used, it also produces electricity, that can be supplied to the grid. The plants supplying heat to the district heating network are a steam turbine, a gas turbine and some auxiliary boilers. The main part of heat is provided by the steam turbine, through a steam extraction. Thus, when the plant operation moves from electric production to cogenerative mode, the electricity production decreases from 136 MW to 101 MW when also 162 MW of thermal energy are produced. In case these plants are used for district conditioning for 10% of the WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

268 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI users, the overall electricity production would be 118 MW if absorption chillers are used and 115 MW if adsorption chillers are used. The primary energy requirement (fuel) is in both cases 348 MW. As a comparison, if the same amount of electricity were produced by a power plant characterized by the average efficiency of the Italian plants and the air conditioning were operated through vapour compression chillers, the primary energy requirement would be between 380 and 420 MW, depending on the size of chillers. This means that additional fuel depletion and externalities are associated with this case, with respect to the use of district conditioning. Both the economic and environmental impacts of this choice are discussed below. 2.6 District cooling in a case study: cost analysis The BAU case and the project are economically specified by a list of costs that are attributed mainly to indirect methods (cost-coefficients from the literature). The cost categories are the following. Design costs: costs of dimension setting, safety equipment, the need for space for chillers and other machineries are estimated as € 26 per installed kW for the 66,000 kW installed [4]. Initial investments: domestic (80%) or centralized (20%) electric chillers for the B.A.U. scenario; adsorption equipment for the project case. In both cases equipment costs are estimated on the basis of coefficients (€/kW) [5] Connection and plumbing costs: they include connection to the district heating network, internal piping and possible costs on the “last mile”. In case of new connections to clients, the cost of the necessary segment of network should be, in theory, attributed to district cooling only for the extra-cost due to extradiameter of pipes. Thus the assumption overestimates, precautiously, the cost of connections to new users. Maintenance costs: estimated as a percentage of the initial investment costs. Electricity consumptions quantified on the basis of the domestic market price per kWh in the B.A.U. case. For example, an average apartment (240 m3) is characterized by a yearly cost of € 200 with a price of € 0.1172/kWh. In the B.A.U. case, effective consumption by chillers is estimated. In the project case the analysis accounts for negligible absorption consumption plus the electricity crowded-out at the power plant for the mentioned trade-off. End of life: a cost of € 0.104/kg of equipment to be disposed of, assumed to occur at the 21st year of the timeline of the analysis. Externalities: physical quantities (tonnes of CO2, PM10, NOx) are estimated as follows: in the B.A.U. case, emissions per kWh are those typical of the Italian average thermal gross production. In the project scenario emissions are those specifically produced to satisfy extra-demand of thermal energy for cooling purposes, at the power generation plant which supplies energy to the district heating system in Turin. Indeed, as known, there is a partial trade-off between electricity and heat production. Monetary values come from a prudential survey of the literature on putting a value on externalities, in particular the ExternE project by the EU ad its recent updates [6]. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


3

269

Results

Table 1 presents values (P.V.) of direct market costs and environmental externalities for the project and business as usual are presented. The P.V. result from discounting at 5% rate the yearly values in the time range of the analysis (20 years). As shown in Table 1 the district cooling project implies market costs of around 33 million Euros, in present value, distributed in the 20 years. Compared with more than 55 million Euros in the B.A.U. scenario the potential savings are relevant. The cost variables that contribute mainly to the result are initial investments (much higher in the B.A.U. case for diseconomies of scale), connections (higher in the project for obvious reasons), electricity consumption (relevant savings in the project case, due to use of waste heat for cooling instead of electricity). Furthermore, the project brings also environmental net benefits that amount to more than 5 million Euro saved, at present value, in negative externalities for 20 years: the net result comes from a direct comparison of the externalities flows in the competing cases. Figure 2 and Figure 3 show the yearly nominal values for costs and negative externalities. Shortage of reliable data about water uses for cooling purposes and indoor noise suggests they should not be included in the analysis. Table 1:

Market costs and externalities (Euro) for the BAU and Project scenario. Business As Usual present values (r=0.05)

Project present values (r=0.05)

Project vs B.A.U. present values (r=0.05)

Market Costs (Euro) Design Initial investments

302,105 28,890,733

3,233,048 9,699,145 -

Connections

2,805,650

12,450,695

Maintenance

1,162,919

1,459,745

Electricity consumptions End of life Total market costs

22,119,701 22,748 55,303,856

6,221,166 59,021

2,930,944 19,191,588 9,645,045 296,826 15,898,535 36,274

33,122,821 -

22,181,035

Externalities (Euro) CO2

3,711,133

324,676 -

3,386,457

Nox

1,164,543

94,415 -

1,070,128

795,985 n.a.

64,534 n.a.

731,450 n.a.

PM10 Water use Noise

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

Energy saving

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

Total externalities

5,671,660

483,625 -


5,188,035

270 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI Market Costs (Mln Euro) for the BAU and Project scenario 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

BAU Project

Figure 2:

Total Market Costs: design, investments, connections, maintenance, electricity consumptions and end of life (Mln Euro) for the BAU and Project Scenario.

Externalities (Euro) for the BAU and Project scenario 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 0 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12 13

14 15

16 17

18 19

20 21

BAU Project

Figure 3:

Negative externalities CO2, NOx, PM10 (Euro) calculated with damage factors per ton of pollutant emitted in EU-15 [7].



4

271

Discussion

The results of the analysis are based, as always, on a set of hypotheses and simplifications. The authors have made handicraft sensitivity tests, with encouraging results (changes in the values of some crucial variables does not overturn the balance in favour of the project of district cooling). Yet, for complete information, the main critical aspects of the analysis are listed in the following points, some work in favour of the project, some against it; • the share of 80% attributed to domestic chillers in the BAU scenario could be overestimated. Centralized chillers may be interested by price falling due to economies of scale; • the presence, in the cost list, of elements that in more sophisticated CBA are normally broken up (taxes and welfare contributions) should not encompass significant biases because the simplification is assumed in costs of both scenario, leaving the balance as it is; • externalities are crucial to represent the overall social costs and benefits of a project, nevertheless their existence is practically irrelevant for market choices of firms and consumers. Policies for externalities internalization (taxes, tradable rights, subsidies, etc) are recommended; • district cooling could also be assessed as a complementary system for air conditioning: in this case DiCon would supply a basic quantity of thermal energy, leaving the satisfaction of peak loads to traditional vapour compression equipment; • The positive global performance of the project versus BAU scenario should be taken with care: apart from total cost figures it is important to know more about cost sharing among different actors: the power plant owner, the network runner, large end users (hospital, commercial building, civil buildings), small end users. As an example, the willingness to pay for connections and plumbing could make a big difference for the practical feasibility of the project.

5

Conclusions

Technologies for trigeneration seem to be in a particular phase of their product life-cycle: they are promising but not yet able to enter the market with convincing commercial strategies. Obstacles at work are the large fixed costs for the networks and indoor plumbing, the high (in absolute terms) average cost of machinery (mainly absorption-adsorption equipment) due to narrow markets and their relative low, though improving, energy efficiency: furthermore, electricity producers and distributors have no interest, in the short-middle term, to develop technologies that erode the business of electric utilities. Nevertheless, the presence of district heating from cogeneration plants in large metropolitan areas represents a possibility of developing district conditioning: given some assumptions about the technical options for electricity production, heat is practically free and the existing network represents an irreversible (sunk) cost that can serve also for district conditioning (DiCon) purposes. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

272 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI In spite of doubts about the economics of DiCon from a business perspective, environmental externalities and social benefits should be highlighted in order to assess it. In particular, the following benefits are at stake: CO2, NOx and PM10 reduction, primary energy savings, water use reduction, noise abatement and aesthetic improvements. The preliminary conclusions are as follows: 1) given the assumed technology and the trend for indoor air-conditioning demand, district cooling brings net social benefits from both side of industrial figures (global investments, maintenance and running costs) and environmental externalities. 2) some cautionary remarks are due in relation to the assumptions about energy efficiency in electricity production (which influence the emission rate per kwh), discount rate, market prices of alternative technologies, plumbing and networking costs. Furthermore, the analysis does not encompass the distribution of costs and benefits among stakeholders (electricity producers, network owners, final users and so on).

References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Il teleraffrescamento: scenari tecnologici ed implicazioni economicoambientali, Fondazione per l’Ambiente, 2004, www.fondazioneambiente.org REHVA, www.rehva.com Centre Energétique et Procédés de l'Ecole des mines de Paris, www.cenerg.ensmp.fr/english/themes/syst/ Bejan A., Tsatsaronis G., Moran M., Thermal Design and Optimisation, Wiley, New York, 1996 HIJC INC. (Houston, Texas, USA) www.adsorptionchiller.bigstep.com ExternE - Externalities of Energy, EC DG XII – Science Research and Development, 1999, externe.jrc.es Externalities of Energy: Extension of accounting framework and Policy Applications, ExternE-Pol Project 2002-2004 funded by EC, 2005, www.externe.info/exterpols.html 2005 Statistics - International Comparison, Terna Spa, 2005, www.terna.it/ita/statistiche/documenti/annuario05/07_internazionali.pdf Spurr, M., District cooling and its integration with combinet heat and power, Proc. of International Symposium on District Heating and Cooling Simulation, Reykjavik, Iceland, 1997 Spurr M. and Larsson I., Integrating District Cooling with Combined Heat and Power, IEA Programme of Research, 1996


Section 9 Socio economic factors



275

The (in)validity of benefit transfer and its consequences for policy-making E. J. Bos1 & J. M. Vleugel2 1 2

LEI, The Netherlands OTB Research Institute, TU Delft, The Netherlands

Abstract The essence of benefit transfer is that the assessment of ecological effects of an intended project is based on information from similar studies, undertaken at other sites. Instead of performing a completely new study, which may cost a lot of time and money, key parameters from older studies are used. This approach is assumed to save valuable research time and money. In the paper it will be shown that this benefit may occur at the expense of the validity of assessments. Using these assessments for the new project may result in sub-optimal decision-making by governments and other stakeholders, like private landowners. The paper contains a meta-analysis on the validity of benefit transfer. The two basic types of benefit transfer, simple benefit transfer and benefit function transfer are being compared. It turns out that the validity of simple benefit transfer is often poor even when applied at comparable sites. This raises the question whether simple benefit transfer should be used to support policy-making regarding investment scenarios of national importance. It may be better to use benefit function transfer as an alternative, because it can compensate for differences in explanatory variables. In this way, the validity of the assessment can be increased, which may lead to ‘better’ decisions, provided that suitable benefit functions are available. Keywords: environmental economics, benefit transfer, validity, decision-making.

1

Introduction

The impact of an intended investment project, such as the development of a nature area, can be evaluated with two alternative methods of collecting data. The first option is called an in depth or full study and the second option is to take WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070261

276 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI research results from other studies and apply them in a new study. This approach is referred to as benefit transfer. There are two main ways of carrying out a benefit transfer study. The first is called simple benefit transfer and the second function benefit transfer. Our aim in this paper is to compare the validity of these two benefit transfer methods using a simple meta-analytical framework. The paper starts with an introduction of the importance of project assessment for decision-making. This is followed by a discussion of the aims of and the methodology employed in benefit transfer studies. Next, the two methods of benefit transfer will be compared. Based on these insights, suggestions will be formulated to contribute to a valid application of benefit transfer.

2

Investment projects and policy-making

Decision-making with respect to investment projects tends to be complex and extensive, because many, sometimes very diverging aims and interests have to be aligned. One of these is to protect the environment. This is especially true for decision-making on large infrastructure projects that have significant adverse effects on the environment. An assessment procedure is carried out. The result of such a procedure can be legally binding. In the Netherlands, for example, a MER (Environmental Impact Report) is obligatory for certain investment projects. It contains a non-monetary, partial analysis of the environmental consequences of a project. An integral assessment should cover economic, environmental, liveability, safety issues, et cetera. Dedicated project studies take place, which can be time and money consuming, especially if there is a major disagreement between proponents of the project and those opposing it. Opponents tend to use procedures in order to extend decision-making, hoping that this helps to delay and eventually to cancel the project. An example is the Dutch ‘Betuwelijn’ case in the 1990-ties. This concerns the construction of a dedicated high-speed freight railway line of about 100 kilometres between Rotterdam (the largest harbour in Europe and one of the largest in the world) and the German border. Instead of using the existing railway line, which crosses through many cities, most of the freight trains will be relocated to this new railway line. This would enable a reduction of environmental and safety issues in urban areas and transport of much more freight by rail. The harbour of Rotterdam and these cities would gain, but rural areas in the Betuwe–region would be intersected. This is a problem because the Betuwe–region contains important ecological and culture-historical values. A compromise had to be found, which increased the decision-making period [1], while the building costs doubled due to compensating investments (noise shielding, bypass tunnels, et cetera). In the past decade, the number of infrastructure projects has increased. At the same time, policy-makers want to reduce evaluation periods, which puts stress on researchers to speed up their work. This is why less time and money consuming ways of evaluating policy options have become interesting. The question is whether such assessment techniques enable a reliable support of decision-making on public investment projects. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


3

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Environmental assessment and benefit transfer

3.1 Introduction The aim of environmental assessment is to first assess an effect in physical terms and second, to translate this impact into monetary terms. The determination of physical effects is the field of ecologists. (Environmental) economists are involved in the economic valuation of the effects, i.e. the determination of costs and benefits of a project. With respect to the economic valuation, a distinction can be made between performing an in depth study and applying benefit transfer. Performing an in depth study using techniques such as contingent valuation involves the design, testing and implementation of a survey. This way of economic valuation of environmental features is characterised by extensive costs of collecting data [2]. 3.2 The methodology of benefit transfer Benefit transfer is based on the assumption that preferences for similar environmental concerns in corresponding contexts are comparable [3]. Estimations from one site (the study site) are used for the assessment of another site (policy site). In case of assessing environmental impacts, this approach is referred to as environmental benefit transfer [4]. More specifically, benefit transfer can be defined as the use of monetary environmental values estimated at a study site for estimations of the same parameters at a policy site through market-based or non-market-based economic valuation techniques [5]. It is being applied in various natural resource policy contexts, ranging from water quality management, associated health risks and waste management, to forest management and even global ecosystems [6]. Benefit transfer is supposed to increase the efficiency of the policy evaluation process [7]. This explains why many environmental agencies in the world are attracted to this method of collecting data [8]. For instance, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests the application of benefit transfer in its guidelines for CBA [9]. Subsequently, in the U.S. some prominent scenarios have been assessed by applying benefit transfer. An example is the application of benefit transfer in a cost benefit analysis of the Clean Air Act performed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In the Netherlands, the application of benefit transfer is suggested in institutionalised guidelines for CBA when exploring possible project scenarios [10]. Two basic types of benefit transfer are being distinguished. The first is the direct or simple transfer of mean benefit estimates from study site to policy site [11]. To perform a simple benefit transfer, a researcher must make a number of subjective professional judgements such as the selection of the study site [3]. In order to reduce potential sources of measurement error associated with these judgements, a researcher should follow three criteria when considering the use of an existing study [12]:


278 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI -

-

The commodities of the policy site which are subject of evaluation should be comparable to those of the study site; The population characteristics of policy site and study site should be similar. This can be a hazardous case when commodities reflect non-use values: what is the relevant population for non-use of an area in the first place? A researcher has to use the welfare measurement from the study site, because he or she cannot transfer welfare measurements used in a willingness to pay context to a willingness to accept context and vice versa.

The second type is the transfer of functions rather than final benefits estimates (benefit function transfer [11]). It starts with the construction of a value function based on existing literature. Next, data have to be collected about independent variables at the policy site in order to estimate the benefit for the policy site.

4

A comparison of benefit transfer methods: pros and cons

Benefit transfer can be considered as a time and money reducing alternative for collecting economic data. Collecting economic data is especially costly when it concerns environmental goods and services such as biodiversity and amenities. When applying simple benefit transfer a researcher has to find mean values from studies that have been performed for similar cases. The search for similar values should be based on the three criteria mentioned in section 3.2. It is up to the researcher to judge whether the values of the policy site correspond sufficiently to those of the study site. In other words, whether it ultimately makes sense to compare the two sites. The key issue with benefit function transfer is that a researcher has to use an already determined relation between the variable of the commodity of interest and the corresponding explanatory variables. The problem is that in most cases a suitable function has not been determined. This is no surprise as most in depth studies primarily intend to assess mean benefits for the concerned case instead of assessing the functional relation between the environmental benefit and explanatory variables. Assessing a benefit function would only be efficient if this function could be used for several additional studies in future... In case a suitable function could be found, the next step is to collect data for the explanatory variables. This may again be a difficult step. Consider for instance benefit assessment of non-use values. An example of a non-use value is the benefit of the protection of biodiversity in a nature area that is closed for users like recreational visitors. To determine such a value it is necessary to collect social-economic data (age, income, education, et cetera). This means that the researcher has to know the population for whom these non-use values are relevant. It is very arbitrary to determine which people belong to the relevant population and who should be excluded. Hence, collecting data for a benefit function transfer might be less obvious than it seems.



279

This means that it may take more time and money to carry out a benefit function transfer study instead of a simple benefit transfer study. What pleads in favour of benefit function transfer according to several authors, is that more information is effectively transferred [5, 8]. In particular, benefit function transfer enables a more explicit correction for explanatory variables, which means that its validity is likely to be higher, provided that proper functions are available. In other words, within the context of benefit transfer there is a tradeoff between validity and costs of collecting data. Therefore, in the following section we will address the validity of both benefit transfer methods.

5

Does benefit transfer produce valid outcomes?

5.1 An overview of validity studies In this section we will discuss the validity of benefit (function) transfer with a number of examples from the literature. As will be shown, there is a major difference of opinion about the validity of benefit transfer. There are even authors who say that the method is of no value at all. A pioneering study was the one by Loomis in 1992 [13]. The author tested the transferability of travel cost demand equations and contingent valuation benefit functions for recreational fishing in the United States. Transferring these functions from one state to another gave accurate results. However, transferring a function from a recreation site in one state to another state gave invalid estimates. It appears that specific regional aspects determine the concerned benefit in this study. Another interesting study was carried out by Bergland et al. in 1995 [8]. It estimated benefits functions for similar environmental goods by means of parallel contingent valuation (CVM) studies conducted at two Norwegian water sites. The authors tested the validity of simple benefit transfer and benefit functions transfer empirically. Neither type of benefit transfer gave valid values. Moreover, they concluded that the two benefit functions derived from the CVM studies were not related. In 1996 a first review of benefit transfer studies was carried out by Bergstrom in the U.S. [14]. Although the studies involved in this review suggest that benefit function transfer may be more valid than simple benefit transfer, the validity of neither form of benefit transfer is strongly supported by empirical tests. Bergstrom concludes that it is a challenge to determine adjustment procedures and protocols, which lead to accurate estimates. Bhat et al. [3] have examined the transferability of consumer surplus estimates (simple benefit transfer) and the transferability of benefit functions from the Southern Appalachian Mountain ‘ecoregion’ to a local site within the ecoregional level. They found that transferability of benefit estimates from recreational activities was possible in 50% of cases, whereas benefit functions could be transferred for all the activities considered in their study. The results of their study suggest that benefit transfer between sites located in a similar natural


280 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI area or region generates valid estimates. In order to improve the validity of benefit transfer, these authors recommend further research both in estimation procedures and accounting for explanatory variables like site attributes. The need to include site characteristics is also emphasized by Bowker et al. [15]. Moreover, these authors show that transferring benefit functions, which are derived from multi-site data is most promising as it allows for correction of differences in site characteristics. These positive findings are in contrast with those by Brouwer [5] who concludes that empirical testing of environmental benefit transfer has not lead to valid results so far. Kristofersson et al. [16] show that the validity of benefit transfer is likely to be even less than found in earlier validity studies. They suggest that validity tests are biased towards positive outcomes and therefore provide no accurate information. Finally, Brander and Florax [17] conclude on the basis of studies performed in the U.S. and the U.K. that the validity of benefit transfer is disappointing. More specifically, they found that simple benefit transfer can generate transfer errors of up to 400%. Given these insights it not surprisingly that Florax et al. [18] notice that despite the intuitive appeal of benefit transfer, its application in environmental assessment studies is very limited. The risk of using poor data is that the outcome of CBA might result in sub-optimal decision-making. In that case the cost-reducing feature of benefit transfer might be out-weighted by the social cost of sub-optimal decision-making. This may prohibit the use of benefit transfer in any phase of policy making. The problem is that there are circumstances where benefit transfer has to be applied. This especially holds for ex ante evaluations, because in this case the effects have not yet taken place. Consider for instance the assessment of recreational benefits of a to be developed site using the travel costs method. As there are no travellers to the site yet, travelling behaviour cannot be observed and travel cost cannot be determined. This prohibits the application of the travel costs method as an in depth study instrument. As in such circumstances benefit transfer has to be applied, it is important that reliable benefits assessments become available. Table 1 summarizes the earlier studies. 5.2 A spatial frontier? The studies discussed above indicate that only intra-regional benefit function transfer will yield valid estimates. Consequently, interregional, interstate-, international- and intercontinental transfers are likely to generate invalid estimates. This also means that if in a certain country no previous valuation studies have been carried out, then it is hardly possible to apply a valid benefit transfer. This case applies to the Netherlands, for instance. The current body of benefit estimates in this country largely consists of data from abroad [19]. The relatively few studies that have been assessed in the Netherlands concern mean benefit WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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estimates [20]. Benefit functions have not been assessed in any Dutch valuation study. As the present body of data lacks benefit functions for Dutch valuation studies, a valid application of benefit transfer in the Netherlands is hardly feasible at the moment. It follows that a more valid application of benefit transfer in the Netherlands is likely to occur when benefit functions are being assessed in order to enable benefit function transfer. Up till then, one should only perform in depth studies and not apply benefit transfer for supporting Dutch decision-making. Table 1: Study Loomis [13] Bergland et al. [8] Bergstrom [14] Bhat et al. [3] Bowker et al. [15] Brouwer [5] Kristofersson et al. [16] Brander and Florax [17]

Meta-analysis of existing benefit transfer studies. Simple Problematic Problematic Problematic N.A. N.A. Problematic Very problematic

Function Valid Problematic Problematic Intraregional is valid Possible Problematic Very problematic

Very problematic

Very problematic

5.3 Scope for improvement If we consider the observation that an in depth study may be very costly in most cases, while a benefit transfer study may lead to doubts about the validity of its results in specific cases, there is an argument in favour of combining in depth studies and benefit transfer in the same study. One of the authors [21] who followed this route applied Bayesian statistics to a set of data from 31 case studies throughout the world. This statistical tool allowed him to generate data for additional explanatory variables. A similar approach was followed by another author [22], who concluded that conventional benefit transfer based on CVM underestimated willingness to pay by about 50%. She concluded that Bayesian statistics saved on study costs, while its results are much more valid. It follows, that deriving benefit functions using Bayesian statistics can combine the best of benefit transfer and in depth, i.e. efficiency and validity.

6

Conclusions and recommendations

This paper discussed the application of benefit transfer in project assessment studies. Benefit transfer is an interesting alternative for in depth studies, because it might reduce research time and cost considerably. However, the burden of benefit transfer might come in the form of invalid assessments. If the difference between the estimated and real values becomes too WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

282 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI large, then the validity of decision making based on such estimations is questionable. In this article a comparison of the validity of two main benefit transfer methods, simple and function benefit transfer has been presented. Some authors, who criticize simple benefit transfer, recommend benefit function transfer as the most valid of two. The latter is regarded as a more accurate alternative for simple benefit transfer, because more information is effectively transferred. However, suitable benefit functions are hardly available. Studies show that socio-cultural parameters prohibit the use of regional values and estimates of such values beyond the regional level. This means that interregional, interstate or international transfers are not likely to lead to valid results. A promising alternative is a combination of a limited in depth study and a database with values from a range of international studies using Bayesian statistics. The local in depth study can then be used to validate the international assessment values. As became apparent, more research should be carried out in the following directions: - Assessment of more transferable benefit functions; - Perform comparative studies to analyse the validity and costs of both benefit transfers and in depth studies; - Combining in-depth studies with benefit transfer in order to profit from the strong points of both methods.

References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

[7] [8]

Boom, H. & Metze, M., Slag om de Betuweroute; Het Spel langs de Lijn, 1997. Barbier, E. B., Acreman, M. & Knowler, D., Economic Valuation of Wetlands, Ramsar Convention Bureau. Imprimerie Dupuis, S.A., Le Brassus, Switzerland, 1997. Bhat, G., Bergstrom, J.C. & Bowker, M.J., An Ecoregional Approach to Benefit Transfer, Discussion paper, 1997. Kask, S. B. & Shogren, J.F., Benefit Transfer Protocol for Long-term Health Risk Valuation; A Case of Surface Water Contamination, Water Resources Research, (30), pp. 2813-2824, 1994. Brouwer, R., Environmental value transfer; state of the art and future prospects, Ecological Economics, (32), pp. 137-152, 2000. Brouwer, R., Environmental value transfer: state of the art and future prospects, in: Florax, R., Nijkamp, P. & and K. Willis, K., Comparative Environmental Economic Assessment. Edward Algar, Cheltenham, pp. 90-114, 2002. Button, K.J. & Nijkamp, P., Environmental Policy Assessment and the Usefulness of Meta-Analysis. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, (30), pp. 231-240, 1997. Bergland, O., Magnussen, K., & Navrud, S., Benefit transfer: testing for accuracy and reliability, Discussion Paper #D-03/1995, 1995. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


[9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

[18] [19] [20] [21] [22]

283

See http://www.epa.gov/oar/sect812/1990-2010/chap1130.pdf. Ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselveiligheid, Kentallen Waardering Natuur, Water, Bodem en Landschap: Hulpmiddel bij MKBA´s. Eerste editie, Den Haag, 2006. Kirchhoff, S., Colby, B.G. & LaFrance, J.T., Evaluating the performance of benefit transfer; an empirical inquiry, Journal of environmental economics and management, (33), pp. 75-93, 1997. Boyle, K. and & Bergstrom, J.C., Benefit Transfers Studies: Myths, Pragmatism and Idealism, Water Resources Research, (28), pp. 657-663, 1992. Loomis, J. B., The evolution of a more rigorous approach to benefit transfer: benefit function transfer, Water Resource Research, (28), pp. 701-705, 1992. Bergstrom, J.C., Current Status of Benefits Transfer in the U.S.: a Review, 1996. Bowker, J.M., English, D.B.K. & Bergstrom, J.C., Benefits Transfer and Count Data Travel Cost Models: an Application and Test of a Varying Parameter Approach with Guided Whitewater Rafting. FS 97-03, 1997. Kristofersson, D. & Navrud, S., Validity Tests of Benefit Transfer – Are we Perfoming the Wrong Tests? Environmental and Resource Economics, (30), pp. 279-286, 2005. Brander, L.M. and Florax, J.G.M., The valuation of wetlands: primary versus meta-analysis based value transfer. In Carruthers, J.I. & Mundy, B. (eds.), Environmental Valuation: Interregional and Intraregional Perspectives. Aldershot: Ashgate (in press). Florax, R., Nijkamp, P. & and K. Willis, K., Comparative Environmental Economic Assessment. Edward Algar, Cheltenham, 2002. See the “Environmental Valuation Reference Inventory” (EVRI) at http://www.evri.ec.gc.ca/evri/english/about.htm. Ruijgrok, E.C.M., Valuation of Nature and Environment: A historical overview of Dutch socio-economic valuation studies, Platform voor Economische Waardering van Natuur, Rotterdam, 2002. Bal, F., Valuing Dutch Nature Areas: a Different Approach, Ph. D. Thesis. Martin Luther University, Halle/Wittenberg, 2002. Lehr, U., Bayesian benefit transfer in environmental evaluation, University of Hohenheim, Dpt. of Economics, Stuttgart, 2005.




285

Coastal cities – urban infrastructures D. Blott University of Portsmouth, School of Architecture, Portsmouth, UK

Abstract Urban regeneration in Britain frequently focuses around buildings and sees the object as a potential catalyst for the making of public space. This project proposes that the starting point is public space and infrastructure, its character and connectivity determining new building proposals. The south east coast of the UK is characterised by a string of resorts that together create an urban strip approximately 160km long. However, the 19th and early 20th century recreational expansion that created it, while informing the strip’s urban morphology, can no longer singularly sustain it. In the absence of any clear successor, the connection between town, hinterland and sea has eroded. As individual seaside towns, the trappings of fading popularity obscure the very qualities that were once so attractive. As an often unrecognized ‘Strip-City’ the coastal strip is hindered by poor infrastructure, especially that for transport, promoting pockets of extreme isolation. Current regeneration is in danger of ignoring existing spatial characteristics that, historically, have been shaped by the combination of the closeness between town and sea and the ambition of 19th century engineering. Whilst developments are considered for ‘key sites’, the critical issue of spatial and infrastructural linkages – squares, parks and routes – that re-unite and re-define the urban shoreline is ignored. This paper discusses the work of masters-level architecture students, which investigates ideas for the regeneration of coastal settlements and the creation of new programmatic territories that link infrastructure and architecture, interaction and space, city and water. Keywords: architecture, urban design, coastal development, urban regeneration, urban infrastructural spaces, urban programmes.



1

Introduction

The following is not about urban transport per-se; rather, it is about the way in which infrastructure, particularly that for urban transport, can be the bedrock upon which many strands of urban design can be built. The work of the Architecture and Urbanism (A&U) Studio is now in its third year. It is one of three studios which direct the design studies of the masters-level Diploma in Architecture. Its interests are in the relationship between architecture and urban design and one of its defining characteristics has been the use of ‘live’ urban conditions in which to base year-long design projects – Study Bases – and from which to draw critical inspiration – Study Precedents. The work discussed here is the result of one year’s activities of a group of students and tutors – Coastal Cities (CC) – within this studio. The group uses as its study-base the coastal region between Southampton and Hastings, along the southeast coast of the UK, seeing within it a contextually rich variety of locations in which particular observations and local connections can be made, questions asked and strategies proposed. What has drawn the group’s attention to this area is the way it appears to represent a number of urban conditions that are both distinctly unique to the UK – the growth and decline of the 19th century seaside resort, an urban landscape that is simultaneously urbanised yet remote and generally poor levels of transport infrastructure – and globally recogniseable – the emergence of near-continuous, recreational seaside conurbations [1]. In discussing the CC group’s work, this paper summarises the rise and fall of the English seaside resort and current attempts to reverse its decline. It offers a brief critique of the UK’s southeast coastal belt and its infrastructure and discusses precedents offered by the urban conditions of another urban coastal location – Barcelona. Finally, it describes the hypothetical critical design responses made to a specific location on the southeast coast – Hastings.

2

The coastal resort

As an island nation, our relationship to the thin border between land and sea, and our fondness for the seaside town, is deeply rooted. However, when visiting a seaside town what we are most aware of is a palpable sense of nostalgia, a feeling for that which is no more, an image of the glorious town in decline. This feeling is acutely observed in Paul Theroux’s book ‘Kingdom by the Sea’ [2]. For over 200 years the seaside played a central part in English summer holidays. In the 18th century the search for health encouraged the development of the resort. During the 19th and early 20th century swifter transport, by water, rail and finally by car, made seaside towns more accessible; and by the end of this period, most seaside resorts were well established. With the implementation of the 1871 Bank Holiday Act, regular holiday weekend trips became part of the culture of all classes of society. The promenade through the big city was transplanted to the seafront as resorts around the country assumed the role of urban recreational counterpart to their industrial hubs. The architecture and engineering of this new urban paradigm, which gave expression to its promenades, piers, hotels and stations, was never afraid of being bold, quirky, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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exuberant and idiosyncratic. It built upon the huge speculative ambition in the early 19th century, the impact of which even filtered into Jane Austin’s unfinished novel ‘Sanditon’ [3], and it continued to develop right up to World War Two. However, from the 1960’s, mass tourism developed and expanded beyond the shores of Britain, leaving many coastal towns empty of holidaymakers and local economies in decline. In fact their fleeting return to popularity in the immediate post WW2 years of austerity provided a disincentive for them to invest in infrastructures that could have enabled them to counter the foreign travel industry that would follow. Today, perched on an eroding landscape, many seaside towns continue to suffer from under investment and inadequate infrastructure and so struggle to maintain a foothold. They are in need of creative solutions. Seaside towns are unique because of their particular climate, their remoteness, their ageing and transient populations. They exist, literally, at the edge and, as settlements along the line where land meets sea; they represent a liminal condition to which we are drawn and yet feel to be so remote [4]. To regenerate such towns requires radical solutions and urban design ideas need to look beyond conventional precedents. In recent years a number of organisations and initiatives, which concern themselves with this problem, have emerged. A week-long conference, sponsored by CABE, was held in 2002 to promote seaside regeneration. From seafood stall to new public landscaping masterplans, a whole range of projects was seen to be potentially capable of recreating a spirit of confidence and ambition. The Communities and Local Government Select Committee now recognises the uniqueness of the acute demands as well as the huge potential of seaside resorts compared to other towns. Many local authorities, regional development agencies and private corporations across the whole of the UK have created partnerships with the aim of regenerating and promoting coastal areas. Last year the newly restored De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill hosted the 3rd Coastal Towns Conference – a gathering of public and private bodies from across the southeast coastline from The Solent to the Thames Estuary – to disseminate and discuss issues and initiatives.

3

Strip-City

From Southampton to Hastings, settlement has spread in the only way it can, as fiercely protected landscapes to the immediate north squeeze it along approximately 160 kilometres of coastline to create a near-continuous urban belt.

Figure 1:

Strip-City.


288 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI What interests us is that formal or coordinated recognition of this coastal ribbon appears only to have recently emerged. Certainly, the South Coast Towns conference network demonstrates an emerging recognition, as does the South East England Regional Assembly’s (SEERA) demarcation of the needs of the Southeast’s coastal belt against those of other parts of the region. The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) continues to direct considerable resources towards the region’s coastal towns and, at a more local level, networks are forming to learn from and act upon shared information. Nevertheless, a seemingly conventional view of the region’s settlement pattern sees the monocentric hub of London at the centre of a rural hinterland, dotted with selfcontained towns. Another view, however, is of numerous, sinuously connected urban and sub-urban, polycentric webs that collectively house a population greater than that of the capital. We have come to use the term ‘Strip-City’ for our chosen web – a long and thin amalgam of coastal towns, cities, suburbs, villages and protected landscapes, theme and caravan parks, marinas and water-side retail centres, promenades and piers, arcades and gardens, hotels and boarding-houses, which houses approximately 1.9 million people [5]. Many parts of Strip-City display depressed and imbalanced cultural, social, economic and demographic conditions; and all appear subject to poor levels of transport infrastructure (albeit with marked differences between its eastern and, more industrialized, western end) when compared to other conurbations in the UK. Yet, despite its size, no single rapid road or rail system links any of its main centres (see Fig 2), while road and rail journeys along its full length take two and three-quarter hours and three and a quarter hours respectively [6]. The disjointed and excluded nature of Strip City is put into sharper focus when viewed within the wider context of southeast England and northern France and their respective rapid road and rail networks (see Fig 2). In the southeast, a predominantly radial motorway system, centred on London, takes precedence over the east-west orientation of the coastal settlement – a situation much less evident on the other side of the channel. As for the UK’s only rapid rail route, linking it to mainland Europe, Strip City is removed from Ashford International by only thirty two miles (from its eastern end) but by journey times of an hour by road and forty minutes by rail [6].

4

Barcelona – study precedent

Although clearly different from any one seaside town along the southeast coast, Barcelona, when considering the scale, complexity and totality of Strip-City, offers an urban reference that is highly relevant since it demonstrates, in its urban development programme from the 1980s onward, a process of reinventing its coast in order to reintroduce the city to the sea. Furthermore, it is interesting to observe the extent to which this regeneration programme has been shaped through an alignment between urban space and transport infrastructure [7].



Figure 2:

Figure 3:

289

Rapid rail and road.

Barcelona – Cerda Grid.

4.1 An urban system Ildefons Cerda’s proposals in 1859 to allow for the ‘Reform and Expansion of Barcelona’ represent more than just an expansion plan [8]. An engineer by profession, Cerda wished to devise a comprehensive urban system that attended to the city’s infrastructural needs at a level both specific and general, at a scale both local and universal. We recognise his ‘Eixample’ or Expansion Plan today through the distinctive gridiron (see Fig 3), creating 113m x 113m blocks and intersected by diagonal boulevards that traverse the city [8]. Ingeniously, the plan wished to provide the means to ensure a number of simultaneous urban prerogatives, defining a framework for building footprints and heights and allowing, through a range of singular and collective urban block combinations, for the provision of open spaces within and across each block. This in turn ensured some control over living densities and the ventilation of spaces. At a macro-scale, the grid provided the framework for both movement across the terrain of the city and for services beneath it. But the integrated nature of this system goes beyond civil engineering and provides the means for civic urban quality. The boulevards, created both along certain routes within the grid and diagonally across it, provided the spatial set pieces – parks and promenades – for the new city’s public realm; just as the 450 chamfered corners [8] of every block turned each intersection into a space for interaction. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


Figure 4:

Former Olympic Village – urban spatial structure.

4.2 Movement and urban space This extension of the ‘engineering’ brief has, it could be argued, established a working principle which continues to shape Barcelona’s urban development today. From Barcelonetta and the former Olympic Village of 1992 to the ‘Forum International 2004’ site, a strategic programme can be observed that utilizes infrastructure as a generator for a comprehensive spatial, social, cultural and economic urban programme. Within this programme reside the spaces that define the way the city operates. Strategically, the Olympic and Forum projects have acted as catalysts and anchors for completely transforming 8 kilometers of coast from what was effectively an open industrial sewer into the city’s ‘seaside’. But, in addition to the sheer scale of ambition and transformation, there are clear strategic principles shaping this new urban structure. Throughout, the new beaches and marinas are bordered by a ribbon of leisure and sports parks (see Fig 4), which provide not just a buffer between the new urban neighbourhoods of the city and the exposed coast, but also a generous ‘green corridor’ in which the city’s orbital road system and rail network is embedded, hidden, landscaped – accommodated. This symbiosis between urban infrastructure, space and landscape is extended also to architecture when one observes how, in the new neighbourhoods bordering the park, it is the adoption of Cerda’s grid system that defines their order, scale and spatial syntax.

5

Hastings – study base

Hastings marks the eastern limit of our Strip-City and represents a microcosm of its ills and potential. To its immediate north and east lies the landscape of the Weald. Such juxtapositions of urbanised and protected landscapes characterise much of the coastal strip and intensify the tension between conflicting interests of growth and preservation, accessibility and isolation. The town’s historical significance predates its growth as a seaside resort. It acquired strategic importance under William of Normandy and maintained a sizeable fishing fleet well into the 20th century. As a resort, Hastings grew initially as a centre of a fashionable exclusive lifestyle. With the onset of the railways, however, its growth became so rapid that it effectively moved, creating a new town of promenades, arcadian vistas, grand hotels and elegant villas, and WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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leaving its former fishing settlement to fend for itself. Hastings retains a great deal of heritage – a legacy of its former elegant past as a thriving resort and of an earlier seafaring tradition. But despite promoting these historical assets the town has witnessed substantial decline over the last four decades. In attempts to redress this trend, a regeneration programme, which focuses on ‘education, business, broadband communication technology, transport and urban renaissance’ [9] is being orchestrated by SEEDA who have convened a development company – Sea Space – set up by the Hastings and Bexhill Task Force. Architects MBM (masterplanners, coincidentally, for Barcelona’s Olympic Village) have developed an urban masterplan for the two towns. Architectural competitions have been held, attracting names such as Foreign Office Architects, and Foster Associates. Greenwich, Brighton and Sussex universities have been involved in setting up new further and higher educational facilities there. This has led to significant building projects in the town. Large sites have been bought for development and regeneration programmes are underway for outlying housing estates. In the light of its precedent studies, the CC group wished to question those aspects of the regeneration programme which appeared to put faith in the creation of new buildings to provide urban regenerative impetus, rather than new urban spaces tied to new infrastructures. The group’s design projects, exploiting its academic removal from various firmly and justly held positions and imposed constraints, wished to explore the question of infrastructure and connectivity, transport and communication, seeing Hastings as a location within a larger cultural, political and geographical context – that of the Strip City – not as a series of architectural objects but as an urban landscape of movement and interaction.

6

The projects

Seven connected programmatic territories were investigated (see Fig 5), designed as contained urban spaces that sought to use the character of the seafront, radically readdress the town’s existing points of arrival and transform the edge along which town and water meet. Two of them are described here. 6.1 Environmental islands Behind the promenade, opposite the town’s pier, the land rises sharply before leveling out onto an area of playing fields – a ‘green island’. To the pier’s west runs a neglected covered walkway, incorporated into the sea defense wall. The scheme rests on a rejection of the coastal defense philosophy represented by this wall and proposes an offshore reef that opens up a new territory between it and the existing edge (see Fig 6). The placement of the reef creates two small bays, each one providing for a different leisure programme – nature and sport. Acting as a threshold between the two a combined linear building and raised route leads out from the inland green ‘island’, replacing the pier, accommodating a new hotel and spa and connecting one island to the other. The linear structure performs the role of the seaside pier and offers to hotel guests and promenaders WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

292 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI alike, the opportunity to look back at the town. Beneath the hotel, vehicular access is provided, connected to a sunken through road along the original seafront that allows this part of the promenade to become a linear park. Between the new pier and the west bay a canopy covers a range of outdoor sports facilities. These terminate at a long pool that runs back into the spa, lying beneath and extending out from the raised walkway between the hotel and the reef. From the hotel to the east, a series of boardwalks extend out to the dunes that make up the bay on this side. While the hotel structure provides the main architectural component in this scheme – the pier – the canopy and reef express the scheme’s environmental and engineering premise. Both provide a continuation of the environmental programme by supporting photovoltaic cells and wind turbines respectively, which power the complex. The historic idea of the resort that wishes to extol the healthy virtues of the sea is pursued through the creation of an entirely new landscape that is as radical, in its wish to give form to 21st century environmentalism as was the town’s 19th century transformation.

Figure 5:

Combined projects – highlighting the two described.

Figure 6:

Environmental islands.



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6.2 Coastal communities At the western end of the town a field marks the site of the former lido, which was still attracting thousands of visitors until the 1940s. At one end the main road turns in from the beach and allows direct connection between site and sea. This scheme explores the possibilities for higher living densities as a way of responding to high housing demand in the southeast, and a means to create the right circumstances for greater investment in transport infrastructure and using this to generate a spatial ‘gateway’ to the western end of the town. By seeing Strip-City as a location worthy of urban intensification, the scheme seeks to define a set of principles for urban housing development that is generically responsive to the uniqueness of coastal locations. Strategically, two alternative routes that run parallel to the coast – Boulevard and Park – are countered by a democratic response to seaside development, which orientates housing perpendicular to the shore (see Fig 7). The Boulevard forms a northern built edge to the site from which housing runs south toward the beach, cut through by the Park on its way, which connects it to the local facilities contained therein, and makes a clear distinction between housing immediately next to the sea and that which is set further back, between Park and Boulevard. New urban spaces at the east and west end of the site, directly addressing main coastal and London line stations, acquire significance by defining the points at which Boulevard and Park split and converge. Between the two, the Boulevard creates an urban spatial quality and scale that can accommodate the main road, the scale and mass of housing and the activities generated by the ground and first floor mixed uses. The Park, which runs at a lower level on this sloping site, creates a contrastingly informal vista through the development and is focused around a continuous body of water, fed by an existing stream. At the Park’s eastern end the water has a recreational use, so reinstating the lido memory. To the west, water and park gradually take on an environmental programme, filtering ‘grey water’ and providing ‘soft’ coastal protection.

7

Conclusion

Urban ambition and inventiveness characterised the way in which towns such as Hastings transformed themselves when faced with the overwhelming demands of industrialized tourism. The decline that has befallen most seaside towns stems in part from a process of retreat over the past half-century from the idea of transport infrastructure as a useful regenerative force for urban design (as witnessed in Barcelona) to the singular degenerative question of whether or not urban transport is profitable [10]. This is not to say that agencies such as SEEDA are in any way lacking in determination, and we have seen how countless regeneration programmes for coastal settlements have emerged in the last decade. Nevertheless, the demands faced are no less challenging than those of the 19th century and rely for their success upon a coherent view of urban movement and spatial connectivity. The studio’s studies have approached the subject of urban regeneration from a position that uses the spatial, cultural and infrastructural linkages – squares, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

294 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI parks and routes – as the starting point. They consider the needs of the town sufficient to demand urban redefinition that is radical but which utilizes its reciprocity with the sea – its one constant resource – and a drive towards making that resource accessible.

Figure 7:

Coastal communities.

Each design scenario attempts to explore the limits of the land-sea edge condition and to use the possibilities offered by the simultaneous but conflicting requirements of openness to and shelter from the sea. It is this fundamental conflict between the sea’s ability to attract and to threaten that encapsulates the uniqueness of the coastal town. In such towns we are presented with the biggest of urban spaces – one that ends at the horizon. That space defined the scale of the 19th century promenade – a place for urban spectacle and movement – and it could define the spatial syntax of the 21st century seaside town.

References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Maas W, Costa Ibirica, Actar, 52-69, 1999 Theroux P, The Kingdom by the Sea, Penguin, 46-47, 199, 326-328, 1983 Pevsner N & Nairn I, The Buildings of England, Penguin, Sussex, 62-64, 1965 Theroux P, The Kingdom by the Sea, Penguin, 199, 1983 Based upon 2001 census records for all local authorities within defined area AA-advised journey times and National Rail, 2005 Montiel JC, Clos O, Zafon JL, Gual C, Buhigas M, Barcelona in Progress, 2004, Lunwerg Gausa M, Cervello M, Pla M, Barcelona: A Guide to its Modern Architecture, Section A, 2002, Actar Sea Space publication, Hastings and Bexhill Renaissance, 2004 Theroux P, The Kingdom by the Sea, Penguin, 326-328, 1983 WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


295

Petrol consumption towards unsustainable development: Iranian case study S. B. Imandoust Payam Noor University, Iran

Abstract One of the most important economic problems in Iran is petrol consumption. In fact, one litre of petrol in Iran is cheaper than one bottle of drinking water. Every year the government pays a large sum of money for imported petrol as well as petrol subsidies. Thus people consume it in an inefficient manner and petrol smuggling is a very popular job especially near boundaries. In the current Iranian year (21st March 2006–20th March 2007) about seventy million litres of petrol were consumed daily in Iran (the biggest petrol importer in the Middle East). This research reports the trend of petrol consumption during the last two decades and studies different scenarios for making decisions about petrol pricing and consumption. Finally some suggestions are presented for correcting the petrol consumption pattern. Keywords: petrol consumption, unsustainable development, petrol pricing.

1

Introduction

One of the most important threats against sustainable development in Iran is energy subsidies. About 17.5% of GDP (gross domestic production) is allocated to energy subsidies every year. More than 25% of GDP is allocated to total subsidies in Iranian economics. The petrol price in Iran is about 9 cents per litre, so people consume it in a uneconomic manner. Official data shows during the last five years petrol consumption increased 10% yearly. In the current year about 70 million litres have been consumed daily by Iranians [1]. From the environmental point of view this level of petrol consumption caused high levels of air pollution especially in big cities and because of that Tehran (capital of Iran) is one of the most air polluted cities in the world. Because of its cheap price smugglers have high motivation for petrol smuggling. Although Iran is the fourth WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070281

296 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI biggest petroleum producer in the world it simultaneously imports petrol from abroad. For example in the financial year 2006-07 about 4 billion US dollars of petrol was imported by the Iranian government, in other words Iran is the biggest petrol importer in the Middle East. Among 12 Middle East countries, 31% of energy production is consumed in Iran. In fact, all refinery production has the lowest price in Iran compared to other countries. Figure 1 demonstrates the trend of daily petrol consumption in Iran during the last 30 years [2].

8000

Daily petrol cosumption 1000 litre

7000 6000 5000 Series1

4000

Series2

3000 2000 1000 0

1

3

5

Figure 1:

7

9

11

13

15

17

19

21

23

25

27

29

31

Petrol consumption trend 1976-2006.

Figure 1 shows about seventy million litres of petrol have been burnt per day during the year 2006, it means during 30 years the petrol consumption increased by a factor of seven (1976–2006). At the beginning months of 2007 petrol consumption was beyond seventy million litres per day (unofficial announcement).

2

Petrol consumption in the OPEC countries

Petrol is one of the most important refined products in the world and about 98% of it is consumed in the transport sector. Because of economic and population growth during the last decade petrol consumption has rapidly increased among WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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OPEC countries. Table 1 demonstrates petrol consumption during 1999-2005 (1000 barrels per day). Although Indonesia and Nigeria have more population than Iran (218 and 132 million) the Iranian people's consumption is the biggest amount among other OPEC members [3]. Table 1:

Petrol consumption in OPEC countries (1000 b/d), 1999-2005.

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

% Change 05/04

43.1

42.3

41.3

41.0

40.0

41.3

47.2

14.2

INDONESIA

198.8

213.6

220.8

235.5

252.0

282.1

300.8

6.6

IRAN

213.2

225.0

256.8

298.1

336.1

375.3

413.5

10.2

IRAQ

69.1

77.2

83.4

84.8

68.9

78.8

80.6

2.4

KUWAIT

39.4

36.3

40.3

42.3

44.0

46.7

49.1

5.2

LIBYAN

38.2

42.2

42.4

45.5

46.6

49.6

54.1

9.1

NIGERIA

85.2

105.7

127.8

134.9

136.6

146.1

164.3

12.5

QATAR SAUDI ARABIA UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

11.0

11.7

12.5

15.8

13.4

14.3

16.7

17.3

269.8

273.3

282.3

301.2

311.2

330.7

350.3

5.9

37.3

45.5

55.5

65.8

72.5

72.0

75.3

4.5

219.5

239.2

245.8

234.5

222.9

232.4

240.1

3.3

ALGERIA

VENEZUELA

Source: OPEC annual statistics. Table 1 shows a 10% increase in 2004-05 for Iran. Among different areas in the world, North America, with 45.4% is the biggest and Africa with 2.7% has the smallest share for petrol consumption. Nowadays the share of petrol consumption in North America has decreased because of high economic growth in China and India.

3

Previous research about petrol consumption

Fortunately I have found precise scientific research about the economic aspects of petrol in Iran that has been carried out by academic persons but unfortunately the governmental officials did not pay attention to these efforts properly. It seems uneconomic considerations have played a first role in this issue. One of the best studies has been done by Khataie [4]; he estimated demand and elasticity of petrol from the period of 1981–2003 and forecast the future of petrol WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

298 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI consumption using the ARDL (Autoregressive distributed lag modelling approach). As the basis of his study the petrol demand model was introduced as follows: CG=f (RPG, POP, TK, Y, A)

(1)

CG=total demand of petrol RPG=real price of petrol POP = population TK=number of cars Y=national income A= average life of car in Iran

dCG ≥0 dPOP

dCG dCG dCG dCG ≥0 ≥0 ≤0 ≥0 dY dA dRPG dTK

(2)

Thus for the period 1981–2003 with the use of the ARDL approach the demand equation is estimated as follows: CG=11085 - 18.5 RPG + 0.0056TK -6037 D84

(3)

D84 is a dummy variable and demonstrates a decrease of oil income in the year 1984. Because the other parameters were not significant the researcher deleted them. As the equation shows there is a weak negative relationship between real petrol price and total petrol demand. Thus, if the government increase the petrol price the demand level will not change drastically. But the number of cars affects the petrol consumption positively. Abounoori [5] utilised a logarithmic function for estimating the petrol demand function with a OLS (ordinary least squares) approach. He estimated the following equation: Log Clit=9.37+.0575 log Veh+.0188logNI-0.121 log PP+0.851 log POP (4) where Clit=petrol consumption Veh = number of vehicle NI=national income PP=real petrol income POP=population From an economical aspect in this equation the parameters are elasticity coefficients. So we can conclude that petrol demand has a low sensitivity ratio with price. Thus, if government raise prices people will not change their demand significantly. This is because of a lack of appropriate public transport in big cities.



299

Moreover every year one million new cars are added to previous cars with a high average of consumption, most of the cars in Iran have four cylinders and burn more than ten litres of petrol per kilometre. In Iran only a few companies produce cars and all of them belong to the government so no competition exists; they have been supported by the government during the last two decades. They have provided low quality cars with high average petrol consumption and people have to buy their products. Although petrol is cheaper than in other countries, the car is more expensive. Figure 2 compares real and nominal petrol prices in Iran during 1967–2006. 900

800

700

Price(Rial/litre)

600

500 Nominal Real

400

300

200

100

19 67 19 70 19 73 19 76 19 79 19 82 19 85 19 88 19 91 19 94 19 97 20 00 20 03

0

Year

Figure 2:

Real and nominal petrol prices (Rial/litre) 1967-2006 [6].

I should mention here because of structural inflation in the Iranian economic system, we have a big gap between real and nominal petrol prices. As can be seen in figure 2 the real petrol price has not varied very much but simultaneously WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

300 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI the nominal price in most years has risen drastically. The vertical axis presents the price of petrol in Iranian currency (Rial) per litre (9300Rials=1$). In fact in recent years the real price has decreased although the variation is small. If we compare figures 1 and 2 we can easily conclude that the nominal price and petrol consumption move in the same way, thus we can say petrol is an inelastic commodity in Iran.

4

Different scenario for petrol pricing

Nowadays petrol pricing is the most critical issue that the Iranian government and parliament are facing. After long discussions between government officials no clear results have emerged about petrol price. In fact most economists and some parliament members believe that the price should be modified slowly until arriving at the real world price. But the government officials reject that and argue about the inflationary effect of this policy. In the next part of the paper a different manner that can be considered will be noticed. 4.1 First scenario: continuing of present situation This means petrol should be imported and distributed without efficient management and at the present 9 cents per litre. Naturally if we follow this policy inefficient consumption, smuggling, air pollution, traffic jams, no motivation for producing low average car… will go on. Yet people remain happy and enjoy the cheap price. 4.2 Second scenario: rising price As it was proven by previous researches as well as in figures 1 and 2, with the increase of price, demand will not decrease significantly unless price increases drastically. This causes high inflation and decrease of car demand so unemployment also increases. On the other side petrol consumption, smuggling, air pollution will be reduced. 4.3 Third scenario: quota system for internal production and world price for imported petrol If we can separate high income consumers and low income consumers, this policy works otherwise the price gap will create artificial profit. On the other side, most of the old and high average cars belong to low income people. So this policy affects them and an unjust distribution will arise. But it reduces consumption, smuggling and simultaneously creates motivation for low average car, regulating car engines. 4.4 Fourth scenario: quota system for internal production without import Data shows the average petrol production in nine refineries is about 43 million litres daily. This amount of production can be enough only if private cars use 2.5 WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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and public cars 25 litres per day. Simultaneously public cars should use CNG as a fuel so double-burn cars should substitute the old cars as well as taxis. This policy reduces petrol consumption and air pollution but most probably black market for petrol will appear. 4.5 Distribution of wise card for efficient management Recently a wise card has been sent to car owners throughout the country, they help to control consumption and calculate real data. Although many experts are doubtful of this approach the policy has not started practically. Many people announced that they had not received their wise card and nobody knows what will happen in the future. Will this policy work or not? Time itself will show us the truth.

5

Conclusion

The trend of petrol consumption in Iran pushes the country towards unsustainable development. More than 70 million litres of petrol have been burnt daily and have caused air pollution, traffic jams, wasting time and money, eye and lung diseases. Moreover a big share of the national income is allocated to imported petrol from abroad. On account of official data during the last two decades, the nominal price is always raised but consumption also had the same situation. Different factors made this situation, for example lack of easy and efficient public transportation, population growth, existence of old and high average cars and cheap petrol price. For improving this situation many efforts should be considered. First petrol price should approach the real world price. Second public transportation should be constructed and expanded as soon as possible. Driving and producing the old and high average cars should be banned. Finally if we expand electronic services via the internet for bill payments, shopping, registration etc, this affects traffic as well as petrol consumption.

References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Moradi, H., Petrol price modification. Economic Development Monthly (Farsi), 10, pp.6-8, 2007. Petroleum ministry of Iran, Iranian national company of refinery products distribution, statistics office, 2006. OPEC, www.opec.org Khataie. M, Analyze of elasticity and demand of petrol in Iran, Iranian Economic Research Quarterly (Farsi), 25, pp. 23-46, 2006. Abounoori, A., Estimation of petrol demand in Iran. Economic Research Journal (Farsi), 28, pp. 205-229, 2006. Petroleum ministry of Iran, Iranian national company of refinery products distribution, statistics office, 1966-2006.




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HIV/AIDS morbidity/mortality, access to social support and household utilization of natural resources in Ngamiland, Botswana B. N. Ngwenya1 & O. T. Thakadu2 1

University of Botswana, Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre, Botswana 2 Agricultural Education and Communication, University of Florida, USA

Abstract The dynamics of household response to AIDS impacts are complex and differ according to the severity of illness, multiplicity/frequency of death occurrences, availability and access to support structures as well as survival strategies embedded in the context of culture and biodiversity. This paper focuses on household responses to AIDS related stressors and utilization of natural resources by communities involved in Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) projects in Ngamiland, in north western Botswana. The study involved two single village and two multi-village community trusts. Data were collected through a simple random sampling of 121 households obtained from the 2001 national population census enumeration areas. The results showed that households in CBNRM villages have diverse sources of livelihoods such as farming; basket making and government assistance, sale of grass and reeds, fishing and remittances. More than half of sampled households had orphans, 68% had a continuously ill person (CIP) in the last five years, and, of these, 63% had died within the past year. Affected households received support primarily from the extended family, neighbours, church groups and friends. The study concludes that, in Ngamiland, access to external/formal and internal/informal social support mediates HIV/AIDS related morbidity and mortality, and helps households cushion the environmental impacts of AIDS by acting as a buffer against selection and over utilization of natural resources. Keywords: HIV/AIDS, CBNRM, natural resources management, social support.



1

Introduction

Natural resources represent a central component of rural livelihoods. Impacts of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Botswana society cut across natural and non-natural resource based livelihood systems. To date, the environmental dimension of HIV/AIDS morbidity (and mortality) has received limited attention. Numerous case studies have been conducted on the linkages between HIV/AIDS and natural resources management in Kenya, Namibia, South Africa [6, 8], Uganda [12], Malawi [4, 10] and elsewhere [1]. Furthermore, Hunter and Twine [7] and Erskine [5] have not only established the impact of HIV/AIDS on natural resources management, but also provide insights on how to mitigate its effects [11]. This paper builds on the few studies that assess the impacts of HIV/AIDS on natural resources utilization and access with particular reference to Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in Botswana. CBNRM projects in the country constitute an important national strategy for combating poverty in rural communities – by creating employment – and for promoting sustainable use of natural resources [9]. In addition, CBNRM programmes offer a workable opportunity to address HIV/AIDS impacts on natural resources (water, forest, soil, wildlife, land, fisheries, veld products and conservation issues) [13]. In Botswana, HIV/AIDS prevalence varies from as low as 15% to as high as 40% in some districts [3]. National figures however; camouflage the severity of impacts on specific livelihood systems (such as CBNRM). Disaggregated data can only be obtained through systematic assessment of micro impacts in particular communities and livelihood systems, without necessarily down playing macro effects of the epidemic. 1.1 Objectives of the study The overall aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of HIV/AIDS morbidity/mortality in relation to utilization of natural resources in CBNRM communities in rural Botswana. The specific objectives of the study were to: 1. 2. 3.

2

Assess the prevalence of HIV/AIDS related mortality and morbidity in CBNRM areas in Ngamiland. Investigate sources of support for affected households to mitigate the impacts of the disease. Investigate the impacts of the disease on access to, selection and utilization of natural resources in CBNRM communities in Ngamiland.

Study setting

The study was based in Ngamiland district in the north-western part of Botswana. The Okavango Delta, a Ramsar wetland of international importance, is also located in Ngamiland. The Okavango Delta is rich in biodiversity which WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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is essential to the livelihoods of populations inhabiting the area. There is a high concentration of CBNRM activities in Ngamiland: for instance, there are twentyone CBNRM community based organizations (CBOs) trusts in Ngamiland covering at least sixty-three villages in the district. Also, Ngamiland CBNRM CBOs are among the highest income generating institutions. Also, the district is home to some of the oldest CBNRM trusts in the country operated by one single joint venture partner since inception. Although rich in natural and CBNRM institutional capital capable of impacting positively on livelihoods, several factors disadvantage Ngamiland. HIV/AIDS prevalence in the district is high and there is a low concentration of both HIV/AIDS service NGOs/CBOs (to complement government programs) and poor formal HIV/AIDS service delivery infrastructure compared to the rest of the country. There is high prevalence of HIV infection, for instance, amongst the 25-49 year age group (36% and 29% in Ngamiland South and North respectively) [3]. This suggests that the epidemic targets the most productive age group, which contains those who are the main participants in CBNRM related economic activities. The district is ideal, therefore, for assessing household HIV/AIDS related stressors with regard to access, selection and utilization of natural resources. Table 1:

Villages and sampled household.

Name of Trust Mababe Zokotshama Community Development Trust Sankuyo Okavango Community Trust

Kopano Mokoro Community Trust

Village Mababe

No. sampled Households 22

Sankuyo Seronga Gudigwa Eretsha Boro 2 Xaxaba Xharaxao

15 34 12 7 12 10 9 121

Total

2.1 Sampling and data collection methods The study involved eight villages, two single village community trusts, namely, Sankuyo Tshwaragano Management Trust (STMT) and Mababe Zokotshama Community Development Trust (MZCDT), and two multi-village community trusts: Okavango Community Trust (OCT) and Okavango Kopano Mokoro Community Trust (OKMCT) (Table 1). A simple random sampling of 12% of households was carried out based on the 2001 national population census enumeration areas. A total of 121 households were sampled from Sankuyo (STMT), Mababe (MZCDT), Seronga, Eretsha and Gudigwa (OCT villages) and Boro 2, Xaxaba and Xharaxao (OKMCT). This was a cross-sectional survey in which data collection was through face-to-face administration of structured interviews. Household heads or mature household representatives were interviewed in situations where the de facto head was unavailable or WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

306 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI incapacitated. Informal interviews were used to collect additional information about HIV/AIDS and CBNRM issues from health care officials and CBNRM/CBO project leaders/facilitators.

3 Study findings 3.1 Socio-economic profile and access to HIV/AIDS information A total of 121 respondents from sampled households were interviewed, of these 38.8% were male, 61.2% female, over half never married (52.9%) and 21.5% were living together, 16.5% married, 2.5% divorced and 6.6% widowed. The average age of the respondents was 42.6 years. Household size varied from 0-5 members (45%); 5-10 (38%) and 10+ (16.5%). Overall, the level of human capital development of respondents tends to be low because 43.0% have had no schooling, 25.6% had primary education, 29.8% secondary and 1.9% tertiary. As expected, most respondents had heard about HIV/AIDS, were knowledgeable about how the disease is transmitted and could correctly identify how a person can get infected. CBNRM communities have access to HIV/AIDS information (through radio, health clinics, community meetings, and workshops). People also were conversant about what to do when ill including what to do to reduce sexual re-infection and maintaining a healthy life style. 3.2 Primary sources of livelihoods Households in CBNRM communities have diverse sources of livelihood. The importance of natural resource and non-natural resource based livelihood activities in these communities tends to fall within the primary–secondary continuum. In any given seasonal/food calendar, some activities are carried out sequentially, others are done simultaneously. The sources of income in sampled villages include farming (51.2%); cash employment from CBNRM joint partnerships (40%); basket making and government assistance (25%) respectively; poling, sale of grass or reeds (15%); fishing, sale of traditional beer and receipt of remittances (12%). However, residents of single village CBNRM communities such as Sankuyo and Mababe tend to benefit most from joint venture formal employment. Respondents were asked to rank order sources of income. The first most important source of income was formal employment (80%), CBNRM employment (64.6%), farming (54.7%), poling and sale of traditional beer, (50%), basket making (24%), receipt of government social welfare assistance (16%), and thatching grass, hawking and remittances. This was followed by remittances (77.8%), fishing (43.8), thatching grass/reeds (37.7%), poling (35%), basket making (32%), farming (26.4%) and CBNRM employment (21.7%) respectively. The third most important sources of income were fishing (50%), basket making (44%), government assistance (43.3%) and farming (18.9%) (Table 2). WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


Table 2:

Formal employment Cash employment form CBNRM Farming Fishing Basket making Poling Sale of crafts Sale of traditional beer Thatching grass/reeds Hawking Remittances Government assistance

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Rank ordered sources of income. % 1st Most important 80

% 2nd most important 13.3

% 3rd Most important 6.7

64.6

21.7

8.7

54.7 6.3 24.0 50.0 50 12.5 12.5 11.1 16.7

26.4 43.8 32.0 35.0 6.0 30 37.5 7.5 77.8 4.0

18.9 50.0 44.0 15.0 4.0 2. 0 5. 0 12.5 11.1 43.3

N 45 23 53 16 25 20 5 10 8 8 9 30

3.3 Morbidity, mortality and access to support 3.3.1 Orphans The presence of orphans has been used as proxy indicator of death of parents most likely due to AIDS. More than half of households in CBNRM communities had absorbed orphans, ranging from 1 to 6. The incidence of orphanhood differed from one village to another due to differential HIV infection rates. In Botswana, orphans registered with the Orphan Care Desk Office (which is located in the Social and Community Development Department (S&CD)), receive assistance. In the study area, at least 67.9% received a supplementary food basket and psychosocial support from social workers. Other sources of material and emotional support came from the extended family (64%), neighbours (32.7%), Trust (26%) and social welfare groups (12.8%). Contrary to expectation, support from extended family was rated as helpful (78%), neighbours (55%), followed by friends (28.6%) and church groups (26.3%). 3.3.2 Morbidity, mortality and access to health services Approximately 68.4% of households had a continuously ill person (CIP) in the last five years. Slightly more than half of CIP patients were males. The number of CIPs in these household varied from one to numerous, for instance, 38% had one CIP, 17% two, 10% had three, 7% had four and 6% had five and above. Villages of Eretsha and Xaxaba appear to have been most affected, followed by Xharaxao and Seronga. The majority of respondents (55%) indicated that the CIPs were primary providers. These were farmers and trust or government employees. In Mababe, Xaxaba, Eretsha and Sankuyo, more than 80% of CIPs were primary providers who worked for Trust Joint Venture partnerships. Overall, 53.4% CIPs were cared for less than one year, 21.6% for one year, 12.5% for two years, 5.7% for three years and 6.8% for four years and above. Several factors contributed to WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

308 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI variations in length of care giving period. These included the fact that about 62.9% of patients care for died within a year, 28.1% were alive, and 9.0% died after several years. Informal interviews with family members suggested that early HIV testing, acceptance and disclosure of HIV status to a confidant, family de-stigmatization, patient access to and adherence to treatment regimes such as antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) and TB treatment were important life or death determining factors. Self-disclosure was apparent since about 38.2% of caregivers knew the HIV status of their patient. Approximately 44.8% patients were HIV+, some were either on ARV or TB treatment or in the process of ARV enrolment. Although the medical model seems to predominate in HIV/AIDS intervention (prevention, care and support) country wide, villagers in the study area tend to straddle modern and traditional health care systems; the difference is a matter of degree. The villages of Maun and Gumare have officially registered associations of traditional healers and they also have primary hospitals and clinics. Diversity of treatment options, implicitly or explicitly, gives affected individuals in rural settings some flexibility. In households where there was more than one CIP over the last five years, some care givers nursed the sick people simultaneously (17.8%) while others did so sequentially (77.8%). Caring for one CIP after another regardless of the sequence of episodes disrupted household economic activities. Response strategies included abandoning economic activities to care for the patient (37%), reducing labour time (26.9%), struggling to survive one day at a time or switching to alternative activities (6.4%). However, some respondents (15.4%) indicated that caregiving did not affect household regular economic activities. Follow up interviews suggested that where a CIP has either been chronically unemployed, their illness and or demise had limited impact on household livelihood activities (especially where support from close family members was forthcoming). Only 1% of affected household sold some assets to cope with illness. 3.4 Care and support Households affected by death or illness in CBNRM communities received care and support from a range of sources. Extended family members (64.6%) and neighbours (37.7%) appear to be key social actors in providing social relief to households in distress. Church groups (33.8%) and friends (29.9%) are also important sources in the care and support continuum. Overall, support from extended family was considered helpful, followed by church groups and neighbours. Kinds of assistance provided included emotional support (79.4%), food provision and preparation (65.1%), financial support (50%), collection of water and wood (48.2%), cleaning yard and house (43.1%) and collection of medicine (29.6%). However, informal interviews suggest that many villagers maintain multiple residences. The “parallel outward” flow of the sick, dying or dead from Mababe and Sankuyo for instance, is to some extent due to ‘enclave” settlements in Maun or Seronga and or, for lack of a better concept, “multiple or dispersed WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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residences” across villages. ‘Enclave” settlements have emerged within existing Maun wards (kgotla) such as in Sedie or Botsabelo. These sub-groups own a residential plot/s, migrate seasonally or intermittently live and or do temporal or ‘piece jobs’ opportunistically in these localities. It appears that Mababe and Sankuyo experienced complex “parallel outward,” intra-district migration of young people. One group migrated from remote rural areas to “urban villages” such Maun, Gumare or Seronga in search of formal employment. When they became seriously ill, they are less likely to return to their home village, and if they die, they were most likely to be buried in Maun. Another group opted to stay in the village of birth and was mostly likely to be employed by safari companies in Joint Venture Partnerships. However, when they became ill, they were more likely to migrate to Maun not only to have access to better health facilities, but also to be cared for and supported by kin members living there. In both scenarios, access to kinship support networks and health care facilitates appears to stimulate and sustain outward migration flows. The strength of social and institutional ties within CBNRM communities, therefore, is an important response strategy for household under HIV/AIDS related stressors (illness or death). 3.5 Morbidity and utilization of natural resources With regard to collection and use of natural resources prior to chronic illness episodes, the majority of respondents (95.9%) indicated that they collected firewood for use, 5.5% collected it for sale during normal period and only 3.3% indicated that they sold it as a coping mechanism during illness episode. Likewise, the majority (84.3%) harvest grass for domestic use, 24.2% for commercial purpose and 8.3% sold during illness. Again food plants were also harvested for domestic use (71.9%), whereas 10% for sale and 5.8% sold during illness. With regard to medicinal plants, 28% indicated that they harvested for daily consumption and only 1.7% for sale. Informal interviews revealed that wild foods plants include Berchemia discolor Bird plum (motsintsila), Grewia sp. and Brandy bush (moretlwa). Medicinal plants are harvested to treat a wide range of health conditions (coughs and colds in children, pregnancy and child birth, old age related chronic conditions and so on). Interestingly, none of the respondents claimed harvesting medicinal plants as an income generating coping mechanism during illness. Disaggregated data however, suggest that 50% and 33% of households in Xaxaba and Xharaxao respectively, sold reeds, and 44% and 42% sold grass thatching as response mechanism for social distress. Sale of food plants was evident in Gudigwa, Seronga and Xaxaba. The latter village appears to rely on harvesting natural resources, especially grass and reeds, for both subsistence and commercial purposes, and also during normal and distressed periods.

4

Discussion

Compared to other districts in the eastern part of the country, human capital development (as measured by level of educational attainment) in Ngamiland is WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

310 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI low. It is thus not surprising that a significant proportion of respondents have no formal schooling. Chronic illness and mortality further erode the human capital base of affected households. Inevitably, death changes household composition, for instance, by increasing the number of orphaned children, reducing access to or re-allocation of experienced labour in production sectors such as CBNRM, farming, cash employment and other income generating activities. Paradoxically, death can also bring psychosocial relief in that the event free caregivers to switch from ‘invisible,’ uncounted non-market caregiving activities to ‘visible,’ quantifiable market undertakings. Also, absorbing orphans reconfigures household composition. This can have both positive and negative effects on household human and financial capital. On the negative side, if the orphan is young and requires care, extra labour demands are placed on the caregivers. However, access to support from extended family and or neighbours helps orphan-recipient households to cushion negative effects. On the positive side, absorption of older orphans could mean provision of extra labour, direct financial and material welfare benefits from government or donor agencies. Clearly receipt of remittances and government assistance, are the most important for 11% and 16% of households in the study area. A welfare benefit, such as a social pension, facilitates labour migration and female pension recipients in the household reduce the probability of a male leaving the household and have the opposite effect on women’s migration [2]. More research is needed to establish, for example, the link, if any, between social welfare programs ‘parallel outward’ migrations from CBNRM communities to ‘enclave’ settlement in ‘urban villages.’ Although respondents admit to consulting various health care systems in the village for various ailments, they are, however, quick to point out that AIDS related conditions are better handled in clinics or hospitals. Access to health systems (modern and traditional) also contributes towards minimizing the impacts of HIV/AIDS on utilization of natural resources as first line of defence. The strength of, and access to, kin and non-kin based social relationships (or social capital) matters in CBNRM villages. Sources of material and psychosocial/emotional support networks include those from formal (from government and NGOs/CBOs) and informal (extended family, neighbours and remittances). The forms of support flowing from these include gifts, childcare, home visitation and labour sharing arrangements especially by close family members and neighbours. Affected households in all villages in the study appear to have very strong social support structures to draw upon during times of distress, especially from extended family and neighbours. Variations are expected of course, with some households having more support (and therefore less vulnerable to negative effects of AIDS related mortality and morbidity) and others, less. Although seemingly mundane, these are critical elements that mediate response strategies of households under distress particularly with regard to utilization of natural resources in the Okavango Delta. Access to financial capital (cash income) through sustained cash employment helps reduce household vulnerability to negative impacts of the disease. Also, CBNRM villages in the Okavango Delta have an abundance of natural capital WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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(forest, reeds, grass, water, land, and fish) that is largely utilized for domestic purposes and for commercial purposes on a limited scale. Furthermore, few households sold veld products specifically as a distress response strategy, especially in Seronga and Gudigwa. Xaxaba village is inside the Delta and most residents work for safari camps, but the majority originates from Seronga, where access to waterway transport makes the village a potentially good market for reed/grass. Residents of Xharaxao and Boro 2 are also a stone’s throw away from Maun, a likely market for thatching grass (for domestic and business purposes). 4.1 Conclusion Response strategies of AIDS affected households in Ngamiland can be better understood in relation to access and utilization of natural and non-natural based resources or ‘assets’ available to a household as well as the enabling social and institutional relations. AIDS related morbidity may induce changes that are likely to shape household access, collection, utilization and conservation of key natural resources in their locality. The study has shown that social support structures and kinship networks mediate HIV/AIDS related stressors such as chronic illness and death and potentially act as a buffer against AIDS affected households from adopting response mechanisms that could have ‘erosive’ effects on natural resource access and utilization. Joint venture partnerships in CBNRM communities not only create employment opportunities, but also implicitly prevent the collapse of social support systems, for instance by providing transport for the ill, dying or dead, and social welfare provision to orphans and the elderly. Demonstrated extended family support and good “neighbourliness” in the study areas should be interpreted in the broader context of enabling social and institutional relations.

References [1] [2]

[3] [4] [5]

AIDS Brief. CBNRM Brief for Sectoral Planners and Managers. Development Alternatives, USAID. http://www.frameweb.org/ Barrientos, A. Non-contributory Pensions and Poverty Reduction in Brazil and South Africa, Department of International Development, University of Manchester. http://www/ds.ac.uk/ids/pvt/pdf-files/non-contributory_ pensions.pdf Central Statistics Office (CSO). Botswana AIDS Impact Survey (BAIS II), Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. Gaborone, 2004 COMPASS. Impacts of HIV/AIDS on Natural Resource Management in Malawi. Document 55. Blantyre, 2003 Erskine, S. Red Ribbons and Green Issues: Exploring HIV/AIDS as an Environmental Concern. Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD). University of KwaZulu-Natal, http://www.hivan.org.za/admin/documents/Red%20Ribbons%20and%20 Green%20Issues.doc. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

312 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI [6] [7]

[8] [9]

[10]

[11] [12]

[13]

Freeman, P. H. CBNRM and AIDS in Bushbuckridge, Northern Province. South Africa. An Exploratory Geographic Analysis. South Africa, http://www.popline.org/doc/1564/174389.html Hunter, L., & Twine, W. Adult Mortality, Natural Resources and Food Security: Evidence from the Agincourt field site in rural South Africa. Centre for African Ecology, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, 2005 Johnson, T. Challenges and Responses to Impacts of HIV/AIDS on CBNRM in a Trans-boundary Context. South Africa. 2002. Kgathi, D. L. & Ngwenya, B. N. Community Based Natural Resource Management and Social Sustainability in Botswana: Implications for Natural Resource Management Botswana: Botswana Notes and Record (Special Edition) 37, pp61-79. 2005 Mauambeta, D. D. C. HIV/AIDS Mainstreaming in Conservation: The Case of Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi. http://www.rmportal.net/library/hh_main/hh_hivaids/HiVandConservation -Mainstreaming.pdf/?searchterm=participatory%20planning. Oglethorpe, J., Gelman, N. HIV/AIDS and Conservation. Impacts and ways to reduce them. Fact sheet for the Conservation Community. http://www.frameweb.org/ Ruhweza, A. Exploring the Relationship Between HIV/AIDS and Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM). Uganda. 2001 http://www.gbf.ch/ab_received.asp?no=37&lg=EN&app=&now=2#2 USAID. Bureau for Africa, Office of Sustainable Development. AIDS Briefs for Sectoral Planners and Managers: Community Based Natural Resource Management. 2005. http://www.afrsd.org/Environment/AIDS%20Brief-all-150%20res.pdf



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Rural development in small mountainous settlements: case study of Bojnord region, North-eastern part of Iran M. Taleshi Payam Noor University, Iran

Abstract More than 47% of the rural settlements (32147 units) in Iran have been spatially categorized as mountainous, which are characterized with their small size of population. This means that more than 85% of these settlements (27385 units) have a population of less than 100 households. Though lack of water and soil resources have caused these small settlements to be dispersed along the country as small villages, these have unique spatial functions, i.e. the stabilization of population and exploitation of the limited and scattered natural resources. The mountainous rural settlements of the area under study have the same environmental-ecologic conditions as discussed above. This study has proved that, during the last two decades, the destructive processes governing the ecologic conditions of the area have reached their highest level and severely worsened the soil erosion and destruction of many pastures. Thus, in 1981 only 15% of these small settlements experienced unsustainable conditions, but this increased to 57% by the year 2001. Therefore, in order to keep up the functional role of the mountainous settlements in micro and macro-spatial-levels, we need first of all to drastically change our approaches to Strategic Plans and so to development procedures at local, regional and national levels. Thus, through supporting and encouraging the rural households, sustaining the small mountainous settlements could be possible! On the other hand, the participative efforts of the villagers in the establishment of NGO must be widely promoted. Thus, establishment and support of the informal popular institutions in different parts can lead to control of the destruction of natural sources. Moreover, the realization and guarantee of the stable production and income and the right change to the provision of common services can result in stable rural development in mountainous areas. Keywords: rural development, instability, small settlements, participation, nongovernmental organizations. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070301


1

Introduction

In the 21st charter of the 13th chapter of the Rio Conference damageable mountainous perimeters were considered by scientists, especially natural resources, economists, geographers and other related researchers. Following this scientific event, the United Nation Organization named the year 2002 as the International Year of Mountains. In the ecological environment of mountains, rural settlements, especially small ones, are set in unstable conditions, and this instability will affect rural development. In this way, an excess of unstable conditions will have a direct effect on the process of poverty and social justice. Therefore, the process of instability in small mountainous settlements in the Aladagh region at the North-east of Iran as a mountainous region is considered in this paper, followed by recommendation of appropriate strategies for rural development in these settlements.

2

Region under study

Aladagh region lies at the North-east of Iran (between 37°, 15΄ to 37°, 39΄ North latitudes and 56°, 57΄ to 57°, 35΄ East longitudes). The area is 150400 hectares with 69 mountainous settlements with a population of 55737. The most important ranges of the region are; Qarabolagh with 1517 meters height, Shalakh with 1875 meters height, at the North of the region, Sefid bodagh 2459 m, Qaraghoy 2227 m, Ajan and Shimily 2150 m, Namazkhaneh 2455 m.

3

Assessment method of mountainous settlements instability

Considerations and assessments of various available approaches in sustainability for different aspects such as environmentally sustainable development, economic sustainable development, cultural sustainable development, physical-spatial sustainable development underwent a final selection. In this approach economic and environmental-economic, socio-cultural and physical-spatial structures and relations were considered. In this study, relations between sustainability and non-sustainability on rural settlements were considered through a series of effective factors.

4

Studies of effective factors

These included: Environmental/Ecological factors: 1) Settlement elevation 2) Water balance WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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3) Soil erosion 4) Force major damages (flood, earthquake) 5) Pasture demolition (Crown coverage amount) 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8)

Socio-economical factors: Immigration Literate ration Employment percentage Population density Supporting load Income per capita Agricultural lands distribution Percentage enjoyment of rural roads

1) 2) 3) 4)

Physical-spatial factors: Average monthly trips to city Average distance between settlements and city Percentage of rural owners residing in city Percentage of enjoying services by the people

Official planning factors: 1) Ratio between infrastructure credits and total credits of the village 2) Ratio between production affairs and total credits of the village 3) Ratio between social affairs and total credits of the village In this way, all settlements in the region were considered in three categories, non-sustainable, sustainable and semi-sustainable, and finally non-sustainability conditions were studied through statistical models and correlation equations.

5

Assessment results of non-sustainability conditions in rural settlements

According to studies on environmental-ecological factors, results show that for non-sustainability in small settlements based on geological factors (land slides and quakes), more than 65% of small settlements lie on unstable geological formations and 58% of settlements have non-sustainable conditions from a land slide point of view. On the other hand, 57% of small rural settlements are nonsustainable considering water resources. Soil erosion factor as a basic factor in demolishing of renewable resources in small settlements shows that in the year 1981 only 15% of these settlements had non-sustainable conditions, while as in the year 2001 this amount increased to 57%. The demolition of landscapes in small settlements shows that in the year 1981, 25% had non-sustainable conditions, whereas in 2001 it increased to 61%. Socio-economic factors in small mountainous settlements always show that annually 2.7% of rural employees are decreased and the unemployment rate increased annually by 6.8%. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

316 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI The results of income and wealth distribution show that, in 1981, only 20% of the rural population did not own any land, while as in 2001 this amount increased to 50%. On the other hand, the results recommend that only 10% of the population have 50% of resources and wealth and the remaining 90% of the population have only 50% of income. Average income of each rural family residing in Aladagh region’s small settlements is less than 100$, which in comparison with other regions of the country and South-east of Asia, and even China is so little. Considerations on physical-spatial factors show that the distance between these settlements and 2nd grade urban centers is 25 km and more than 80% of these settlements have dirt access roads. On the other hand, 90% of these settlements have non-sustainable conditions of welfare facilities. More than 87% of residential buildings are made of low quality and low durability material, such as sun-dried bricks, woods and mud, intensifying its damageability. After lots of statistical considerations, it has been approved that, basically, some parts of the effective forces had an immediate (direct) affect on nonsustainability of small settlements. These immediate factors include six key factors, such as amount of soil erosion, pasture demolition, water balance, force major damages per capita, agricultural lands distribution and income per capita. Except water balance, the other five forces have a direct relation with nonsustainability of small mountainous settlements, so that, with increase in the amount of any immediate factors, the amount of non-sustainability processes increases basically. The second group of forces and effective factors have indirect rule. In fact, these factors do not affect directly the non-sustainability, but affect the six main factors, causing non-sustainability on small rural settlements. The complex equations of direct forces with indirect factors are identified by two equations, reverse (correlation coefficient zero to -1) and direct (correlation coefficient zero to +1). According to the final analysis, circumstances of equations and effective forces have been organized. Physical-spatial factors are in the 1st line, Socio-economical factors in the 2nd line, and enjoyment of services factor as transition factor between two other groups of factors, 3rd line consists of planning factors, like civil credits, and 4th line consists of elevation factors to consider the behavior and relation between effective factors on elevation conditions of rural settlements. Statistical analysis of physical-spatial factors showed that, as the distance between the settlement and the city increases, there is more intention to migrate by the owner. On the other hand, the distance between settlement and the city has a reverse connection with average monthly trips by villagers, because as the distance decreases, the trips to the city increase. The effects of these factors (physical-spatial) on direct factors are such that the percentage of owners in the city has a reverse connection on water balance. This means, as the number of owners residing in the city decreases, water



317

balance acts better. More clearly, a reverse connection between migration of owners and water balance can be approved. In socio-economical factors, employment rate has a reverse connection with enjoyment of services, because increase in the provision of services in mountainous settlements will decrease the employment percentage. Therefore, present service providing regulations in mountainous settlements do not increase employment facilities. Enjoyment of services has a reverse connection with immigration. Service facilities in mountainous settlements did not prevent the immigration of villagers, and more importantly, the enjoyment factor of rural roads shows a reverse connection with per capita income of villagers as an increase in enjoying rural roads per capita income of villagers’ decreases. More clearly, there are meaningful connections between enjoyment of rural roads, employment percentage and enjoyment of services with direct factors. Always, an increase of rural roads and the enjoyment of services coefficient per capita income decreases, and this affects directly the non-sustainability of settlements. In governmental credits, the amount of production credits is in reverse connection with pasture demolition. In fact, as the amount of production credits in mountainous settlements decreases, more pastures are demolished. On the other hand, this factor is in reverse connection with per capita force major damages.

Figure 1:

Applied patterns of relation between effective variables on unsustainability.


318 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI Therefore, the complex of ruling factors show that socio-economical factors affected from the country’s planning program (inattention to small settlements and tendency towards cities) had great effects on demolition of renewable resources (such as water, soil and pasture), resulting in a decrease of ecological capacities. This decrease caused, in a way, the decrease of bearing coefficient and population stabilization in small settlements.

6

Rural development plans

To leave partially non-sustainable conditions, all aspects of rural development should be considered uniformly and epidemically. More clearly, to access an epidemical rural development in mountainous settlements, the following pivots should be considered properly and effectively: • Appropriate protection and operation of basic resources. • Education of population concerning local issues in mountainous settlements. • Appropriate foundation for strengthening and extension of participation mentality (active, continuous and epidemical participation). • Increase in profitability of present economical facilities and creating spaces for new economical activities. • Growing living quality levels in mountainous settlements. • Modification and regulation of physical-spatial network of mountainous settlements to enjoy proper facilities and services. Therefore, to compile a sustainable planning regulation in mountainous settlements and by scrutinizing considered pivots (relying on sustainable development from physical-spatial point of view), the most important rural sustainable development plans are described: Ecologically Changing low efficiency dry farms into pastures Occasional pile irrigation Preservation and protection preservation Mechanical operations (reservoir dams, etc.) Socio-habitat Creation and development of proper training-cultural activities Strengthening the villager’s active and continuous role in participation Establishing appropriate private (non-governmental) organizations Growing living quality satisfaction in villagers (sanitary, clinical, consumption pattern facilities) Economically Modification and improvement of revenue methods from basic resources (increase in profitability) Making equal opportunities for all villagers to access credits and financial facilities (distribution of civil credits) Transformation of economical structures to persuade nongovernmental and private sector participation WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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Creating variety in economical activities Increasing employment opportunities for non-owners in nonagricultural and natural resources activities Physical-Spatially Reclamation of residential buildings, facilities and social welfares Sounding appropriate physical-spatial relations between rural and urban settlements Leveling of rural settlements to make balanced and sustainable relations among the settlements.

References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Barow, C.G., (1955), sustainable development: Concept, Value and Practice, Journal of Environment, Vol.14; Hamilton, L.S. 1995. The productive role of mountain forests. In: Mountain at Risk (N.J.R. Allan, ed.) Manohar, New Delhi, pp.49-69 Hanley, N, (1997) Macroeconomic Measures of sustainability: A survey and A Synthesis. Discussion papers in Ecological Economics 97/3, Deportment of Economics, University of Stirling, Stirling. UK Harris. M.J (2000) Basic Principles of sustainable development. Tufts. Univer. U.S.A Hicks (1946) sustainable development, University London press Jackson, T. and Marks, N (1994) Measuring Sustainable Economic Welfare: A pilot Index. Stockholm environment Institute / New economics foundation, Stockholm. Jansky Libor (2002) Global mountain research for sustainable development, UN University. UNDP (2002) Report Word Summon Development, Johannesburg.




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Green milieu: the milieu effects on sustainable development of watershed collaborations with a case study of the New York City Watershed Agreement J. Hoffman John Jay College of Criminal Justice of CUNY and the CUNY Doctoral Program, CUNY, New York, USA

Abstract Local economic development literature has directed attention to the “milieu” effects of local interactions among firms and with governments on the qualitative nature of economic development. This article introduces the concept of the green milieu: a local economic development climate that is conducive to promoting sustainable economic development and encourages a local area to succeed economically over the long run while protecting its environmental base. It argues that watershed collaborations can create such a milieu. New York City’s complex watershed collaboration is analyzed for the ingredients of a green milieu and its current record reviewed for indicators of success as a green milieu. Keywords: sustainable development, local development, watershed, collaboration, environmental regulation, milieu, New York City.

1

Introduction

A green milieu is a local economic development climate that is conducive to sustainable economic development. The intellectual underpinnings of this concept can be found in the discussion of adaptation to change found in four economic literatures. Local development literature analyzes the role in development of learning and the local interactions among firms and with government. The literature of sustainable development discusses the means of moving towards sustainability. The environmental regulation literature reports on the effectiveness of collaborative approaches to our non-point pollution problems because collaborations engage stakeholders and consideration of their economic concerns into the protection process and thus enhance cooperation. In the WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070311

322 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI economics of crime literature legal responsiveness theory discusses the importance of the presence of legal means to adapt to economic change to crime prevention. A green milieu would be a local economic development climate which fostered interaction among economic actors that moved the economy towards sustainable development with legal means and the promotion of equity as a development characteristic. Watershed collaborations create information networks described as a factor of production in local development literature and have the explicit goals of environmental protection, legal compliance and are necessarily concerned with economic equity. Are Watershed collaborations creating green milieus? Examination of New York City’s nine year old very complex watershed collaboration offers the opportunity to explore collaboration as a green milieu. Section one of this paper reviews literature that contributes to the concept of a green milieu. Section two discusses what the indicators of both the existence and success of a green milieu would be. Section three examines watershed collaborations as green milieus. Section four analyses the components of New York City’s Watershed Collaboration for the ingredients of green milieu. Section five reviews New York City’s Collaboration outcomes for indicators of success as a green milieu. Section six summarizes the findings.

2 Background literature Local economic development literature discusses the adaptive capacity of local areas as an influence on their economic lives. Within this discussion access to knowledge and learning by firms have been identified as local development variables (Krugman [1] Camagni [2] Helmsing [3]). Helmsing [3] draws on work in evolutionary economics to describe firms as learning machines rather than rather than producers of specific products. Local places which are a network local residents, workers, businesses, governments, and non-profit organization can also be described learning machines. Markusen [4] moves in this direction in her work on “sticky places.” or metro areas that have been able to either persist or adapt. Her recommendation that local areas foster the health of the structure that characterizes them is essentially a recommendation to develop and maintain a learning milieu. The sustainable development literature recognizes the interdependence of the economy and environment and argues for economic incentives that lead towards environmental sustainability. The literature also recognizes that individuals and organizations must have sufficient income to afford the requirements of environmental protection (UNEP [5], Daly [6], Hoffman [7]). The environmental regulation literature like that of local development has become concerned with local decision makers. Collaborative agreements involving local stakeholders have been found to be more effective than top down regulation, especially in watersheds with dispersed and mobile non-point pollution sources (NRC [8], Wondolleck and Yaffe [9], Sabatier et al [10] Richter et al [11]). Watershed collaborations are increasingly common. They may be completely voluntary or combine collaboration and regulation ([10], WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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Dolsak and Ostrom [12]). They are, in essence, information networks that promote communication among stakeholders with regard to both environmental and economic health. Within the economic crime literature, legal responsiveness theory discusses the availability legal means to help people adapt to economic change, like environmental regulations, as an aspect of crime prevention (Hoffman [13]). Preventing rather than punishing pollution is a concern of sustainable development. Environmental violations are not only undesirable per se, they undermine the culture of respect for law which is important to the protection of the extensive boundaries of water supplies.

3

Ingredients and success indicators of a green milieu

The regulatory and crime literature suggest that cooperative networks and legal adaptive structures can prevent resistance to increased environmental requirements. Local and sustainable development literatures suggest that localities in the process of learning to shape their interdependent economic and environmental needs can be green milieus which move towards sustainability. Such a green milieu would have the following ingredients: • Create learning networks to help economic actors adapt • Create learning networks about and incentives for environmental sustainability • Promote economic well being through legal opportunities • Provides legal means to meet environmental requirements • Foster cooperation and trust How would the effectiveness of a green milieu be assessed? Drawing on a range of sources on sustainability, ([5,6], Berke and Manta [14]) five criteria are proposed: • • • • •

4

Environmental sustainability: Maintaining and improving the environment for current and future generations Economic Sustainability: Economic development that encompasses economic welfare, equity and means of resilience for future generations Compatibility: development compatible with environmental protection Legality: provision of legal means to adapt to change Atmosphere of cooperation and trust for future development

Watershed collaborations as Green Milieus

Watershed collaborations at least nominally have the ingredients of a green milieu. They are learning networks created to help stakeholders adapt to the requirements of water protection and to promote compliance with environmental requirements. They necessarily address the economic and equity concerns of stakeholders. They must foster cooperation and trust to be effective. Environmental protection measures, whether formal rules or informal agreements, create cost pressures. Goodstein [15] writes that firms seeking to WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

324 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI comply with environmental requirements have saved money in part because they re-examined their production processes. Participants in collaborations thus gain learning and adaptation experience, enhancing the capacity of the local area as a learning machine with potential benefits to the entire economy. Watershed collaborations vary considerably in scope. Some are small, short term voluntary arrangements that might not have enough impact to create a green milieu. Others are complex agreements involving many stakeholders, wide areas, and formal institutions [6]. These hold promise for creating a green milieu. New York City’s watershed collaboration is of the latter type and is a good candidate for analysis as green milieu

5

New York City’s Watershed Collaboration as a green milieu

5.1 Background of the New York City Collaboration Some 90 per cent of New York City’s water come from its rural Catskill/Delaware (C/D) Watershed about 120 miles north of the City and west of the Hudson River. Most of the rest comes from its upstate watershed east of the Hudson River. The City’s Collaboration resulted from a 1987 rule promulgated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that decreed that all cities of over 100,000 had to filter their drinking water. The water supply in the C/D watershed was clean enough for the City to apply for a provision in the EPA ruling that granted permission not to filter water from these reservoirs, called a filtration avoidance determination (FAD). To obtain the FAD, the City had to take steps to protect the Catskill mountain water supply and create plans to build a filtration plant for its eastern watershed (NRC [16], Galusha [17]). A filtration plant for the C/D Watershed would have cost at least $6 billion, so the City began to review and tighten its upstate watershed regulations. However, the local people mobilized to protest the regulations, in part due to resentment about the City’s prior use of eminent domain to destroy homes and villages in order to construct the reservoirs [17]. While the City owned land near reservoirs, and some of the watershed was protected by a forever wild designation, some 74% of the watershed land was privately owned. The miles of streams and reservoir boundaries could not be effectively protected and controlled through police action. Community cooperation was necessary for effective protection [16]. The City engaged in negotiations for collaboration. What evolved was a complex collaboration guided by a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) including rules and regulations and benefits for participating communities. Signatories to the MOA included the U.S. EPA, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), New York State (NYS), the NYS Departments of Health, and of Environmental Conservation, the NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation, seven counties including five containing the C/D Watershed, 49 towns including 41 C/D Watershed towns of which 34 signed as members of a coalition of Watershed towns (CWT), eleven villages of which nine are in the C/D Watershed, and five locally active non-profit organizations (CCCD 1997 [18], MOA [19]). WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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5.2 New York City’s Collaboration as a green milieu Three aspects of the Collaboration contribute to a green milieu: tools of environmental protection, the organizations, and spending programs (Table 1). 5.2.1 The tools of environmental protection of the Collaboration Three categories of tools of environmental protection exist: land purchase, direct regulations, and education. The City is buying land from willing sellers, especially in priority areas for water protection. The rules and regulations of the MOA such as stream buffers, shape economic activity. The City’s funds environmental education for Watershed and City students, via local conferences and though outreach activities such as booths at county fairs (Hoffman [20]). These tools all contribute ingredients of a green milieu (Table 1). The rules and regulations and the education programs stimulate creation of learning networks about environmental protection. Education enhances legal compliance. The land purchases provide income to local residents. Buying land from willing sellers rather than using eminent domain gained the City cooperation and trust. 5.2.2 Organizations of the Collaboration The Collaboration produced new organizations. Several were created to implement the Collaboration The Watershed Protection and Partnership Council (WPPC) of all signers of the MOA was created to meet annually, hear conflicts and issue reports. Two Watershed based non- profit organizations were funded by the City to assist in the implementation of MOA and to foster economic development compatible with clean water. One, the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC), oversees such programs as storm water prevention and septic upgrading. It oversees a revolving loan fund and community grant program and is a locus of education programs. The second is the Watershed Agricultural Council (WAC) which oversees a voluntary whole farm program designed to enroll farmers in a voluntary whole farm plan of best management practices (BMP) for water quality. The WAC oversees a forest stewardship program and programs to support the forest and agricultural economy. Also, the City DEP established a Community Affairs Division to work with local communities on the agreement. Local interest organizations formed during Collaboration include the Coalition of Watershed Towns (CWT), a group formed to protest the regulation still meets as a watchdog organization, and a network of environmental groups which participated in the negotiations and is still active [18, 20]. Two other local organizations were formed during the implementation phase. One is the “Green county mountain top” group of supervisors which meets to discuss Watershed affairs in their county. Delaware County, which has about half of the county in the Watershed, funded a Watershed Affairs Office (Hoffman [21]). These organizations are all learning networks which increase and enrich connections in the Watershed networks. When participants are government employees, they, in turn, transmit information to the business community. The CWC and WAC both work to foster economic development compatible with clean water. The WPPC brings participants together and provides a venue for the WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

326 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI discussion of disputes. The CWT protests when it feels that the local communities can be damaged by some aspect of the Collaboration. The organizations of the Collaboration are engaged in activities that create a green milieu (Table 1). Table 1:

Environmental Protection Tools MOA Rules & regulations Land Acquistion by fee simple Education Organization WPPC DEP watershed affairs CWC & WAC CWT environmenatl groups Green mountain top group Delaware County Watershed Affairs Spending programs Environmental protection Infrastructure compliance subsidies Whole farm and forest stewardship conferences Economic development watershed development plan community grants revolving loan fund tourism and farm market promotion hiring of personnel Cooperation good neighbor program tax fund

Collaboration characteristics. creates learning networks

promotes promotes sustainablity of economic environment well being

provides legal means

promotes cooperation and trust

x

x x x

x

x x

x

x x x x x x x

x x x

x

x x x

x

x

x x

x x x x x

x x x x x

x x x

x x x

x

x x

x x x x

x x

x x

x x

x x

5.2.3 The spending programs of the collaboration Collaboration spending can be grouped into three categories: environmental protection, economic development and fostering cooperation. All contribute ingredients to a green milieu (Table 1). Environmental protection spending comes primarily from the City but is amplified when City funds are used in local matching grants. The City spends money for direct protection and to organizations that oversee protection programs. The major category of direct spending undertaken by the City is for infrastructure such as wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and septic systems. In addition to the funding of the CWC, the WAC and the WPPC, the City also pays for research and assistance from Cornell University and for conservation easements to keep land in farming [21]. Spending by the City that contributes to economic development includes local hiring, the funding of a Watershed region economic development plan, a 60$ million revolving loan fund, community development grants, funds to promote the tourist economy and local products, conservation easement purchases and financing for local infrastructure such as new sewer lines The CWC kept lists of WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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local providers of needed services to increase the likelihoods that the spending would stimulate the local economy [21]. City spending designed to foster cooperation and trust include “no strings attached” good neighbour payments to local governments and funds to support local governments in tax disputes with New York City. These spending programs create learning networks, environmental protection, local economic well being, and legal means for people to meet the regulations, thus helping foster cooperation and trust.

6

Success indicators New York City’s green milieu

6.1 Local development problems In order to understand the challenges faced by the Collaboration, the nature of the local economy at the beginning of the MOA must be understood. Dairy farms and forests dominated the rural, sparsely populated, mountainous landscape. Scattered hamlets and villages of the Watershed had typically been built along streams. . Much of the infrastructure was depreciated; including the area’s septic tanks and wastewater treatment plants. The streams themselves had often been straightened or had deteriorated borders, and could too easily carry silt to the City’s reservoirs [16,20,21]. The economy had been stagnant for decades Dairy farming had experienced the loss of its supplier base. The forever wild protection of the state constitution for the Catskill Park land and steep slopes meant that much land was not available for development. Small businesses were especially vulnerable to the competition of super stores, large farms and globalization. Many jobs were low income service and retail jobs, often in the tourist industry. There was a lot of part time work. Government jobs, primarily states and local and City, provided some stability, with regular incomes with benefits to about a fifth of the population [20,21]. Strict water regulations with expensive infrastructure requirements could have undermined the economy of this already run down area. However, City’s need for a collaborative partnership generated a Collaboration with the ingredients of a green milieu. What are the indications of success so far? 6.2 Environmental sustainability A quick summary indicator of the Collaboration’s environmental success is the EPA’s award of three successive FAD’s, continuing permission not to filter the water. A supplemental indicator is absence of incidents of water borne disease attributed to Watershed water (NYC [22]). Specific gains are many. The City has upgraded its own watershed waste water treatment plants to tertiary level treatment and has upgraded enough of the WWTP’s in the C/D Watershed to protect 97% of the Watershed’s effluent. It has restored wetlands and returned the meander to streams to prevent flooding. The City monitors and has replacement plans for local dams. Upgrades of 2000 septic systems are completed, and funds for their maintenance are committed. The voluntary whole farm program has participation by 95% of commercial farmers. City land purchases have tripled its watershed holdings, and it has a long run planting WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

328 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI program to maintain the forested land’s capacity to cleanse water. Finally phosphorous restrictions on the Cannonsville reservoir were lifted (NYC [23]). The creation of phosphorous restriction program to guide economic development by the Watershed Affairs Office of Delaware county promises will help keep that reservoir clean [21]. 6.3 Economic sustainability: development, well being compatibility A variety of indicators point to milieu successes in enhancing development and economic welfare in the Watershed. Studies of residents during the early years of the collaboration (1990-2000) found that Watershed residents, while having relatively low income and high unemployment for the region, had experienced greater improvements in median income, wage and salary growth and self employment income than control areas used in the study Also unemployment had declined more and inequity increased less than control areas [20]. A similarly controlled study of employers found a growth in both units of business and employment from 1997-2003, and that the Watershed had growth even when control areas experiencing a down turn. A negative economic result for the period was the relatively low wage growth. While the wage growth cannot be attributed to the Collaboration, milieu effects failed to overcome the factors such as international competition and location disadvantages that held wages down. [21]. Another problem not overcome by the milieu is the pressure put on property taxes of low income residents resulting from expensive home construction by higher income second home owners [20]. Long run economic stability was promoted by various milieu programs. Loans to wood working businesses support secondary markets for holders of forest land. Purchases of conservation easements help to keep land in farming. Economic diversity, which provides stability, has been aided by loans to small to medium size manufacturers, which helped stabilize them. Links to New York City customers helped farmers diversify into growing products for that market. Also, internet based businesses have opened in the Watershed in part with the help of the loan programs or local government programs inspired by the need to promote businesses compatible with water quality [21]. Compatibility of economic activity and water quality has been enhanced. Improved environmental infrastructure “cleanses” all Watershed activities. The service industry, not a major polluter, is the major source of job growth. Local officials have promoted non-polluting e- business by such means as such as subsidizing web pages and creating e-business incubators. Delaware County has a phosphorous reduction plan to guide economic activity in its part of the Watershed [21]. The voluntary farm program’s best management practices protects water quality and kept farm pollutants from the water in a recent flood (Rauter interview [24]). 6.4 Legality, cooperation and trust The legal means to abide by regulations provided to by the Collaboration have been used. Local residents have used the septic grant program and reported their septic problems. Businesses and local communities have used the loan and grant WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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programs to improve environmental infrastructure [20,21]. The WPPC’s forum for dispute resolution is credited with the avoidance of law suits about development on steep slopes (Harding interview [25]). Use of conflict procedures is evidence of flexibility in the structure of the Collaboration which enhances long run cooperation. The City responded to local protest and redesigned its Watershed signs. The WPPC has provided a forum for disputes about recreation rules as well as slopes. The tax fund has been used by local areas to stand up to the City on tax issues. Evidence that the periodic need to renew FAD’s enhances cooperation is provided by the City’s agreement to pay for maintenance septic tanks during one set of negotiations [20,21,23]. The many successes of the milieu have been accompanied by problems beyond those already mentioned. Local residents protested watershed police issuing traffic tickets and controversy abounds about the City’s reluctance to grant a permit to a proposed mountain top golf course. There are also worries that the land acquisition program will ruin the area for tourism.

7

Summary

There are problems in this Collaboration. Some are rooted in national and international forces and should lead Collaboration officials to lobby higher levels of government for such things as affordable housing. Others problems are amenable to local control. Some of the latter such as signage have been attended to, while others are still contributing to the learning experience of a Collaboration. On balance, the successes of Collaboration a green milieu are remarkable. The Watershed economy is healthier and more compatible with preservation of water quality than before the Collaboration began. The approach of this Collaboration in considering the economic needs of the local area and providing forums for discussion provides a model that should be studied by others, especially those with transboundary water supplies and water sources in poor communities.

References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Krugman, P. What’s new about the new economic geography. Oxford Review of Economic Policy 14 (2) pp 151-66 (1998). Camagni, R. Local Milieu, uncertainty and innovation networks: towards a new dynamic theory of economic space in R. Camagni (ed.) Innovation Networks: spatial Perspectives pp. 121-45. London: Belhaven Press. 1991. Helmsing A.H. J. (Bert). Externalities, learning and governance: new perspectives on local economic development. In development and change vol.32 pp 277-308. (2001). Markusen, A. Sticky places in slippery space: a typology of industrial districts. Economic Geography, 72(3) 293-313. 1996. (UNEP) United Nations Environment Program. Our common future. Report of the world commission on environment and development. New York: United Nations. 1987. Daly H. E. and Cobb, J. B. Jr. 1994. For the Common Good. Boston: Beacon Press. 1994, p 462-4 WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

330 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

[12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25]

Hoffman, J. Economic Stratification and Management of Water Quality: New York City’s Catskill/Delaware Watershed. Environmental Values. 14, 447-470. 2005. (NRC) National Research Council. New Strategies for America’s Water Supply. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. 1999. Wondolleck, Julia M and Yaffee, Steven L. Making Collaboration Work. Washington D.C.: Island Press. 2000 Sabatier, P. Focht, W. Lubell M., Trachterberg, Z Vedlitz, A. and Matlock, M. Swimming Upstream: Collaborative Approaches to Watershed Management. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 2005. Richter, Brian D. Mathews, Ruth, Harrision David L. and Wigington, Robert. Ecologically Sustainable Water Management: Managing River Flows for Ecological Integrity. Ecological Applications, 13(1), 206-24. 2003. Dolsak, N. and Ostrom E. (Eds.). The Commons in the New Millennium: Challenges and Adaptations. Cambridge: Mass.: MIT Press, 2003. Hoffman, J. "Legal responsiveness: a contribution to a structural theory of economic crime." International Journal of Social Economics. Vol 30 (3) pp. 255-274. 2002. Berke, P. and Manta, M. Are We Planning for Sustainable Development? An Evaluation of 30 Comprehensive Plans. Journal of The American Planning Association 66 (1):21-32. 2000 Goodstein Eban. The Trade Off Myth. Fact and Fiction about Jobs and the Environment. Covelo California: Island Press. 1999 (NRC) Nation Research Council. Watershed Management for Potable Water Supply. Washington, D.C. National Academy Press. 2000. Galusha, D. Liquid Assets. A History of New York City’s Water System. Fleishman’s New York: Purple Mountain Press. 1999. (CCCD) The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. Summary Guide to the Terms of the Watershed Agreement. Arkville, NY: The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. 1997 (MOA) Memorandum of Agreement 1997 http://www.nysefc.org/tas/ MOA/MOAPg1.htm Hoffman, J Census Peek: Collaboration in the New York City Catskill/Delaware Watershed: Case Study 1990–2000. Environment, Development and Sustainability July 2006 Hoffman, J. Watershed Shifts: Case Study of Employers in the Catskill/Delaware watershed 1990-2003 (manuscript under review). New York City. Waterborne Disease Risk Assessment Program Annual Report. http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/wdrap.html. 2005 (NYCDEP) New York City Department of Environmental Protection. 2005 Water Quality Report http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/ wsstat05.pdf 2005. Interview with Karen Rauter Communications Director of the WAC. September 2006. Interview with Bill Harding, Director of the WPPC. March 2006. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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Achieving the MDG’s in Ghana: rhetorics or reality? J.-E. Gustafsson1 & J. E. Koku2 1

Department of Land and Water Resources Engineering, KTH, Sweden Department of Geography and Resources Development, University of Ghana, Ghana

2

Abstract The original meaning of the concept sustainability or sustainable development might in an altruistic way have referred to building societies based on a sound environmental practice. This paper shows that the structural adjustments programs (SAP), Poverty Reduction Strategies and the Millennium Development goals (MDG’s) compel the Ghanian government to favour economic and fiscal sustainability. This neo-liberal policy has led to increasing inequalities, widening regional disparities, migration from rural areas to quickly grown up peri-urban areas basically within a huge informal sector, and unplanned capital formation and development at large, making claims to achieve the MDG’s by 2015 illusory. A way forward for Ghana should be to gradually fence off from the world market and learn from the development efforts of the Kwame Nkrumah first independent government. Keywords: environmental sustainability, international financial institutions, Ghana, Millennium Development goals, water management.

1

Introduction

The original meaning of the concept sustainability or sustainable development might in an altruistic way have referred to building societies based on a sound environmental practice. Nowadays the concept has largely been attenuated so it can be attached to almost everything; environmental sustainability, social sustainability, economic sustainability, fiscal sustainability, debt sustainability, sustainable leadership, sustainable trade, sustainable governance etc. This attenuation has the function to conceal the power relations inherited with the concept. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070321

332 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI In September 2000 the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) to be achieved by 2015 were launched at the United Nation Millennium Summit. Among the well-known eight goals number 1 wishes to “halve, between 19902015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day” and “who suffer from hunger”, number 7 should “ensure environmental sustainability” by the means of “integrate the principles of sustainable development in country policies and programmes…reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to drinking water (later at the Johannesburg 10+ sanitation has been added)… and to achieve significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020”. Goal number 8 advocates to “develop a Global Partnership for development”, which should include commitment to good governance [1]. In this paper we will critically discuss the conditions to implement the MDG’s, particularly MDG’s number 1, 7 and 8 in their global context, and with Ghana as a country example.

2

The global context

In the aftermath of the Thatcherite privatisation programs in the 1980s international organizations such as the World Bank, IMF, WTO, OECD, EU etc have pushed for market testing, deregulation and privatisation of public services within a general theoretical frame of neo-liberal solutions. These have been argued to achieve increased efficiency and social developments like poverty eradication. The various privatisation policies are based on the ideological notion that almost all public services and investments are best organized as pure markets [2]. 2.1 The corporate agenda The sustainable development concept became a global ideological key-word at the Rio Conference in 1992. The conference was basically prepared by one of the most important industrial lobbyist groups, The Business Council for Sustainable Development, which today gathers more than 170 of the most important internationals. Its chairman was Stephan Schmidheiny, one of the principal owners of the Asea Brown Broveri (ABB) company. He was also in the board of the Néstle and Swatch companies and was a principal shareholder in a Chilian mine, steel and forest company. Together with around 50 other important industrialists they formed the main advisory group to the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit general secretary Maurice Strong. With Schmidheiny as the main author the group published the book Changing Courses. A Global Business Perspective on Development and Environment [3]. All of its recommendations are based on the belief that only by allowing market forces to operate freely can sustainable development be achieved, as if market forces have a long-term perspective. The representatives for the transnationals claim themselves as the protector of the environment by advocating that trade and investments should not be obstructed by environment WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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and import regulations. Instead their advice for impoverished countries was to continue to produce staple commodities for the world market, which should lead to the right price for natural resources, and to co-operate with the transnationals for their new economic order, that in agreement with international financial institutions (IFIs) is labelled “Washington Consensus”. The principal mean for promoting this neo-liberal and environmentimperialistic development would be to favour an attractive investment climate by fulfilling the conditions of macro-economic stability, free and open markets, distinct property rights and political stability. If these conditions were not fulfilled sustainable development was not possible according to the Maurice Strong advisory group. This market policy orientation replaced in developing countries earlier basic needs strategies and dependant theories between the North and South as agents for social change. This corporate message has been forwarded by the global think-tank World Water Council, the most influential global advisory water institution, which organizes World Water Forums every three years. It had to the world water meeting in Den Haag 2000 worked out a “World Water Vision” as a policy document for the management of world water resources. Comprehensive criticism was addressed from peasant organization, consumer organizations, trade unions etc. These interest groups argued that the World Water Vision depreciated public utility water and sanitation management in favour of private solution all over the globe. The Den Haag meeting has been followed by an intensified discussion between proponents who consider water as a human right, and others who look upon water as an economic good. Later on this contradiction has been reflected at the International Freshwater Conference in Bonn 2001, the Rio+10 meeting in Johannesburg 2002 and the World Water Forums in Kyoto 2003 and Mexico 2006. 2.2 The failure of fiscal sustainability A way of disguising the power aspect is to present the three main concepts of environmental, social and economic sustainability of equal importance [4]. But in practice almost without exception the global and national ruling elite favours economic sustainability or economic growth as the overall goal of development. In developing countries this priority is linked to structural adjustments programs (SAP) advocated since the 1980s by the Bretton Wood institutions (the World Bank and the IMF) and other IFIs as a conditionality for economic assistance and loans giving. But in the beginning of the 21st century critical reviewers recognise that the SAP neo-liberal policy has not delivered the environmental sound and social equitable development stated in the documents and declarations. The neo-liberal policy under the SAPs emphasizes fiscal discipline, market economy and openness to the global economy. With discredited SAP programs the global international financial institutions needed something else and more appealing to conserve their influence and power. The solution became the MDG’s.


334 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI In the international water community it is generally agreed that the MDG's cannot be achieved without a major increase in investments over a sustained period. The International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC) estimated 2006 the total amount of funding required per year to achieve the MDG’s water and sanitation targets within the range of US $6.5 to US $75 billion dollars. UNDP Human Development Report 2006 sets this figure at US $10 billion dollars per year. Stedman writes that the UNDP estimation might seem to be a large sum, but put in a global context it represents less than five days worth of global military spending and less than half what rich countries spend each year on mineral water [5]. It has in the recent years been apparent that the private sector contradictory to what it initially claimed has failed to provide the needed investment. The Report of the Commission of Africa in 2005 concluded that the sharp reduction in infrastructure investments "was a policy mistake founded in the new dogma of the 1980s and 1990s asserting that infrastructure would now be financed by the private sector"[6]. The private sector did not compensate for the drop in public investment as it was hoped says the IMF [7]. Thus the State and therefore public investment must regain a key role to scaling up capital formation and providing capital goods and investment needed to secure human development objectives like the MDG’s. Further in a critical analysis by Roy et al [8] show that the dogmatic neoliberal policies and the SAP programs have worked against public investment in developing countries. Public capital formation in developing countries reached its peak around 1982, when it came to 10 percent as a share of GDP (both simple and weighted average). At the Millennium shift this figure had dropped to 7 percent (simple average) or 5 percent (weighted average). For sub-Saharan Africa the picture is even grimmer. From a peak in public investments all categories of 15 percent (weighted average) 1978 at the end of the era of basic need strategies it has fell to 5 percent the year 2000. Concerning the share of public infrastructure investments in Africa it has dropped from a little more than 4 percent in the beginning of the 1980s to 1.5 percent at the Millennium shift. This has forced the World Bank admit that the lack of adequate infrastructure services has direct detrimental effects on the poor’s access to clean water and sanitation and thus health [9]. Setting up the MDG’s must be seen as some kind of response against this background. They were not a result from the developing countries themselves. They were pushed primarily by the triad [the United States, Europe, and Japan] and were co-sponsored by the World Bank, the IMF and the OECD. The goals were adopted by acclamation by a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly. They were prepared in a consensus process under the governance of the triad, which departed from the UN tradition to carefully prepare important issues in democratic set up committees. According to Amin [10] it was a wellknown consultant for the CIA, who drafted the first version of the millennium goals The goals are not very radical by themselves. To “reduce extreme poverty and hunger by half” will still keep a second half of millions of poor people with WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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extreme poverty and hunger, even if the goals will be obtained. “To reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to drinking water” has an even lower ambition than the International Drinking Water Decade 1981-1990 set up 1977 by the United Nations Water Conference at Mar del Plata. Its aim was to make access to clean drinking water for all available across the world. Moreover, as the goals were processed in a consensus they are so general that everybody can agree upon them, but devoid of any critical analysis of the poverty problem. It is plainly assumed that goals can be achieved by some improved neo-liberalism.

3

Ghana

The intention in this section is by using Ghana as a case to illustrate some of the implications and consequences of the global neo-liberal policies. This will be carried through by providing quantitative and quality information on the main natural and infrastructure assets, the social context the resource use is dependent on, especially government policies, and the functioning of the water management system, especially the privatisation process of the Ghana Water Company. 3.1 Natural resources endowment Ghana is situated in the tropical and savannah zones in West Africa. It has a land area of 239 460 sq. km, which is about half the area of Sweden. The present population is around 20 million inhabitants, which a little more than double of Sweden. Rainfall is rather abundant, but irregular and dependant on seasons. The tropical south-western part of Ghana is the wettest and receives 1 500 to 1 900 mm of rainfall per year. The driest area is the south east-coastal plain, where mean annual rainfall is less that 750 mm. The savannah area the covers the northern and eastern parts of the country receives between 1 000 mm to 1 400 mm of rain per year. Some two third of the land area is covered by the lower Volta River system, which basically coincides with the savannah area. Volta river is an international river also including a big part of Burkina Faso, but also smaller parts of Ivory Coast, Mali, Benin and Togo. The water availability in 1995 within the international basin was 2 054 cubic meter per person, which is at the limit where water managers consider societies will enter into a phase of difficulties to supply problems. In addition to the Volta river the south-western tropical part have several important regional water basins. In 1990 the water availability for the whole of Ghana was given to 3 529 cubic meters per person, which classified Ghana in a rather favourable water resources position. However according to a UN medium projection the water availability will decrease to 1 395 cubic meter per person by 2025, which will convert Ghana into a water-stressed country [11]. Except from valleys plains most Ghanian soils are old, have a rather sandy texture and strongly leached. This means that they have low capacity to retain water and poor in nutrients. Especially in the savannah zone where the organic WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

336 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI matter is low and where the practice of annual bush-fire is common the soils are deficient in nitrogen and phosphorous [12]. Thus people’s livelihood is dependent on a careful and planned agricultural development and land management. The south-western part and the most forested area of the country is endowed with rich mineral resources including gold, diamond, bauxite and manganese. For instance most gold production is mined by 11 multinational mining companies of which five of them count for 83 percent of the output [13]. There are also a growing number of small scaled local gold producers, mostly illegal, which has led to numerous conflicts with the multinationals. The most important infrastructural asset and engineering project constructed after Ghana’s independence 1957 and the life-nerve of the economy of Ghana is the Volta River dam. Already the Colonial Administration started in 1924 considering a water development project for the Volta River system. For the socialist-orientated first president of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah the Volta River project became the cornerstone for modernization starting a process of increased wealth and prosperity for all. The main engineering component was the Akosombo dam which was completed between 1962 – 1965. The construction was a collaboration between the nationalist government and the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO), the latter jointly owned by the U.S. Kaiser Company and the Ghanian government. The project was supported by loans from the World Bank/International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the government of Unites States and by export credits guarantees from the United Kingdom government. Even with this loan package support the Nkrumah government had to raise from its own resources 50 percent of cost of the project, and take responsibility for the debt service. A prerequisite for the project was to provide cheap electricity for the VALCO aluminium smelting factory set up in Tema, a new planned harbour town constructed to the east of Accra. The construction of the dam impounded a huge man-made reservoir, the Volta Lake, which has a surface area of 8 500 sq. kilometres and a volume of 148 cubic kilometres. Today the international watershed is poorly forested with less than one percent forest cover. Grassland, savannah and shrubland make up 86 percent and only 0.1 percent is irrigated. A rural population of 80 000 people had to be displaced and resettled under difficult conditions. At the start 1965 the Akosombo dam was installed with 588 MW capacity. Later it has been enlarged to 912 MW, and smaller dam down-streams at Kpong with a capacity of 160 MW has been built. These two dams in the Volta River system represent 95 percent of the hydropower electricity capacity in Ghana and was the principal source of electricity up to the millennium shift. Since 1999 a couple of thermal plants with a total capacity of 660 MW is under construction at Aboardze near Takoradi in the western part of the country [14,15]. If the neo-liberal policies and SAP programs, applied for more than two decades, have been efficient and equitable one could expect progress in the environmental sustainable use of the natural resources and infrastructure assets.



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But the reality according to Green Dove magazine is that “land management aimed at sustainable agricultural production, exists only in theory. Available statistics indicates that about 69 percent of the total land surface of Ghana is considered prone to severe soil erosion, on of the major causes of land degradation in Ghana. According to government National Action Programme to combat Drought and Desertification, the land area prone to desertification, has almost doubled in last decade. The most vulnerable being the Northern Savannah areas with the Upper East Region being the most degraded. The consequences are low agriculture output and widespread poverty. This has led to the migration of young women and men to the urban centres to seek for jobs with women serving in a demeaning manner as porters (Kayaye) in the markets of Accra. Migration of farmers down south to seek fertile agricultural land is also on increase. The movement is leading to many problems including clashes with other farmers in the south…In addition to the reduction of the agricultural potential, erosion has caused siltation and drying up of water bodies. Most settlements are faced with this menace where buildings have their foundations exposed and hanging, posing threat to people. Occasionally these buildings have collapsed causing damage to life and property” [16]. Most rural households are managing at subsistence level and use mainly manual labour and minimal external inputs. It is estimated that the mineral fertilizer use is only 6 kg per ha for a wide variation of food crops [12]. As to control of water pollution there exists no workable monitoring system either at the national level or the basin level. In a study of the management of the Densu River basin in the western up-hill Accra region Okyre-Darkoh [17] found no monitoring data at all, and had to rely of people’s subjective perception to get some idea of the water quality situation. Lack of a proper monitoring system is crucial factor to consider by the European Union through its EU Water Initiative, which in rather general terms advocate sub-Saharan governments to apply the globally adopted Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) system of basin management [18]. In the south-western mining land conflicts and water management is a widespread and a controversial problem. The mining activities give rise to severe water pollution and mining concessions in recent years encroach upon forest reserves. Hilson and Nyame [13] states that “ the management of multinational mining corporations operating not only in Ghana, but in the developing world as a whole acquire land concessions expecting the outcome to be problem-free”. They see this attitude as unrealistic, because “impoverished informational resources bases, understaffed government departments, piecemeal regulation and ad hoc enforcement persist in most developing countries” including Ghana. Another study by Appiah [19] concludes that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) remains ambivalent about the powers vested in them to strictly apply the environmental impact assessment (EIA) regulations. Most mining companies has not undertaken any comprehensive EIA guiding their operations or mitigating measures, while the corporate will and responsibility toward the environment is mediocre or non-existent. It is just two years ago that the Minerals Commission, the EPA and a Swedish consultancy firm (Hifab) have WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

338 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI started a three years project in the mining areas and funded by the EU Commission, which aims to increase awareness of the necessity of EIA procedures and includes setting up a monitoring system of the rivers. At the Millennium shift international VALCO company, the mining multinational companies and other industrial consumers made up about two thirds of the total electricity consumption. The commercial sector (offices, shops, institutions and hotels) accounted for 5 -6 percent. Still 50 years after the construction of the Akosombo dam the VRA supplies less than 20 percent of the household energy needs. The rural areas are poorly electrified as the priority has been given to the urban elite to receive electricity for residential needs. A large number of rural households have to rely on biomass sources of energy such like fuel wood for the cooking need, which as a consequence have increased the land degradation and erosion problems. Very little compensatory measures have been taken to assist the affected communities and for them to benefit of the electricity generation by the Volta River Project. Wide-spread deforestation, erosion and the incidence of environmental health problems, particularly bilharzia, have been recognized as the most acute environmental problems within the surrounding communities of the Volta dams and lake [14,20]. The environmental health and pollution situation in the urban and peri-urban areas of Ghana is in a dilapidated situation. The Ghana Water Sector Restructuring Secretariat (WSRS) found in the beginnings of century that 53 percent of the population, but 78 percent of the poor, had no piped water. A study in 2001 found that that only 40 per cent of the urban population had access to piped water supplied by the Ghana Water Company. Some 40 percent in urban areas and 35 percent in the rural areas had access to improved sanitation facilities [21]. Only the central and old urban areas have a water supply network, which mostly reaches the wealthiest residents [22]. Tema, the city built out as a planned effort as a part of the Volta River project, has modern sewerage facilities, however discharging the sewage water untreated in the Atlantic. After advice from the World Bank the Rawlings government in 1998 separated the water supply from sewage disposal in a process called “unbundling”. Water supply was left with the renamed state owned company Ghana Water Company Ltd, while the sewage disposal was devolved to the district level. These districts either have enough human resources capacity or financial resources to take care of this responsibility. Although some small technological efforts since the middle of the 1960s have been made, there exist no workable sewage treatment plant at all in the country. A biological filter sewage plant at the University of Ghana, built in the 1980s, quickly went out of operation due to lack of spare parts, and is now partly overgrown with vegetation. Thus the state of environmental health, water supply, sanitation and waste management in Accra is currently very unsatisfactory [23]. Several times a week the press carries articles which complain of the situation [24]. The bulk of the sewage water in the city, both domestic and industrial, continues to be discharged into gutters and drains most of which empty into the Korle Lagoon in the centre of the city. In addition night soils and septic tank sludge are deposited by tanker trucks directly on the beaches. The city then gives a filthy impression, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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since it is characterised by choked drains, indiscriminate waste disposal and uncollected refuse in central waste containers. The Waste Management Department of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly is responsible for garbage collection and disposal, and general sanitation situation within Accra, but it is not capable to improve the present conditions. Many factors contributes to this state of affairs like; the collapse of a comprehensive planning system for the urban areas, poor conceptualisation of environmental health, sanitation and water management issues, lack of adequate treatment facilities, ignorance and irresponsibility of individuals, households, communities and administrations, lack of community action, spring up unauthorised temporary structures, continuously increasing number of squatters, lack of regular budgetary allocations, absence of governmental control etc. In sum the market-orientated neo-liberal policies applied by the Rawlings and Kufour governments have not contributed to the progress of environmental sustainability. 3.2 The social context – government policies The neglect of creating environmental sustainability is due to that the Ghanian governments within the global context favours economic and fiscal sustainability. However, this has not lead to a substantial economic growth in the per capita income. The GDP per capita stood at $390 at the Millennium shift, which is just at the level of the Nkrumah government 1957 –1966. The per capita income was at its lowest value 1983, when it was only 90 percent of the 1957 value. In 1983 the Rawlings government started the Economic Recovery Program and SAP programs under the auspices of the Bretton Wood Institutions. Thus, the recovery relying on market reforms has been slow and has been accompanied by a sharpened and skewed income distribution, regional disparities and social exclusion [25–27]. The subservience to the global economic forces is elegantly formulated in the introduction to the Ghana Vision 2020 plan, which was introduced by the Rawlings government in 1995. “The long-term vision for Ghana is that by the year 2020, Ghana will have achieved a balanced economy and a middle class country status and have a standard of living with a level of development close to the present level of Singapore. This will be realized by creating an open and liberal market economy, founded on competition, initiative and creativity, that employs science and technology in deriving maximum productivity from the use of all our human and natural resources and in optimizing the role of economic and social development, with due regard to the protection of the environment and to equity in the distribution of development” [28]. This lofty vision void of a political analysis has been accompanied by an Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 2000 – 2002, and a Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (GPRS) 2003 – 2006. The IMF and the World Bank WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

340 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI endorsed in 1999 the elaboration of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PSRPs) as the central mechanism to for providing concessional lending to low-income countries. The declared objective of these papers is to provide a medium-term framework to reduce poverty and generate more rapid economic growth with assistance from bilateral donors and multilateral financial institutions. The PSRPs contains rather general commitments to improve the social infrastructure like environmental health, water supply and sanitation, and it is assumed that funding for investments should be raised besides from donors and financial institutions through governments own revenues, eventual savings from getting the status of Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) debt relief and private sector contribution either by the business or the NGOs. This fits well with the MDG No 8 to “develop Global Partnerships for development” and Private-SectorParticipation (PSP) approach to achieve global and local consensus developments, endorsed at the Johannesburg 10+ meeting 2002. Unchecked neo-liberal policies and the weak economy of the Ghana state keep the country within the global corporate agenda in a stage to produce staple commodities for the world market, particularly agricultural and mineral products. The Ghana Vision 2020 puts agricultural production in focus. However the agricultural sector is quite vulnerable and skewed. Some 70 percent of the population gets its livelihood directly or indirectly from the agriculture sector. It is estimated that small-holder farmers, who use mainly labour and minimal external inputs, contributes to about 80 percent of the total agricultural production. During the period 1996 – 2002 the agricultural sector contribution to GDP (in constant 1993 prices) has been within 39.5 to 40.8 percent, the service sector 31.3 to 33.0 percent and the industrial manufacturing sector 27.4 to 28.0. The agricultural sector contributed with $732 million in 2002, which is equivalent to an average of 35.0 percent share of the total foreign revenue for the 2000-2002 period. This is a decrease from an average of 44.8 percent during the 1996-1998 period, which could be explained by a rapid increase in the minerals production during the ends of 1990s. The main agricultural export commodities in 2002 were cocoa ($463), timber ($183) and pineapple ($15). Especially worrying for a lot of small-scaled cocoa producers are that the export earning share of cocoa fell from 35.1 percent in 1996 to 22.4 percent in 2002. As a basis for the government development efforts the agricultural sector just contribute a meagre 4 percent to the total government revenue in the first years after the Millennium shift [12,29]. In addition with the global trade liberalisation Ghanian farmers have been compelled to compete against cheap imports of highly subsidised products from the European Union and the United States like rice, chicken, tomatoes etc. For instance cheap rice imports from United States is not only collapsing the local rice industry, but also beginning to have a substitution effect on locally produced staple foods like cassava and maize. Adjei-Nsiah [12] writes that this is compounded by “increasing cost of inputs at the farm level due to SAP programs that have removed subsidies and increased supply cost due to the deterioration conditions of rural infrastructure. For instance, in 2002, whereas metric tonnes of urea cost about $90 free on board in Europe the same quantity cost a Ghanian WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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farmer about $ 308 at the farm level”. What is left for the Ghanian politicians is to become flagbearer advocating mechanization of food production, but in an ideological an organizational vacuum [30]. In the early 1990s gold overtook cocoa as Ghana’s chief foreign exchange earner. As for this staple export sector the mining companies during the SAP intensive period 1990 – 2002 paid $69 million in royalties and $19 million in corporate tax to the government according to the Bank of Ghana. This becomes on average some $7 million per year, a figure of less then 50 percent of the pineapple industry export earnings in 2002. By law 80 percent these payments goes to the government, 10 percent to the mining agencies and the remaining 10 percent to the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands. Of this last share 10 percent is kept for the Stool Lands administration leaving the rest or $ 0.61 million for community developments to district assemblies, traditional authorities and stools of the mining areas. This extreme exploitation of a lowincome country should be compared with that the mining industry is estimated to have invested $ 250 million per year between 1983 – 1998 [13]. It should be obvious for everyone that’s this basically un-regulated and unplanned market economy to produce staple commodities for the global capitalistic market will not contribute to social equity, overall wealth building and thus poverty reduction. Development in general terms means in a planned way to modernize the agricultural sector, so that labour not any longer needed in agriculture in an orderly way will be transferred to growing manufacturing and service sectors. This is not the case in Ghana and most other low-income countries. Sutcliff [31] wrote; “ no major country has yet become rich without having become industrialized…In the long run greater wealth and better living standards under any political system are connected with industrialization”. After two decades of SAP programs and liberalized global markets the manufacturing industry in Ghana today is in distress. The country is supposed to continue the road of liberalization and hopefully improve the competitiveness of its manufacturing firms in the long run without completely destroying the manufacturing base in the short run [32]. This is an equation impossible to achieve. On the contrary, since the demise of the basic needs and planned development approach at the end of the 1970s an alarming unplanned rural exodus have taken place, which sharps regional disparities and creating huge infrastructure, environmental and social development problems in quickly growing urban and peri-urban areas. Large number of people has been driven into a petty commodity sector, surviving through a great diversity of copying strategies outside of the main national economy [33]. The applied neo-liberal anti-development policies make the Ghanaian state very weak. The official budget policy of the sitting Kofuor government, elaborated in collaboration with the IMF, is “to sustain the fundamental underpinnings of a stable and durable economy” and the implementation of prudent fiscal and monetary measures by the government since 2001.” [34]. In this policy is an inherent contradiction between the need to undertake growthWIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

342 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI enhancing expansion in expenditure and the demand for further fiscal restraint as a disinflation policy. Currently the government strives to achieve single digit inflation. In 2005 the GDP reached 97 018 billion cedis or $10.800 billion. In the same year the government total revenue and grants (including HICP Assistance) stood at 28 800 billion cedis (29,7% of GDP), while the current and capital expenditures came at 32 078 billion cedis (33.1% of GDP), leaving a budget deficit of some 4 percent of GDP. This is substantially lower than the 7 – 10.5 percent during the 1993 -2000 period. Under this budget circumstances only 4.8 percent was left for domestic public capital formation investments, and only 2.8 of GDP in the form of social security, pensions and health insurance benefits to households. In addition the government wage bill was almost 50 percent of the recurrent expenditures or 9.4 percent of the GDP [35,36], which gives little room for the government to expand public human resources capacity building needed for sustainable development. 3.3 The water management system A weak state makes public planning and management efforts difficult, and the water sector is no exception. The current reformation of the water sector was initiated in the end of 1990s as a part of Ghana poverty reduction strategy. The reformation of the sector aims to obtain a society where the whole population has access to basic social services such as health care, drinking water and sanitation. It includes the creation of a new sector policy, re-management of the sector agencies and administration, delegation of responsibilities to districts and communities and a higher degree of involvement of the private sector. With limited state capacity and the dependency of external finance and conditionalities it is not any easy task to restructure the multitude of water institutions. The Ministry of Works and Housing (MWH) is in charge of creation of policies in the water sector and the coordination between them, but the Ministries of Environment and Science, Health and Local Government and Rural Development are also involved. The Water Resources Commission (WRC) is the main institution to involved in regulation and management of the water bodies in Ghana related to the Integrated Water Resources Management approach advocated by the global financial and water institutions. Other important institutions are the Environmental Protection Agency that should regulate and enforce environmental quality laws and the Water Research Institute that is mandated to conduct research into water and water related research [37]. For the achievement of the MDG’s the organization of the water utility sector is of special interests to illustrate the close IFIs and international private sector influence on Ghanian public policies. The initial restructuring work was first carried out in working groups inside MWH, but in 1997 a Water Sector Restructuring Secretariat (WSRS) was set up in the ministry. It received the mission to supervise the transition from existing Ghana Water and Sewage Company (GWSC) structure to a Private-Sector-Participation (PSP) regime. The World Bank funded it and it advises the government on PSP issues [38]. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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The WSRS claimed that efforts in the 1970s and 1980s to restructure GWSC and improve its operational and financial viability had failed. Therefore in a WSRS workshop in February 1995 without any trade union representation, but with numerous participation of international aid donors and global private water companies, eight PSP options were discussed and the lease option was selected. The same year, on World Bank advice, came a proposal to restructure the GWSC into a pure and profitable water supply company. This restructure materialized in 1999, when the Ghana Water Company (GWC) was set up getting the authority to supply 101 urban systems with water. At the same time the water supply systems in 110 rural communities and small towns were devolved to District Assemblies at the local government level. Also all sewerage and sanitation handling over the whole of Ghana became the responsibility of the District Assemblies. Further in 1997 a Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) was established. Its main task was to set the water rate for consumers after a proposal from the utility. The IMF asked PURC to implement a plan for full cost recovery and an automatic tariff adjustment mechanism as a condition for Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility loans. In the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 2000 – 2002, in theory a borrowing document, but in practice written by the lending organisation, the urban water sector was scheduled to “divest urban water systems to private sector operators: issues invitation for bids”. During the whole process a number of biased western consultants were hired like Louis Berger, London Economics, Halcrow & Halcrow, WS Atkins, Stone and Webster, The Adam Smith Institute. After all this efforts the bidding process was elaborated [21]. The first pre-qualification bid process was launched in 1998, and the two largest global water companies Suez and Vivendi/Veolia were selected for a lease contract. The whole process lacked transparency from the beginning, so eventually a third company, Azurix, was accepted without being officially invited. It went around the Negotiation Office to address directly with the Rawlings government [39]. Azurix was the water division of the later scandalised U.S. energy company Enron. In 2000 the MWH made a decision to award Enron/Azurix the lease contract, but after allegations of kick-backs and media coverage, even the World Bank threatened to abolish some of its concessionary loans unless the Government of Ghana cancelled the awarded contract. The Enron/Azurix debacle increased the general awareness among a wide range of civil society organisations and the public of what was planned for the water and sanitation issues in Ghana. In May 2001 a National Forum on Water Privatisation was arranged in Accra. The Forum adopted “The Accra Declaration of the Right to Water”, a document that is widely spread in the international community [40]. It states “that water is a fundamental human right” and “that water should not be a common commodity to be bought and sold in the market place as an economic good”. It also rejected “the view that privatization (the participation of foreign transnational corporations) is the appropriate solution to the problems bedeviling our water sector”. At the Forum the National Coalition Against the Privatisation of Water (NCAP) was formed and its secretariat set up WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

344 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI in the Trade Union Congress (TUC) premise. The NCAP has since than campaigned for keeping the water supply in public hands. Before the second bid process the Ghana urban water system was divided in two project units A and B with about equal capacity, each of them expected to be operated by a foreign company. The rationale for this was that two contract should secure competition. After the pre-qualification process the French companies Suez, Vivendi and SAUR were selected together with Biwater, a British company. Due to increased national and international debate of the privatisation issue the selection procedure was delayed and the government hesitated to take a decision [41]. Finally the government and the WSRS made a retreat and changed the bidding requirements from long-term lease contract into a five years management contract. On 22 November 2005, the Ghana government [grantor] officially signed a Management Service Contract agreement with two international public-owned companies, Vitens International B.V of the Netherlands and Rand Water Service Pty, of South Africa [42]. These two company set up a joint 50-50 owned special purpose company, Aqua Vitens Rand Ltd (AVRL), which started its activities 1 July 2006. According to this arrangement GWC should monitor the performance of the contract and PURC negotiate the water rate. AVRL obligations under the contract include increasing the amount of treated water for sale, extending water service to low income areas, rehabilitating existing networks to reduce nonrevenue water, dam safety upgrades, procurement and installation of meters etc. within a five year period. For AVRL to accomplish this mission the government of Ghana was granted a loan of $103 million from the World Bank, $5 million from the Nordic Development Fund and an equity contribution of $12 million. The regional staff of the GWC has been transferred to the AVRL in a retrenchment process that at the end will reduce 4 700 former GWC staff to a few more than 1 500. The GWC Head Office is in a similar retrenchment process to slim its staff from 240 to some 60 people [43]. At the signing of the contract the civil society groups criticized the management contract and challenged the government to provide Ghanians with evidence of anywhere in the world where a management contract had been able to deliver water at an affordable rate to the poor [44]. According to the agreement AVRL is obliged to within six months of the commencement date of the contract to “produce and maintain water quality, pressure and flow rates at all discharge points”. After a bit more than half a year staff at the GWC Head Office accuse AVRL for ripping of GWC and the government, because not even a single pipeline or meter have been added to the company ‘s old stock, and that it had not introduced anything new to improve the performance of the GWC. AVRL is also criticized for the World Bank sponsored retrenchment process, and the government for paying eight AVRL managers $ 20 000 per month to replace Ghanians managers [45,46]. It should be obvious for everyone that in the PSP process of Ghana Water company it is impossible to distinguish between government and World Bank policies.



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Concluding remarks

It has been demonstrated in this paper with Ghana as a case that global corporations and the International Finance Institutions, particularly the World Bank and the IMF, have the privilege to define what is environmental sustainability and accordingly interpret the MDG No 7 phrase “integrate the principle of sustainable development in country policies and programmes” at their own will. These global actors always prioritise economic and fiscal sustainability before environmental sustainability. It should now have become common knowledge that SAP programs have focused on securing macro-economic stability and fiscal solvency by placing controls of fiscal deficits and public debts. The global powers have assigned the low-income countries to deliver staple commodities for the world market. This market-orientated policy has led to increasing inequalities, widening regional disparities, migration from rural areas to quickly grown up peri-urban areas basically within a huge informal sector, and unplanned capital formation and development at large, making claims to half the poverty by 2015 illusory. The implementation of the Bretton Wood institutions SAP programs has not left the governments of low-income countries like Ghana with much choice either than to increase the revenues or to restrain expenditures. Existing national power structure, the large informal economy, and low incomes of middle-class and poor people make increasing tax rates difficult. Thus most low-income governments have been forced to restrict public expenditures, leaving just a few percent of the GDP for domestic capital formation. The global corporate agenda is covered in rhetoric’s from the Rio summit like “Think global –Act Local”. However, this is a dangerous message, as it conceals the process of delegitimating national states and governments. With the experience from Ghana Boafo-Arthur [25] expresses this process as; “It is indisputable that the Washington Consensus and neo-liberal adherents just want to see the state making laws for the operation of the market but not participating in the market itself…The increasing distancing of the state from direct economic management, as underlined by the extra attention paid to private sector development, is bound to impact negatively on the vulnerable in the society”. It is an intriguing fact that this rhetoric has made North governments, like in the Swedish Global Development Policy 2003, to bypass national governments and focus the international aid on community development. Or stated by the words of the Swedish state secretary of international aid [47] at a meeting to discuss the UNDP Development Report 2006; “People’s are the base for priorities, not governments”. This statement is also an example of an accompanied shift from “government” to “governance” with the implication that state power has moved from democratic governments upwards to organisation like the European Union or to local network-type power centres or PSP arrangements. At local level this implies that private actors like companies and NGOs not only participate in developing policies, but also in many cases perform in implementing political decisions, for instance in the delivery of service [48]. Sometimes this shift creates confusion as when the General Director of Sida on the one hand WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

346 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI expressed that the above Swedish Global Development Policy “has the special goal to contribute to an environment that support people’s own initiative” and on the other hand when problems occur at the local level to implement the MDG’s stated that “Governments need to take responsibilities, that is what we have governments for” [49]. The Rio summit occurred in time together with the Gulf War of 1991 and the demise of the Soviet Union, which gave rise to rhetoric’s of a “new world order” and even “the end of history”. Ten years later at the Johannesburg 10+ the reality had given away to disappointment. As Bellamy Foster [50] writes “rather than improving of the decade that had elapsed, the word environment had experienced accelerated decline…Sustainable development had turned out to be about sustaining capital accumulation at virtually any ecological cost. All rhetoric ten years earlier of a ‘new world order’ and ‘the end of history’ had simply disguised the fact that the real nemesis of the global environment was the capitalist world economy”. Western-styled neo-liberal policies and governance receipts will never get the sub-Saharan countries out of the poverty trap and the environmental abuses. Ghana celebrates its 50 anniversary of independence this year. The country can learn from the planned national development efforts of the Kwame Nkrumah’s first independent government [51]. The way forward for Ghana should also be to gradually fence off from the global world market and build an environmental sustainable modern society based on regional co-operation and developing its own internal markets.

Acknowledgement The work with this paper has been supported by a grant from the Formas-Sida research councils, Sweden.

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[5] [6] [7]

Poverty-Environment Partnership, Linking Poverty Reduction and Water Management, SEI & UNDP publication, Stockholm: 2006. Kuttner, R., Everything for Sale, The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 1999. Schmidheiny, S., Changing Course: A Global Business Perspective on Development and the Environment, MIT Press: Cambridge, 1992. Giddings, B., Hopwood. B. & O’Brien, G., Environment, economy and society: Fitting them together into sustainable development. Proc. Of the Int. Conf. on International sustainable development research, University of Manchester: Manchester, pp. 79-86, 2001 Stedman L., Water: the development deficit. Water21, December 2006. Report for the Commission of Africa, Our Common Interest: London, 2006. IMF, Public Investments and Fiscal Policy: Washington D.C., 2004.



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Roy, R., Heuty A., & Letouzé, E., Fiscal Space for Public Investment: Towards a Human Development Approach: Paper prepared for the G-24 technical meeting Singapore, September 13-14, 2006, UNDP. Development Committee, Infrastructure and the World Bank, World Bank: Washington D.C. 2005. Amin. S., The Millennium Development Goals. A Critique from the South, Monthly Review, 57(10), 2006, pp 1-15, 2006 Engelman, R. & LeRoy. P., Sustaining Water – Population and the Future of Renewable Water Supplies. Population and Environment Program: Washington, 1993. Adjei-Nisah, Cropping system, land tenure and social diversity in Wenchi, Ghana: implications for soil fertility. PhD thesis, Wageningen University: The Netherlands, 2006 Hilson, G. & Nyame, F., Gold mining in Ghana’s forest reserves: a report on the current debate. Area, 38 (2), pp. 175-185, 2006. Agbemabiese, L. & Byrne, J., Commodification of Ghana’s Volta River: An Example of Ellul’s Autonomy of Technique. Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, 5(1), pp. 17-25, 2005. Volta River Authority (VRA), www.vra.com Editorial, Land, Degradation and Agricultural Development. Green Dove, No 37 August, 2006. Okyere-Darkoh. B., Land Use Problems and Prospects of River Basin Management in Ghana: The Case of Densu River, MSc Report No 31, Department of Land and Water Resources Engineering, KTH: Stockholm, 2001. Aziz, A., Organizations concerned about pollution of River Densu. Daily Graphic. 16 October, 2006. Appiah, D. V., Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations: The Level of Compliance by Mining Companies in the Western Mining Enclave, Ghana. TRITA-LWR Master Thesis, No 11, KTH: Stockholm, 2006. Girmay, Y., Assessing the Environmental Impacts of a Hydropower Project: The case of Akosomo/Kpong Dams in Ghana. TRITA-LWR Master Thesis, No 04, KTH: Stockholm, 2006. Report on the International Fact-finding Mission on Water Sector Reform in Ghana, ISODEC: Accra, 2002. Akuffo, S.B., Pollution Control in a Developing Economy: A Study of the Situation in Ghana. Ghana University Press: Accra 1998. Songsore, J., Nabila, J.S., Yangyouro, Y., Amuah, E., Bosque-Hamilton, E.K., Etsibah K.K., Gustafsson, J-E., & Jacks, G., State of the Environmental Health: Report of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area 2001, Ghana University Press: Accra, 2005. E.g. Yankson, N., Sanitation plight at Nima worsens. The Chronicle, 11 October, 2006; Yeboah A.L., Celebrating in filth? Daily Graphic, 2 November, 2006.


348 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46]

Boafo-Arthur K. A., A decade of liberalism in perspective (Chapter 1). Ghana – One Decade of the Liberal State, ed. K.A. Boafo-Arthur, Zed Books: London, 2007. Songsore, J., Regional Development in Ghana: The Theory and The Reality, Woeli Publishing, Ghana, 2003. Leith, J.C. & Söderling, L., Ghana – Long Term Growth, Atrophy and Stunted Recovery, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet: Research report no.125, 2003. Government of Ghana, Ghana Vision 2020: The First Medium-Term Development Plan, National Planning Commission: Accra, 1997. The State of the Ghanian Economy 2002. ISSER: University of Ghana, 2003. Asamoa, A., Depeasantization of Africa’s Rural Economy: The Ghanaian Case. Charities Aid Foundation: Accra, 2001. Sutcliff, R.B., Industry and Underdevelopment, Addison and Wesley: London 2001. Yankson, P.W.K., Urbanization Industrialization and National Development: Challenges and Prospects of Economic Reform and Globalization, Ghana University Press: Accra, 2006. Songsore, J., Towards a Better Understanding of Urban Change. Urbanization, National Development and Inequality in Ghana, Ghana University Press: Accra, 2003. 2006 Budget Statement, Overview of Economic Policy and the Budget for 2006. The Ghanaian Times, 12 November 2005. Review and Analysis of Government Economic Policy 2006, CEPA: Issue Paper, No 12, Accra, 2006. Executive Summary Ghana Economic Review and Outlook, CEPA: Accra, 2006. Lundgren, A & Åkerberg, H., Rainwater harvesting in the peri-urban areas of Accra: status and prospects, TRITA-LWR Master Thesis, No 13, KTH: Stockholm, 2006. Water Sector Restructuring in Ghana. The Decision, The Framework, The Issues, WSRS, Ministry of Works and Housing: Accra, 2003. Nkrumah, E. Personal communication, 2 December 2003, WSPR, Accra. www.isodec.org.gh/Papers/accradeclaration.PDF Ford, N., Crunch time over privatisation. African Business, March 2004. WSRS, www.waterforghana.org Korsah, E. Personal communication, 31 October, 2006, GWCL, Accra. Nyarkoah, M., Hackman’s water theory is bogus. Why are they lying to us? The Chronicle, 25 November, 2005. Adabre, J. & Amankwah, A. A., Uneasy Calm at Ghana Water Company. Public Agenda, 22 January, 2007. Nortey. L, Pay Water Workers Well –NCAP. Accra Daily Mail, 17 February, 2007.



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Stymne J., Quotation, Swedish Water House Meeting; Water, Power and Poverty- How Clean Water and Sanitation Will Cut Poverty in Half by 2015. 2 February, 2007, Stockholm. Vifell, Å., Enklaver i staten: Internationalisering, demokrati och svensk statsförvaltning. Stockholm Studies in Politics 113: Sthlm University, 2006. Norrfalk M., Quotation, Swedish Water House Meeting; Water, Power and Poverty- How Clean Water and Sanitation Will Cut Poverty in Half by 2015. 2 February, 2007, Stockholm. Bellamy Foster, J., The Ecology of Destruction. Monthly Review, 58(9), pp. 1-14, 2007. Nkrumah’s legacy, 25 pages of tributes on the African of the 20th century. New African, February 2006.



Section 10 Sustainable tourism



353

Recreational trail planning in the context of seasonality P. Vassiljev1,2, K. Kuldkepp1, M. Külvik2, A. Kull1 & Ü. Mander1 1

Institute of Geography, University of Tartu, Estonia Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonia

2

Abstract This study involved comparing the perceived restorative value of the vegetation types in winter and summer to find out how to plan recreation trails that would have maximum restorative value in both seasons. It was found that vegetation classes do have different levels of restorative value. In agreement with the extensive body of knowledge, the park-like and savannah-like vegetation types resulted in higher scores for restorativeness. Also, the smoothness of the ground and the perceived ease of movement through the landscape seemed to positively affect the restorative value of the vegetation class. Apparent seasonal changes in the visibility and smoothness of the ground had an influence on the restorative value of some vegetation types. Views towards and away from the vegetation type tended to elicit higher scores for restoration potential than views within the type. In order to maximize the restorative value in both seasons, the recreational trails should provide views towards and away from certain vegetation types in the landscape that have smooth ground cover. Long sections of tracks within forests with a dense understorey should be avoided, although the need for variation should be given equal consideration. Because many forest types in the study area are naturally dense or develop a dense understorey, especially on the woodland edge, a consistent plan for landscape management is needed. Keywords: landscape seasonality, landscape assessment, landscape management, restorative quality of natural environments, recreation, recreation trails, woodland edge.



1

Introduction

Many outdoor recreation areas are designed to be monofunctional for a set of predominant activities taking place during only one part of the year, e.g. crosscountry ski tracks for winter recreation. Hence the compatibility of recreation areas for activities in many seasons is often neglected. More broadly, seasonality can be considered to be a major problem for recreation/tourism management in general, both because of the instability of returns on investment as well as the exhaustion of infrastructure, landscape carrying capacities and natural resources [1]. However, not very much research has been undertaken in finding factors that would broaden the usability of recreation areas throughout the span of natural seasons [2]. It can be hypothesized that different vegetation types or groups of visually similar vegetation types have an influence on landscape character and thus on the people’s preferences for recreational environments, potentially becoming an important factor for the designing of facilities and recreational tracks. Although visual preference plays an important part in the formation of landscape perception (i.e. restorative experience) [3], it is not necessarily the only factor in such experiences [4]. Therefore this study uses a more comprehensive model of restorative experience described by Han [5] to determine the factors that influence outdoor recreation. In planning new recreational environments, it should also be considered that the location of the person within a particular landscape influences the character of the view. Fry and Sarlöv-Herlin [6] suggest designing paths near the edge of a woodland, which, besides having many ecological benefits, also contributes to aesthetically pleasing qualities, and increase the recreation potential of woodlands. It may be hypothesized that forest stands can be more inviting when viewed inwards from visually open landscapes or produce attractive views when looking outwards from such stand-types into the visually open landscape. It can be inferred that there is a clear need to explore visitors’ preferences concerning landscape elements for recreation track planning, and especially to consider the aspect of seasonality in the restorative value of recreational landscapes.

2

Material and methods

2.1 Study area The Haanja Upland is located in the south-eastern corner of Estonia (Fig. 1). The region covers an area of 816 km2 [7] and is the highest region in the country (the highest point, Suur Munamägi, at 317.6m above sea level, is also the highest point in the Baltic countries). The Haanja Upland has the country’s thickest and longest-lasting snow cover.



Figure 1:

355

Location of the study area. The detailed study area covers orographically varied terrain in the central part of the Haanja Upland.

The Haanja Upland region is a hilly/hummocky landscape that can be characterised as a large underlying moraine hill that is itself covered with a variety of different sized moraine hills, glacio-lacustrine and glacio-fluvial kames, eskers and sandy plains (around the fringes of the upland). The upland area is intersected with deep (up to 200 m) primaeval or sub-glacial valleys, mostly filled with glacio-fluvial gravels and sands. This geological structure makes the topography extremely complex: relative heights reach a difference of 50–60 m, and the steepness of slopes can be 30–35o. This very diverse relief also determines the high degree of patchiness of soil distribution and vegetation cover. The vegetation cover of the present-day patchy cultural landscape consists of an intricate mixture of forests, fields and settlement. Forests cover 62% of the total area [7]. Since the study area is located at the southern limit of the boreo-nemoral forest zone, two deciduous tree genera (Alnus spp. and Betula spp.) and two coniferous species (Picea abies and Pinus sylvestris) are the major constituents in these woodlands. Of the non-forest land, arable fields cover 7% and grasslands 29% of the area. In the valleys and depressions there are over 1000 small peatlands and 170 small lakes, which cover about 1% of the area. Only 1% of the entire Haanja Upland area can be classified as settled area [7]. However, as is typical of Estonian rural settlements, the farmsteads (about 500) are dispersed over the area. As a result, the highly natural appearance, landscape diversity and local cultural heritage of the Haanja region make it attractive for tourism in both summer and winter.


356 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI 2.2 Methodology used The study involved comparing the perceived restorative value of the same landscapes in two seasons and was conducted in two phases – the winter set was done in April 2005 and the summer set in April 2007. A self-rating method developed by Han [5] – the “short-version revised restoration scale” (SRRS) was used to evaluate the restoration potential of natural environments in terms of the different vegetation types found in the study area. The subjects were shown winter or summer landscape photographs respectively and asked to rate specific aspects of their reaction towards those images using a number of differently worded questions on a nine-point Likert scale. SRRS has a broad perspective integrating both the Kaplan and Kaplan [8] and Ulrich [9] theories of restorative environments. While similar to Hartig et al’s [10] revised perceived restorativeness scale RPRS, it also measures the restoration potential of a given environment but focuses on recovery from stress from a broader perspective, not only on the recovery from mental fatigue. It has a small number of items (two questions per dimension of restoration – emotional, physiological, cognitive and behavioural reactions), while still maintaining its validity and reliability [5]. Respondents were undergraduates of geography and biology of the University of Tartu and landscape architecture and environmental protection students from the Estonian University of Life Sciences. The winter set used 86 respondents (25 male, 61 female), whose average age was 21.4 years. Slides were viewed in groups of 7 to 20 people, in two distinctive arrangements (A and B respectively). In total, 48 persons viewed the slides in order A and 38 in order B. The summer set used 79 respondents (18 male, 59 female, 2 unspecified gender), and their average age was 20.8 years. Slides were viewed in groups of 9 to 25 people, in two distinctive arrangements of slides (C and D respectively). In total, 42 persons viewed slides in order C and 37 in order D. 2.3 Selection of visual stimuli The photographs used for the vegetation type restoration potential test were chosen according to vegetation site types characteristic to the Haanja Upland. Vegetation site types were first selected following the national habitat classification system [11], and the selection was later clarified through on-site observations and finally consolidated into 17 distinct “vegetation classes” – groups of visually similar vegetation types. Man-made types – fields and grasslands – were also included in the selection, as these determine the visually open scenes and are usually perceived as natural in character [12]. All pictures were taken at eye level in the same weather conditions throughout the summer and winter and set with the same camera lens setting and orientation towards the horizon. Flat topography in the scene was preferred, because an undulating sightline may increase the degree of aesthetic preference by conveying a sense of mystery [12, 13], and so introduce bias into the results. However, in the case of some scenes it was impossible to eliminate topographic variations completely, due to the particular topography of the test area. The WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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presence of obvious man-made structures in the photos was avoided, as it is known from other studies to reduce the attractiveness of a scene, often dramatically [12], leading people to rate the semiotic signs in the landscape given by the structure rather than the vegetation itself. In terms of composition, we chose pictures where there were uniform depictions of the vegetation class without dominant objects or prominent groups of objects created by Gestalt principles [14, 15]. Objects occurring in groups tend to be seen as single landscape elements, and this helps towards interpretation of the view and is one of the key factors determining the preference of views [13, 15]. Thus, making “dull and uniform” pictures enabled the measurement of reactions towards a vegetation type rather than the overall composition of the scene. It was assumed from earlier studies [6] that the restoration potential of a vegetation class would be influenced by the viewer’s position in relation to it, especially when visually enclosing vegetation (i.e. various forest stand types) is situated next to visually open vegetation such as grassland or arable fields. In addition to the uniform view from within the vegetation type, two more views were taken when possible – the view from the visually open landscape towards the vegetation and the view from within the vegetation type outwards to the visually open area. It was impossible to obtain all three view-types with each vegetation class, as 1) some visually enclosed types were seldom located next to a visually open landscape and 2) some types composed of dense vegetation at eye level were visually impervious. The above-mentioned views were grouped into the following classes: views towards the vegetation, views within and views outwards from the vegetation. A total of 35 winter and a corresponding 35 summer slides were used for this study. The sequence of slides in all four sets was random and followed two rules – neither two similar vegetation classes nor two similar view-types should be next to each other in the sequence [16]. 2.4 Questionnaire and statistical analysis The SRRS questionnaire consists of eight questions, two for each dimension of restoration (emotional, physiological, cognitive and behavioural reaction). The questions are set up to be bipolar, enabling the use of a Likert scale from 1 (lowest preference) to 9 (highest preference) to record the response. The questions on physiological response in the SRRS are set up to measure physiological arousal, the opposite of restoration, so resulting value scores must be reversed before further calculations can be carried out (see Han [5] for details). The restorativeness measure of each slide is used to evaluate the restorativeness of vegetation classes amongst each other, and different view types within each vegetation class. It is calculated as an arithmetic average of the four composite scores of emotional, reversed value of physiological, cognitive and behavioural dimensions. The four composite scores are in turn calculated as an arithmetic average of the two appropriate mean question scores within each dimension. Lastly, the eight mean question scores are found by averaging eight sets of numerical responses to the questions in the questionnaire. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

358 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI Personal restorativeness scores for each slide are used to test the reliability of the respondents and for ANOVA tests aimed at detecting similarity or dissimilarity amongst summer and winter datasets and view-type datasets. The personal restorativeness score is calculated as an arithmetical average of personal responses to two questions per emotional, cognitive, behavioural and the reversed value of physiological dimensions. Two different reliability tests were carried out on the data. Firstly, Cronbach’s alpha test, which calculated the lower limit for the true reliability of the survey (a function of the number of test items and the average inter-correlation among the items, SPSS Inc. [17]) was carried out to ensure that the restorativeness scale itself was reliable. It was used to examine the relationship of the eight mean question scores within the construct of restorativeness and each of the two appropriate mean question scores within the constructs of emotion, physiology, cognition and behaviour. The second reliability test examined the intra-class correlation calculated for each respondent’s personal restoration potential scores for all slides, to determine whether the respondents’ rating pattern was consistent [17, 18]. In order to compare the restorativeness results of vegetation classes in summer and winter and also to compare the restorativeness results of view-types within vegetation classes, the ANOVA Two-Factor with Replication test was carried out. For that purpose, personal restorativeness scores from both seasons and for all view-types were combined in a single table for every vegetation class. For views with only one view-type, the ANOVA Single Factor analysis was used to compare seasonal effects. The separate scores for restoration potential calculated for each slide were consolidated in a table organised by vegetation class and three view types. The vegetation classes were sorted by values for the restorative potential of the view within the vegetation class in descending order and ranked, in order to illustrate seasonal differences even further. Finally, tables for summer and winter were combined.

3


3.1 Reliability tests The statistical analysis supported the reliability of the data. The reliability measure (Cronbach's alpha) across all eight variables was 0.945 in winter and 0.932 for summer data. The reliability across four factors of emotion, physiology, cognition and behaviour (two questions per factor) were 0.965; 0.946; 0.991 and 0.997 in the winter test and 0.939; 0.864; 0.985 and 0.992 respectively in the summer test. According to the standards of the Cronbach’s alpha test, values over 0.9 are extremely reliable. This permitted the conclusion that the variation in the data originated from the individuality of respondents and the nature of the slides shown, rather than any lack of clarity in the wording of the questionnaire [17]. Furthermore, the intra-class correlation of 0.919 for winter data and 0.955 for summer data showed that despite their individuality, the respondents were rated according to a very similar pattern [17, 18]. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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3.2 Assessment of restorativeness of vegetation types The analysis of the test of restoration potential shows that vegetation types do provide different degrees of restoration potential in landscapes, as hypothesized (Table 1). For example, in winter the restoration potential of mature thinned deciduous stands reached 7.24 for views within the stand, while the internal view of willow scrub showed the lowest restoration potential at 3.88. The summer data shows somewhat smaller differences, as pine forest with spruce understorey reached 6.55 for views towards the stand and internal view of the alder thicket showed the lowest restoration potential, at 4.50. 3.3 Seasonal comparison It is necessary to point out some obvious visual differences in the winter and summer scenes used in this study. Winter scenes showed vegetation classes under snow cover that covered uneven ground surface, fallen trunks etc. Lack of foliage and visible ground cover vegetation also enabled one to see further through the vegetation, while various bushes in the understorey were less noticeable. In the summer scenes, the massive foliage reduced visibility and rendered the understorey and silhouettes of the plants very prominent. The results of the ANOVA test (Table 1) show that roughly half of the vegetation classes did elicit different restorativeness scores in different seasons, because the corresponding F statistic was greater than the critical F needed to reject the null hypothesis. The mature deciduous stand placed first in both winter and summer, but winter scores were significantly higher than personal restorativeness scores in summer. Similarly, the pure pine forest, reed-beds on lake shores, pine forest on wet boggy sites and young spruce plantation with a view towards the stand were cases where a winter scene placed significantly better than the summer view in the ranking order, and that difference was confirmed by the ANOVA test. This tendency may be explained by seasonal differences in ground cover. The smoothness of the ground and perceived ease of movement through the scene are believed to be key factors in determining people's preference for landscapes [12]. In summer photos, high ground cover vegetation can be observed, while winter scenes show smooth ground surface under thick snow cover. Snow also covers up fallen trunks and other "bumpy" surface features. Ice covering the lake surface also renders it easy to walk on. Contrary to previous examples, there were vegetation classes where summer scenes had significantly better scores. Open field with protruding grassy remains, younger thinned deciduous forest and pine forest with spruce understorey placed considerably better in summer rankings, and the seasonal difference was confirmed by the ANOVA test. Willow scrub also showed a significant seasonal difference, although placement in the ranking order was less dramatic. The high score of restoration potential given to the mature thinned deciduous stand and pure pine forest in both seasons is consistent with a general notion expressed by Ulrich [12] and Parsons and Daniel [3] on the extensive body of


360 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI Restoration potential (scale 1 to 9) of the vegetation classes, by different view types and their ranking order in summer (s) and winter (w), ANOVA F statistic and critical F value of the seasonal difference test and view-type difference test.

Mature thinned deciduous stand Raised bog with scattered small pines (Pinus sylvestris) Open field with protruding grassy remains Open field with smooth surface Younger thinned deciduous forest Pine forest with spruce (Picea abies) understorey

s w s w s w s w s w s w s Pure pine forest w s Reed beds on lake shores w Pine forests on wet boggy s sites w s Young spruce plantation w s Spruce plantation thicket w Spruce forest with sparse s understorey w Spruce forest with dense s understorey w Deciduous forest with dense s understorey w s Willow (Salix sp) scrub w s Birch (Betula pendula) scrub w s Alder (Alnus incana) thicket w

6.53 5.61 6.55 4.89 6.03 6.52 6.14 6.17

5.60 6.23 5.48 5.79 6.45 6.29 6.17 5.57 5.92 5.63 6.14 4.27 5.29 5.16 5.16 5.07

6.50 7.24 6.38 6.30 6.28 5.03 6.26 5.90 6.20 5.15 6.17 4.64 6.04 6.53 6.25 6.76 5.83 6.37 5.62 6.69

1 1 2 4 3 13 4 8 5 12 6 14 7 5 8 3 9 2 10 6

5.60 5.68 5.59 5.96 5.05 5.47 4.91 5.38 4.84 3.88 4.76 4.52 4.50 4.63

11 9 5.92 5.97 5.12 5.65 5.52 5.60 5.34 4.72 4.88 4.73 5.11 5.25

12 7 13 10 14 11 15 17 16 16 17 15

17.67 3.90 confirmed 0.23 3.90 not confirmed 48.40 3.90 confirmed 3.24 3.90 not confirmed 55.40 3.87 confirmed 124.00 3.87 confirmed 7.77 3.86 confirmed 5.46 3.87 confirmed 31.28 3.90 confirmed 12.30 3.90 confirmed 2.07 3.87 not confirmed 1.90 3.86 not confirmed 1.08 3.86 not confirmed 1.22 3.86 not confirmed 77.60 3.86 confirmed 1.61 3.86 not confirmed 0.59 3.86 not confirmed


F-crit

View-type difference

F

F-crit

Seasonal difference

F

Summer (s) / Winter (w)

Restorativeness Ranking score order

Winter

Vegetation class

Towards the type Within the type Away from the type Summer

Table 1:

9.70 3.87 confirmed 5.48 3.87 confirmed 6.05 3.02 confirmed 0.06 3.87 not confirmed

0.00 3.87 not confirmed 9.58 3.02 confirmed 10.35 3.02 confirmed 9.94 3.02 confirmed 17.75 3.02 confirmed 8.49 3.02 confirmed 8.84 3.02 confirmed


361

research concerning aesthetic preferences for natural vegetation, where park-like or savannah-like structures tend to produce the highest preference scores. Another notion expressed by Ulrich [12] is that people tend to prefer land cover types with a smooth surface, which favours movement across them. This would also suggest that scrub would be viewed unfavourably, as it hinders walking through it. Whether the perceived ability to walk across or through vegetation can be associated with restoration potential is another matter, however, this corresponds to the high restorative potential of mature thinned deciduous stands, scattered pine forest on wet boggy sites in winter, raised bog with scattered small pines and pure pine forest and the low restoration potential of scattered pine forest on wet boggy sites in summer, alder thicket, birch and willow scrub. In addition, the higher scores of spruce forest with sparse understorey compared to the same stand with dense understorey also seem to confirm this notion. The scenes of pine forest with a spruce understorey showed fallen tree trunks in the winter photo, as the snow was not thick enough to cover them up. Meanwhile, the summer scene did not show fallen trunks on the ground. As such, the results for the pine forest with spruce understorey are in line with the general findings concerning the smoothness and navigability of the ground surface. The better results of the willow scrub in summer are perhaps explainable by foliage bringing out the round silhouettes of the bushes that gave the scene better legibility / distinctiveness, which in turn increased preference [13]. The great seasonal difference of the open field with protruding grassy remains may be due to the content of the scene. The winter photo showed a strip of an even width of forest in the background, but the summer photo unfortunately had forests broken up in separate distinguishable clumps. This may have increased the complexity of the scene, which is known to influence landscape preference [13]. The remaining case of younger thinned deciduous forest seems to be an anomaly that the authors are unable to explain. Perhaps the white birch trunks were less prominent on the background of the white snow while green vegetation in the summer made the trunks more prominent and dramatic. According to the ANOVA test, it was not possible to reject the hypothesis that summer and winter scores are similar in the case of nearly half of the vegetation classes. In addition, the ranking order placed some of those classes, namely raised bog with scattered small pines, spruce plantation thicket, birch scrub and alder thicket, quite close to each other. In contrast, open field with smooth surface, spruce forest with sparse understorey, spruce forest with dense understorey, and deciduous forest with dense understorey all had a noticeable difference in restorativeness scores and ranking order placements, but the ANOVA test was unable to confirm that difference. These results allow one to conclude that in general, the smoothness of the ground and perceived ease of movement through the scene may have determined the results. Vegetation classes that had a thick understorey or were dense by themselves showed low restorativeness scores regardless of the season.


362 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI 3.4 The “edge effect” The hypothesis that views towards, away from and within the same vegetation type can elicit different degrees of restoration potential was supported by the data. The ANOVA test conducted separately for each vegetation class consistently showed that the restorativeness scores of different view-types of a vegetation class differed significantly. The only two exceptions to the rule where it was not possible to confirm difference in datasets were reed-beds on lakeshores and spruce plantation thickets. Moreover, a distinct pattern could be observed where views towards and away from the vegetation generally produced a higher score for restoration potential than views within the vegetation type (Table 1). This may be explained by the higher visual complexity of the scene [13], which leads to increased aesthetic preference. In terms of a practical landscape design application, we can conclude that the ideal recreational route should contain a combination of views towards and away from certain vegetation types. From the ecological point of view, when planning the management of woodland edges it is important to consider the fact that south- and west-facing edges usually develop higher species richness and structural diversity than north- and east-facing edges [6]. On the contrast, northand east-facing edges provide cool shade in the hot summer and have favourable conditions for long-lasting and thick snow cover in winter. This difference in the suitability of forest edges for recreation and ecological conservation could provide planners with an application enabling them to reduce conflicts between those two interest groups. 3.5 General discussion The recreational trails might be targeted more specifically to suit the most desirable season (be it cross-country skiing in winter or cycling in summer), but in order to maximize the restorative value in both seasons, they should provide views in towards and away from certain vegetation types on the north- and eastfacing edges of the forests in the landscape with smooth ground cover. Long sections of tracks within forests with a dense understorey should be avoided, although the need for variation should receive equal consideration. Recommendations on the design of recreational areas and routes suggest that variety in the experience is desirable [19, 20]. Thus the recreational route should also be located so the viewer could experience different vegetation types over time, passing through open areas with views of sufficient scale to enable the view to be enjoyed. Many forest types in the study area are naturally dense or develop a dense understorey, especially on the woodland’s edge. Due to their linear character, the recreational tracks create additional strands of woodland edge with better light conditions for a newly propagating dense understorey. Also, abandoned fields that have begun to grow into birch and alder scrub occupy a considerable proportion of the study area. All of this poses a challenge for landscape maintenance and design.



363

The study subjects were all young adults, mostly female, who had an interest in landscape and nature. They were able to distinguish between vegetation types because they have been educated to do so. This may have biased the results compared with a more demographically representative sample. It would be valuable to carry out further exploration of the preferences and perceptions of different user-groups such as sportsmen or children, and other user needs such as solitude or physical challenge.

4

Conclusions

The study involved comparing the perceived restorative value of the same vegetation types in winter and summer. We found that vegetation classes do have different levels of restorative value. In agreement with the extensive body of knowledge on the topic, the park-like and savannah-like vegetation types resulted in higher restorativeness scores. The smoothness of the ground and perceived ease of movement through the landscape seemed to positively affect the restorative value of the vegetation class. Seasonal variability has an influence on the restorative value of some vegetation types. This can be explained by apparent changes in the visibility and smoothness of the ground. Views towards and away from the vegetation type tend to elicit higher scores for restoration potential than views within the type. It is possible to reduce conflicts between recreational and ecological interests in woodlands by having recreation tracks on north- and east-facing edges where species richness and structural diversity are lower, while the shade provides shelter from the hot summer sun and creates better snow conditions in winter. Recreational trails might be targeted more specifically to suit the most desirable season, but in order to maximize the restorative value and provide opportunities in both seasons, they should provide views towards and away from certain vegetation types on the north- and east-facing edges of the forests in landscape with smooth ground cover. Long sections of tracks within forests with a dense understorey should be avoided, although the need for variation should receive equal consideration. Many forest types in the study area are naturally dense or develop a dense understorey, especially on the edge of the woodland. Also, due to their linear character, recreational tracks create long strands of woodland edge with better light conditions for a newly propagating dense understorey. This poses a challenge for landscape maintenance and landscape design.

References [1] [2] [3]

Krakover, S., 2000. Partitioning seasonal employment in the hospitality industry. Tourism Manage. 21, 5, 461-471. Baum, T. and Hagen, L., 1999. Responses to seasonality: the experiences of peripheral destinations, Int. J. Tourism Res. 1, 299-312. Parsons, R., Daniel, T.C., 2002. Good looking: in defense of scenic landscape aesthetics. Landscape Urban Plan. 60, 43–56. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

364 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Tahvanainen, L., Tyrväinen, L., Ihalainen, M., Vuorela, N., Kolehmainen, O, 2001. Forest management and public perceptions — visual versus verbal information. Landscape Urban Plan. 53, 53–70. Han, K.-T., 2003. A reliable and valid self-rating measure of the restorative quality of natural environments. Landscape Urban Plan. 64, 209–232. Fry, G., Sarlöv-Herlin, I., 1997. The ecological and amenity functions of woodland edges in the agricultural landscape; a basis for design and management. Landscape Urban Plan. 37, 45–55. Arold, I., 2005. Estonian landscapes. Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus. Tartu. (In Estonian). Kaplan, R., Kaplan, S., 1989. The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective. Cambridge University Press, New York. Ulrich, R.S., 1983. Aesthetic and affective response to natural environment. In: Altman, I., Wohlwill, J.F. (Eds.), Behavior and Natural Environments. Plenum Press, New York. Hartig, T.A., Korpela, K., Evans, G.W., Garling, T., 1997. A measure of restorative quality in environments. Scand. Hous. Plann. Res. 14, 175– 194. Paal, J., 1997. Classification of Estonian vegetation site types. Keskkonnaministeeriumi Info- ja Tehnokeskus, Tallinn. (In Estonian). Ulrich, R.S., 1986. Human Responses to Vegetation And Landscapes. Landscape Urban Plan. 13, 29–40. Kaplan, S., 1982. Cognition and Environment: Functioning in an Uncertain World. Praeger Publishers, New York. Bell, S., 1999 Landscape: pattern, perception and process. E&FN Spon, London. Bell, S., 2004. Elements of visual design in the landscape. Second edition. E. &F.N. Spon, London. Herzog, T.R., Black, A.M., Fountaine, K.A., Knotts, D.J., 1997. Reflection and attentional recovery as distinctive benefits of restorative environments. J. Environ. Psychol. 17, 165–170. SPSS Inc., 2004. SPSS Base 13.0 Case studies tutorial. SPSS Inc., Chicago. Palmer, J.F., Hoffman, R.E., 2001. Rating reliability and representation validity in scenic landscape assessments. Landscape Urban Plan. 54, 149– 161. Bell, S., 1997. Design for outdoor recreation. E&FN Spon, London Kaplan, R., Kaplan S., Ryan, R., 1998 With people in mind. Island Press, Washington DC.



365

A new method for tourism carrying capacity assessment V. Castellani, S. Sala & D. Pitea University of Milano Bicocca, Department of Environmental Sciences, Italy

Abstract Tourism activities can generate both positive and negative effects on the conditions of the areas where visiting and fruition activities take place; every form of human use of natural environment causes changes to the environment conditions. Evaluation of carrying capacity of a destination has as a purpose the measurement of the threshold over which alteration due to human activities becomes unacceptable. To evaluate the consequences of tourism activities impacts it is necessary to know the characteristics of the environment where they occur and especially its resilience, which is the measure of the disturbance that the natural environment can tolerate without altering its equilibrium state. The carrying capacity concept is linked with resilience and rises from the necessity of measure which is the maximum acceptable level of impact for the environment or for one of its components and the capability of recovery of the previous condition. The purpose of this study is to suggest a model for assessing the physical carrying capacity of tourism destinations, as a tool to evaluate whether the current situation is sustainable or not and to determine if a rise in visitor numbers could affect the quality of the environment, the resources available and the quality of public services. For the assessment, all environmental aspects are separately analysed and the main environmental issues related to the daily life of residents and to tourism activities (air quality, water quality and disposability, waste management, soil use) are considered. The methodology is based on an evaluative procedure inspired by the DPSIR model, useful for underlining which are the drivers of impacts and which is the most relevant dataset to describe current and future scenarios. The innovative aspect of this study is the integration of the physical carrying capacity assessment with the evaluation of the managing capacity of environmental and public services, which can lead to depletion of ecosystem quality. Keywords: tourism, carrying capacity, destination management, DPSIR model. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070341


1

Introduction

Tourism activities can generate both positive and negative effects on the conditions of the areas where visiting and fruition activities take place; every form of human activity causes changes of environmental conditions; the purpose of the evaluation of carrying capacity of a destination is the measurement of the threshold over which alteration due to human activities becomes unacceptable for the resource recovery. To evaluate consequences of tourism activities impact is necessary to know the characteristics of the environment where they insist on and especially its resilience, which is the measure of the disturbance that natural environment can tolerate without altering its state of equilibrium. Carrying capacity concept is linked with resilience and rises from the necessity of measure which is the maximum acceptable level of impact for the environment or for one of its components and the capability of recovery of previous condition (Holling [6]). World Tourism Organization has defined Tourism Carrying Capacity as “the maximum number of persons which could visit a location within a given period, such that local environmental, physical, economic, and socio-cultural characteristics are not compromised, and without reducing tourist satisfaction” (WTO, [12]). Thus, physical (or ecological), social and economic carrying capacity can be defined as follow: • Physical (or ecological) carrying capacity is the threshold limit beyond which natural and cultural heritage of a destination are damaged by tourism; physical carrying capacity of a destination is thence determined through the analysis of its environmental components (for example, water resources quantity and availability, limits for air pollutants concentrations) and through the analysis of the facilities required by both tourists and residents: saturation limits for existing facilities (for example, sewage treatment plants, waste treatment plants) and limits for new facilities construction. • Economic carrying capacity is the threshold limit beyond which tourism growth becomes economically unacceptable; this situation may rise from two conditions: a) when tourism interfere with other economic activities obstructing their development, b) when the presence of a great number of tourists makes the destination no more comfortable and attractive and causes a contraction in tourism demand. • Social carrying capacity is the threshold beyond which social aspects of the host community are badly influenced and damage by tourism activities and life’s quality of residents is no more granted; this situation can also lead to conflicts between tourists and resident population, generating social tensions. In this paper a study of physical carrying capacity of a tourist destination is presented, applied to Oltrepo Mantovano area, in northern Italy. The innovative aspect of this study is the integration of physical carrying capacity assessment with the evaluation of managing capacity of environmental and public services, which could lead to depletion of ecosystems quality.



367

Oltrepo Mantovano is an interesting area of application because it is a newly emerging tourism destination according to the tourism area Life Cycle Model (Agarwal [1], Butler [4], Miossec [11]) and also because protected areas of Oltrepo Mantovano have undertaken European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas, a process promoted by Europarc (the European Federation of Parks), with the aim of assuring environmental conservation and promoting economic and social development through a sustainable tourism strategy. Assessing carrying capacity in this area is thence an effort to provide a useful tool to decision makers (i.e. local administrators and park managers) that are now planning tourism development policy for future years, trying to promote sustainable development and prevent adverse effect on the environment.

2 Methodology The methodology is based on an evaluative procedure inspired to DPSIR model, useful to underline which are the drivers of impacts and which is the most useful dataset to describe current and future scenarios. For carrying capacity assessment, all environmental aspects are separately took into account and main environmental issues related to daily life of residents and to tourism activities (air quality, water quality and disposability, waste management, soil use) are considered. The methodology aims to integrate physical carrying capacity assessment with the evaluation of managing capacity of environmental and public services. This approach is based on the consciousness that two major types of impact can be identified in a tourist destination: those with are associated with tourism structures (hotels, roads and other facilities) and those resulting from the tourists themselves (crowding of natural sites, air and water pollution) (May [9]). The analysis of tourism sector based on DPSIR model allows one to identify main issues related to tourism activities and to address tourism carrying capacity assessment. Table 1: Drivers Pressures

State Impacts Responses

DPSIR model for tourism sector.

Construction and management of hospitality structures and facilities, presence of tourists, urban traffic. Emissions of air pollutants, use of groundwater resources, immission of pollutants in stream waters, production of solid urban waste, land use and soil erosion, energy consumption, presence of tourists in protected areas. Concentration of pollutant in air and water, groundwater availability, quantity of solid urban waste, level of urbanization, level of crowding in natural sites. Loss of biodiversity, disturb of wild species, adverse effects on human health. Promotion of sustainable tourism: reduction of water and energy consumption, reduction of waste production and increasing of separated waste collection, promotion of public transports, use of renewable energy, promotion of ecotourism activities.


368 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI Evaluation phases, used for every issue, are: Selection of the issue and characterization of the drivers related to it Selection of drivers relevant for the issue in tourism contest Identification of main pressures Development/application of specific indicators for identified pressures Set up of benchmark values, minimum and maximum, and definition of classes for the result. Selection of benchmark values is based on: a. literature b. limit values determined by European and Italian laws c. benchmarking with other situations 6. Collection of local data and data processing 7. Evaluation of carrying capacity of the issue, based on benchmarking among considered variables; for the evaluation, precautionary principle is adopted: worst case is taken into account and, if one variable is near the limit, low carrying capacity is attributed to the entire compartment. 8. Elaboration of the results to select appropriate responses for short or long term solution of main problems identified, which can be performed by public and private administrators and by tourists themselves, in a shared responsibility perspective. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

3

Results

Oltrepo Mantovano is a plain area, with low population density and little urban centres. Industrialization is not very high, but the presence of two electric power plants strongly characterises the area, both from industrial and environmental perspective. Protected areas are mainly homes near Po river with seminatives and timbers and have high ecological value: part of the areas is classified as Important Bird Areas (IBA) and there are also many endemic species (e.g. Lataste’s frog). Table 2 shows an example of a detailed scheme, developed for each compartment, applied to Oltrepo Mantovano area. The previous conceptual scheme, applied to all compartment considered, gives an overall evaluation of tourism carrying capacity in Oltrepo Mantovano. The main results are presented in table 3.

4

Discussion

Results of tourism carrying capacity of Oltrepo Mantovano, though not completely exhaustive, show that the situation is critical for some aspects, suggesting that a sustainable tourism policy for the future should take into account the necessity of some actions to prevent environmental damage and arise of problems for environmental and public services management. Issues that have a low (or very low) carrying capacity rank are groundwater disposability and air quality. This result is to take into serious account in view of a tourism development because both this issues could be seriously affected by a



Table 2:

369

Methodology for air carrying capacity assessment.

DPSIR 1) DRIVERS

METHODOLOGY Analysis of datasets of emissions sources aimed to identify which sources / activities are most relevant in the area object of the investigation.

2) DRIVERS AND VARIABLES RELEVANT FOR TOURISM SECTOR

From the drivers set identified in step 1, selection of drivers which are most relevant for tourism sector.

3) PRESSURES

Selection of main pressures generated by identified driver/s.

4) INDICATORS

Selection of appropriate indicators to measure state. Indicator used by European and Italian legislation to evaluate air pollution level is the number of daily overcoming of limit concentration during a year.

5) STATE CLASSES

On the base of indicators and limit identified in the previous step, classes of carrying capacity are fixed.

6) LOCAL RESULT

Analysis of local data about indicators identified.

LOCAL RESULTS Analysis of data from Inemar Lombardy Region inventory of emission sources: main drivers for Oltrepo Mantovano are: electric power generation (electric power plants), non industrial combustion (heating) and urban traffic, which cause emissions of PM10, CO2, COV, NOx, SO2 and CO. The emission source most relevant for tourism sector evaluation in Oltrepo Mantovano is urban traffic, because electric power generation is an industrial activity, not strictly linked with local consumption and heating becomes not relevant during high tourist seasons (spring-summer). Urban traffic generates emissions of PM10, CO, COV and NOx. ARPA monitoring network registers periodically the values of concentration of PM10, CO and NO2; data of COV concentrations are not available. a) number of overcoming for PM10 concentration in Oltrepo Mantovano; limit value: 35 days of overcoming/year. b) number of overcoming for NO2 concentration in Oltrepo Mantovano; limit value: 35 days of overcoming/year. A limit for CO is not fixed because this pollutant is no longer a problem in Italy. a) nr of overcoming for PM10 35: LOW carrying capacity nr of overcoming for PM10 35: VERY LOW carrying capacity b) nr of overcoming for NO2 18: LOW carrying capacity nr of overcoming for NO2 18: VERY LOW carrying capacity nr of overcoming for PM10: 108 nr of overcoming for NO2: 1


370 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI Table 2: 7) CARRYING CAPACITY

8) RESPONSES

Continued.

Carrying capacity assessment, based on classes identified and data collected; carrying capacity level of the entire compartment is assigned according to precautionary principle. Elaboration of the results to select responses for main problems identified

a) PM10: VERY LOW b) NO2: HIGH Carrying capacity of the issue: VERY LOW Promote public transport and tourist offers for discouraging use of private car by tourists.

raise in the number of tourists: indeed groundwater is the main source of drinking water in the area and moreover Oltrepo Mantovano is in the critical area of Lombardy Region and the difficulties of using public transport to move in the area (as the high percentage of tourists reaching the destination with private cars confirm) may cause an additional decline of air quality situation in case of increase of tourists number. Besides, carrying capacity is at limit for some other important issues, both from environmental and managing perspective: ecological status of stream waters and percentage of separated waste disposal are now sufficient, but both the natural resources and public services would be not able to manage additional load coming from the increasing of tourism impacts. Regarding current situation, main critical aspect, not directly depending from local policy management, seems to be the ratio between daily visitors and resident tourists: daily visitors, that are proved to generate more impacts on the environment and cause more consumption of resources rather than resident tourists (Beltrame et al [3]) are currently twice the number of resident tourists in Oltrepo Mantovano.

5

Conclusions

The main critical aspect associated with carrying capacity assessment of tourism destination is the complexity of providing numeric results (Bimonte and Punzo [2]). Following Manning point of view [10], this study is an attempt to quantify current state of every compartment involved in tourism management and give a quantity perspective on present and future scenarios of destination development considering environmental, social and economical indicators. The main difficulties emerging from this application of the methodology are: • necessity of setting precise values that are widely recognises as thresholds of sustainability, could be a quite controversial aspect: a good solution seems to be the use of law limits, but these are not available for all issues: in this case, further investigation, also considering local contest and expert judgement, could be required. European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas is a good tool for this purpose, because the process strongly encourage the involvement of local stakeholders;



Table 3:

Results of assessment.

Oltrepo

Indicator

Disposability of groundwater

withdrawal / recharge (m3/g) / (m3/g) people served by sewage disposal (people served/people resident) *100

☺

Waste management

carrying

Value

capacity

Carrying capacity

1

☺

100%-75% 75%-50%

75%

☺

>1

☺

1 =1 45% 35-45%

39,80%

300 0%-30% 30%-60% >60% >20% 10%-20% < 10%

☺

< 20% 20%-50% > 50%

☺ crowding of natural sites and paths (expert judgement)

low

mean

high

☺ daily visitors/tourists

I70%

☺

0-0,3 0,59

0,3-0,5 0,5-0,8

☺

0,8-1 0,6

0,4-0,7 0-0,3

☺

I< 0,5 0,5 < I > 1

0,002

☺

3,14%

☺

I>1 no classes, judgement of experts

expert local

• •

difficulty to find data for a multi-year period; difficult to obtain exhaustive results for all considered compartment. Moreover, regarding the themes considered in tourism carrying capacity assessment, most critical issues seem to be: consumption of energy, for which there is a lack of data in Italian statistic dataset at local level, and impacts on biodiversity. Data of local energy consumption available in Italy refers to 1997, because it is the last year of national management of energy market: from 1998 in Italy there are various energy supplier, so the collection of data is now very difficult and a detailed national dataset on consumption is no more available. Besides, measuring impact of tourism activities on biodiversity requires specific study on the areas under investigation, because every situation has specific characteristics. The assessment of loss of biodiversity due to tourism activities requires one to individuate a representative species for each kind of impact, considering a multiple stress condition. These information is not yet available, so detailed monitoring campaign on flora and fauna of protected areas should be promoted and investigation on number and characteristic of tourists should be carried out to obtain more data useful to measure the disturb caused by tourism activities and to assess carrying capacity of the areas. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

[11] [12]

Agarwal, S., The resort cycle revisited: implications for resorts. In C. Cooper and A. Lockwood (eds) Progress in Tourism, Recreation and Hospitality Management, Vol. 5. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, 1994 Bimonte, S., Punzo, F., A proposito di capacità di carico turistica. Una breve analisi teorica. EdATS Working Papers Series 4, 2005 Beltrame, C., Ciarli, E., Giorgini, E., Maggi, M. Il turismo nell’area del Parco di Crea. Ires Piemonte, 2002 Butler, R. The concept of a tourist area cycle of evolution. Canadian Geographer 24, pp. 5–1, 1980 EEA, Environmental indicators: typology and overview. In: Smeets E, Weterings R (eds) Technical report 25, p 19, 1999 Holling, C.S., Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 4, pp. 1−23, 1973 Italian national water law, D.lgs 192/99. Gazzetta Ufficiale 145, 1999 INEMAR, www.ambiente.regione.lombardia.it/inemar/inemarhome.htm May, V., Tourism, the environment, and development: values, sustainability and stewardship. Tourism Management, 12(2), pp. 112–118, 1991 Manning, R.E., How much is too much? Carrying capacity of national parks and protected areas. In: Monitoring and management of visitor flows in recreational and protected areas. Bodenkultur University, Vienna, Austria. p. 306–313, 2002. Miossec, J.M., Un modèle de l'espace touristique. L'espace géographique: régions, environnement, aménagement, 6(1), pp. 41-48, 1977 WTO, Global code of ethics for tourism. Proc. of Thirteenth session of General Assembly: Santiago, Chile, 1999.



375

Environmental impacts caused by the tourist industry in Elafonisos Island and the Neapoli district, Greece B. S. Tselentis1, D. G. Prokopiou1, D. Bousbouras2 & M. Toanoglou3 1

Department of Maritime Studies, Laboratory of Marine Sciences, University of Piraeus, Greece 2 Hellenic Ornithological Society, Greece 3 Euroxenia Hotel Management and Consulting, Rhodes, Greece

Abstract Many studies have shown that a tourist service or product is a blend of ecological, social and economic sub-systems, operable in the area of interest. Carrying capacity assessment has become an indispensable tool for formulating policy and strategies in the tourist industry worldwide. It is well known that Greece depends heavily on the tourist trade. For the Greek coastal tourist industry, the environment, both natural and man made, plays a leading role in the sustainable development of this economic activity. It is the purpose of this paper to apply novel environmental protection tools in order to estimate impacts inflicted by the tourist industry on local fauna and flora, as well as the whole well being of the physical environment.

1

Introduction

The concept of sustainable tourism is used in the context of achieving economic growth without damaging the natural and build environment as well as conserving the culture of local communities [1]. The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) defines carrying capacity as: “The maximum number of people that may visit a tourist destination at the same time, without causing destruction to the physical, economic, socio-cultural environment and an unacceptable decrease in the quality of visitors' satisfaction”. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070351

376 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI Tourism can generate both positive and negative environmental impacts, depending on how well development is planned and controlled [2]. This paper investigates the level of impacts in two areas. The first district is situated on the southern part of the Peloponnesus peninsula and covers the Vatica municipality area, called Vatica. The other area is Elafonisos, a small island close to the Peloponnesus mainland 350m from the Vatika coast. Both places are well known tourist destinations with beautiful beaches, and sand dunes rich in spectacular flora. The importance of these areas for the Mediterranean ecosystem and biodiversity, is highlighted by the fact that they both belong to the NATURA 2000 network, which presents a special challenge for further tourist development of the area.

2

Tourist development and environment

Both areas of the study area, Vatica and Elafonisos, belong to the Prefecture of Laconia, with Sparta as the capital; capital of Vatica is Neapoly town.

Figure 1:

Elafonisos and Vatica [3].

In Elafonisos and Vatica, the tourism industry relies mainly on rooms to let and organized camping especially in Elafonisos. Some years ago free camping was still allowed and thus the area came to be associated with that kind of tourist service, even though that activity is now prohibited due to environmental protection reasons. Elafonisos is a very famous tourist destination but high season there is only August. Tourist development started in the 90s (after 1985) and as a result there are no large tourist developments. Tourist services are based on small enterprises and, until recently, no serious treats to the environment have been sited. However, a steady increase in the number of visitors, and the realisation that the environment WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


377

may well be in danger, have made it imperative to further study and estimate the adverse effects and propose policies and measures that will allow sustainable development in the area.

3 Basic population characteristics [4] Table 1 indicates the population in terms of inhabitants and urban settlement characteristics. Both the areas under study are considered sparsely inhabited with Elafonisos showing a very small built up area. As indicated in Table 2 the population of Elafonisos has increased considerably during the period between 1991 and 2001, a rise of about 15%. The population of Vatica municipality has reduced slightly during the same period. Table 1:

Population.

POPULATION

Area

Population

Municipality of Vies (Vatica)

7.871

Elafonisos

745

Density

215,6

37

2,25

Built up areas km2 3,5

20

36

2,48

0,3

Area (km2)

Table 2:

inhabitants/ km2

Built up Density buildings 2 /km

Mean age of built up areas 1,62 1,5

Population trends.

POPULATION TRENDS

Prefecture of Laconia Municipality of Vies (Vatica) Elafonisos

4

1971 -

1981 -

1991 90.522

2001 92.811

-

-

7.257

7.111

586

611

647

746

Tourist enterprise history [5]

As indicated in Table 3 hotel bed capacity in Laconia Prefecture has increased considerably during the period of 1995-2003. Tourist development in Vatica and Elafonisos started in the early ‘90s. In 1993, the number of hotels in Vatica was 7 whereas in 2007 rose to 6. Table 4 describes the trend in hotel units and bed availability over the years. Today, tourist capacity in beds is estimated at about 6000 in Vatica and 900 in Elafonisos. Figures give a graphical WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


Tourist accommodations over the years.

TOURIST ACCOMMODATIONS: PREFECTURE OF LACONIA Prefecture of Lakonia 1995 1997 1998 2003

Hotels and similar establishments

Other accommodation

3.201 3.386 3.357 3.504

2.961 2.961 2.961 3.270

Table 4:

Bed capacity trends [6,7,8,9,10].

BED CAPACITY TRENDS: VIES AND ELAFONISOS Hotels and rooms to let tourist enterprises Vatica Elafonisos

5

1993 7 8

2000 4 8

2007 6 8

Beds 1993 -

2000 -

2004 342 -

2007 600 1100

Natural environment

In this study area two regions have been characterised as environmentally sensitive. 5.1 Elafonisos Elafonisos is a famous island for its beautiful sandy beaches. The most famous beach is called “Simos” (figure 5), which has crystal blue waters and a unique sand dune environment. The island of Elafonisos is situated within the gulf of Laconia, at its most eastern part, very close to Punta beach. Elafonisos has a triangle shape and acts as protection for the Neapoli gulf [11]. 5.2 Vatica The NATURA 2000 area in Elafonisos island (figure 4), houses an important sand dune - wetland environment, and is a continuum with sand dunes situated on the opposite side on the Peloponnesus. These wetland areas are considered to be under threat as they lie along the coast line, where most of the tourist industry activity is based. Close to the sand dunes of the municipality of Vies an important wetland called Strogili is situated (figure 2). In this area an important coastal lily (Pancratium maritimum) inhabited in the sand dunes, now considered to be under extinction. Many important fauna and flora species inhabit these Sites of Community Importance (SCI). The area of these two Natura 2000 network places is 603ha as they are entered in the 40 most important sand dune areas of Greece [12].



Figure 2:

379

Sand dune areas and the salt marches opposite of Elafonisos. Table 5: Species

Reptiles Amphibians Birds Mammals

Figure 3:

28 2 138 11

Vatica.

Local fauna [13].

LOCAL FAUNA Threatened species mentioned in the ‘Red Book’ [14] of Greek species 13 0 27 4

Figure 4:

Elafonisos.

6 SWOT analysis on tourism industry in Elafonisos and Vatica 6.1 Strengths Unique environment. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


Figure 5:

Elafonisos: Simos beach.

6.2 Weaknesses No waste management system Situated a long distance away from an airport. The nearer airport is on Kithira island and that of Sparta is a further distance but can be accessed via a road, giving it a marked advantage compared to the one on Kithira. No organized tourist product 6.3 Opportunities As the tourist trade started after the 90s, development can be planed in a sustainable way Planning of an alternative tourist product based on local strengths and characteristics 6.4 Threats No sustainable framework for development and illegal building practices, due to slack enforcement of planning policies and constraints, may cause serious impacts on the local physical and social environment.

7

Environmental indicators

7.1 Beach impact factor With this indicator we analyse the pressures facing the coastal environment, as it describe the concentration of people visiting and using the facilities of the coastal area, and especially beaches. Most of the tourists are concentrated around the sand dunes. The camping in Elafonisos is stated very close, about 30 meters from the sea. After camping some of the sand dunes are destroyed. The only way from the camping to the “Simos” beach is through the sand dune area as the same area is used as vehicle parking. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


Table 6:

381

Beach impact factor.

BEACH IMPACT FACTOR Municipalitie s

Beach length (km)

Vatica

4,5

Total beds

Inhabit ants

Hotel beds

Rooms to let (beds)

7.871

400

900

1300

745

50

900

950 + 700 of campin g seats

Elafonisos 7

Daily visitors

seasonal populati on

-

15.000

1600

4.500

Beach impact factor (people/km of beach) 3333 642

7.2 Waste management In Elafonisos and Vatica district, urban waste management (solid and liquid) is characterized by lack of an integrated management system, leading to inefficiencies and serious environmental threats. The situation in the area under study is depicted in Table 7 [15]. Hotels are obliged to install urban waste treatment plants in order to protect the environment from sewage leakage, especially to the sea. Other the municipalities in Greece have started building and operating such installations. Table 7:

Vatica

Waste management.

URBAN WASTE AND GARBAGE MANAGEMENT Inhabitants Urban waste Percentage Garbage treatment plant of waste management treated 7.871 No 0% Land fill*

Elafonisos

745

No

0%

Land fill*

*The land fills do not follow any of the E.U. specifications and are considered a serious environmental threat.

7.3 Water pollution No serious problems of water quality are encountered in Elafonisos and Vatica. Sea water and drinking water quality is considered good with no signs of quality deterioration. Table 8:

Blue flags [16].

BLUE FLAGS IN NEAPOLY AND ELAFONISOS

Vatica Elafonisos

1 -


382 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI Vatica has two beaches with Blue Flag certification, indicating that serious attempts have been made to protect the environment and possibly increase competitiveness in offered tourist services. Elafonisos, on the other hand, does not have any beaches with Blue Flag certification, a result that agrees well, with other indicators, presented earlier, showing a relatively not organized tourist development. 7.4 Air pollution Neapoli and Elafonisos do not face serious atmospheric pollution since tourism is not of massive scale with relatively small vehicular traffic. 7.5 Noise pollution Noise levels usually increase during the high season months, generated by an increase in the concentration of tourists, vehicles and tourist attractions. 7.6 Visual pollution Recently serious efforts have been made in order to integrate local architectural character in new buildings and tourist infrastructure, in an effort to avoid serious mistakes of the past where speed, low cost and fast returns on investments, were the main criteria governing the building industry. One of the highlights is that due care has been paid to the design. Table 9:

Passenger arrivals and departures at Elafonisos port [17]. PASSENGER ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES IN ELAFONISOS PORT

Months/ Passengers June July August September

Table 10:

2002 17.268 38.776 67.322 12.567

2003 40.679 41.442 44.505 13.664

2004 15.661 41.888 80.287 15.533

2005 20.674 35.497 75.467 20.072

2006 28.257 51.681 84.233 22.298

Vehicle arrivals and departures in Elafonisos port.

VEHICLE ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES IN ELAFONISOS PORT Months/Vehicles June July August September

2002 6.185 12.348 21.692 4.569

2003 13.695 14.390 16.638 5.130

2004 6.555 17.161 31.698 6.384

2005 5.345 12.576 28.408 6.739

2006 8.481 20.305 29.243 6.254

7.7 Overcrowding and congestion Overcrowding by tourists, especially at popular tourist attractions as Elafonisos can have serious impacts on the environment. About 5000 tourists and 2000 cars WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


383

visit the island daily. Taking into account that Elafonisos has no parking management, it is no surprise to witness, at high season, traffic jams, noise and increased air pollution.

8

Conclusions

Tourist development depends on the quality of the environment and the special characteristics that may attract visitors to the area. It has been proven, beyond any doubt, that in the long term uncontrolled development has serious impacts on the natural and build environment. Environmental indictors, indicate that the transformation from a low quality, high-number (mass) tourist trade, to an alternative trade of high quality, is not easy especially when basic infrastructure units, such as waste management systems, town planning policies and building practices, government incentives etc. are lacking. It is a well known that such inadequacies have serious environmental consequences, and hinder any attempts towards developing a high quality tourist industry [18]. The increasing public interest in nature and landscape preservation is, today, considered to a major positive factor in the tourist development process. It is also well known, however, that the growing influx of visitors can exert strong pressures on fragile ecosystems [19]. Many proposals have been put forward to alleviate these side effects, and the concept of protected areas, such as national parks and reserves, are now an integral part of nature based tourism [20].

9

Proposals •

Planning is conceptually related to sustainable development [21]. It includes approaches to deal with development and economic options, to prevent environmental damage and to involve public and stakeholders in decision-making processes. It is proposed that serious efforts have to be made in the direction of formulating viable policies and developing tools for effective implementation and control.

•

Due to the increased tourist demand it is suggested that all the areas with environmental interest must be governed by special organizational bodies [22] that, take account of the long term welfare of the local community and the environment. It is unfortunate that Greece lacks the framework and the experience in managing ecologically sensitive areas, even though the NATURA 2000 network has been active for several years. It is noteworthy that Greece has been accused and in some cases prosecuted at the European Court for not developing the governing bodies described in relevant EU directives.

•

Free camping, which still takes place in areas with sand dunes in municipality of Vatica, causes serious impacts in the local flora and fauna. The development of high standard and quality organised


384 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI camping areas in conjunction to the prohibition of the free camping could eliminate the impacts facing the sensitive sand dune ecosystem. •

Serious attempts must be made in order to protect the local fauna and flora especially when changes to the land use in Elafonisos and Vatica districts, are made.

•

This study shows that the tourist industry in the Vatica district is far from organized and controlled. Serious attempts have to be made to ensure the development of a high quality tourist trade, based on alternative tourist products and services, mitigating the environmental consequences, highlighted above.

Acknowledgements We would like to thank for their help and collaboration: Giannis Kousoulis, Mayor of Vion (Vatica), Vasils Stathakis, Vice mayor of Vion (Vatica), Haralambos Liaros President of the community (small municipality) of Elafonisos island, Sub Lieutenant Antonis Doumanis, Neapoly Port Authority, Dimitra Tselou, economist, Citibank Plc.

References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

Kamamba DMK, The challenges of sustainable cultural heritage/ community tourism. Second African peace through tourism, conference, Dar El Salaam 7-12 December 2003 Lickorosh L. – Jenkins C., “An introduction to tourism” Butterwoth – Heinemann 1997 Map of Laconia, Nakas digital publications Greek National Statistics Organisation 2006 Greek National Statistics Organisation 2006 Tourist guide of Greece, 2000 ISSN 1107-9010 (in Greek) Prefecture of Lakonia, 2007 Polyodigos publications (in Greek) Municipality of Vies and Community of Elafonisos 2006 communications with questionnaires Mentis C., Elafonisos, Lafonisiotiki vivliothiki 1993 (in Greek) Municipality of Vies, general Plan, Horodinamiki, Athens 2004 Prefecture of Laconia, Domi publications (in Greek) Oikonomidou E., The Greek Coasts, Hellenic Ornithological Society 1993 RSPB Bousbouras D. 2005. Research for nature environment of Municipality Vion, including NATURA 2000 area of Malea Peninsula, Strogyli wetland and island Elafonissos. 94 pp. Municipality Vion. (in Greek). Karandinos Μ. (ed.) 1992. «The Red Data Book of Threatened Vertebrates of Greece» Hellenic Zoological Society - Hellenic Ornithological Society, 356pp. (in Greek) WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


[15] [16] [17] [18]

[19] [20]

[21]

[22]

385

www.vatica.gr – “Vatika” newspaper, April 2007 http://www.blueflag.org/ 11-5-07 Neapoly Port Authority May 2007 Prokopiou DG, Tselentis BS, Bousbouras D. and Toanoglou M “Carrying capacity assessment in tourism: The case of Dodecanese archipelago” The Ravage of the planet, First International Conference on the Management of Natural Resources, Sustainable Development and Ecological Hazards, Bariloche, Argentina 2006, Wessex Institute of Technology UKUniversity of Siena, Italy 12–14 December 2006 Bariloche, Argentina Papayanis T, ‘Tourism carrying capacity in areas of ecological importance’ M. Stone & D. Smith “ An outline of Parks Victoria’s tourism Partnerships Strategy and Challenges of Sustainable park tourism in Australia” International Conference on Sustainable Tourism Bologna 2006 Wessex Institute of Technology T. Fidelis, “Integrating environmental issues into the Portuguese planning system- 10 years of emerging challenges and persistent problems” Conference on sustainable planning and development Bologna 2005, Wessex Institute of Technology Prokopiou DG and Tselentis BS ‘Proposals for sustainable development and Environmental protection for the island of Rhodes’, Rhodes 2003 (in Greek)




387

Correlation between the moisture and quantity of biomass as a basis of sustainability of ecosystems (the example of plain deserts of Turkmenistan) V. Kostiukovsky Albert Katz Department of Dryland Biotechnologies, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel

Abstract The life activity and sustainability of ecosystems is determined by the correlation of all of their components, organic and non-organic. The correlation between moisture income and organic components in the authomorphic ecosystems of extra-arid plain deserts of Turkmenistan is examined. The area of 332 790 sq. km of authomorphic ecosystems of Turkmenistan receives an average annual precipitation of 36 740 billion metric tons. Nearly 8000–9000 bill. m.t. of this quantity is involved in ecological processes and guarantees the life, sustainability and activity of 242,42 bill. m.t. of plant biomass (phytomass) and 4,82 bill. m.t. of animal biomass (zoomass). Consequently the proportion of these three components, water, phytomass and zoomass, is 1171:50:1. This proportion supports the existence of desert ecosystems in Turkmenistan under the significant seasonal, annual and multi-century climatic fluctuations, and may be used for planning, monitoring and rational use of natural resources Keywords: Turkmenistan plain deserts, authomorphic ecosystems, correlation, moisture, biomass, phytomass, zoomass, sustainability.

1

Introduction

Sustainability of ecosystems is determined by correlation of all of their components, organic and non-organic. Any change in any particular aspect initiates a chain of changes in all of the other ones. An example is the seasonal WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070361

388 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI and annual fluctuations of climate bringing periodical fluctuations in the dynamics of non-organic and organic elements of ecosystems, both in quantity and in quality. At the same time, sharp and sudden breaches of the existing equilibrium may lead to catastrophic consequences, possibly up to full destruction of all ecosystems. Consequently, the observation of this correlation between the various elements, components of entire ecosystems, is necessary for monitoring them and optimization of their life activity. Connections and interactions between the elements composing these ecosystems are mostly evident under extreme conditions, where one or several of those factors that ensure the continued stability of ecosystems is limited. A noticeable example of deficiency of one of these factors - moisture - is the ecosystems of arid regions. Thus, the plain deserts of Turkmenistan may be used as a model for investigation of the dependence between the dynamics of organic elements of ecosystems on the moisture, particularly of the correlation between the quantity of precipitation, biomass of plants (phytomass) and biomass of animals (zoomass). 1.1 Region of investigation The plains of Turkmenistan are situated in the central region of the Eurasian continent, at the northern part of a desert zone. More than 90% of this country consists of arid and extra-arid deserts. The average annual air temperatures here range from 12 to 18 °C (the winter minimum below - 25 °C, the summer maximum over 45 °C). The annual precipitation income ranges from 70 to 200 mm. There are a large number of sunny days (300-350 days per year), with direct solar radiation of 4000-4600 mj /sq. m. Frequent strong winds (average 3,2-4,2 m/sec, maximum more than 25 m/sec) provide high evaporation capacity of 1650-2300 mm/year [1]. Consequently, the coefficient of aridity is near 0,07 and the plains of Turkmenistan may be considered as extra-arid. The strenuous water regime manifests in significant fluctuations in the quantity of phythomass and zoomass, which allows calculation of the correlations between these three elements of ecosystems.

2

Sources of information and results

The boundary of plain deserts of Turkmenistan have been defined as the shore of Caspian sea - at the West, and the national border - at the North and East (partly coinciding with the waterway of the Amudarya river). The mountainous part of Turkmenistan defines the desert to the south, the boundary of plain deserts being the horizontal line of 300 m. above sea level, which mainly coincides with the isohiett (pluvial line) of 200 mm. of precipitation per year. The area of authomorphic ecosystems of Turkmenistan plain deserts (excepting the anthropogenic territories and hydromorphic ecosystems of salt-marshes and river valleys and deltas) has been defined as 332 790 sq. km.



389

Circulation of moisture in ecosystems is connected closely with the geological composition of the soil. Consequently, the territory of plain deserts has been divided by this principle as sandy, stony-rubble and loamy deserts. The area of every type of desert has been defined by the analysis of the topography, geology, soil and landscape maps in scale from 1:100 000 to 1:1 000 000 and materials of space information. The results obtained have been brought to concord with the data of "Soil Cadasters of Turkmenian SSR" for the years 1960-1985. All of these types of deserts are distributed disproportionally in the territory of the plains of Turkmenistan. They are concentrated as compact areas, due to the relief and geological composition of the territory, and the intensity of water and wind erosion, etc. The sandy deserts occupy the majority of the area 242 990 sq. km. The stony-rubble ones are concentrated mainly at the North and N-W and often combine with other types of deserts. Their total area is 44 270 sq. km. The area of loamy deserts is 45 530 sq. km. The main areas of loamy deserts are connected with the valleys and deltas of constant and seasonal water streams, foothills and near-mountain plains. Many loamy islands (“takyrs”) are diffused in the falls of aeolian relief of sandy deserts. Among the above-mentioned types of natural authomorphic ecosystems, there are also ecosystems of salty marshes and river-valleys in Turkmenistan plains. These ecosystems obtain supplementary water nutrition by surface and underground flow and cannot be inspected as authomorphic ones. 2.1 Moisture income The data of moisture dynamics in the authomorphic desert ecosystems are obtained from the literature and official materials such as: “Meteorological annuals of Turkmen. SSR for the years 1929-1990” and works of Orlovsky [1], Romanov [2], Kunin [3], Kirsta [4] and others and computed correspondingly to the areas of authomorphic ecosystems. The annual average amount of atmospheric precipitation, at the territory of Turkmenistan plains increases from 70-80 mm (N) to 150-180 mm (S); from 70 to 125 mm income over 46% of the territory, from125 mm. to150 mm. income over 17 % of the area and from 150 to 200 mm over 37% of all the area of desert plains. Therefore, the average sum of annual precipitation here has been accepted for the following calculations as 110.4 mm. Due to this data, 332 790 sq. km of authomorphic desert ecosystems obtain, as average, 36,74 cu. km of atmosphere precipitation, which is near 36 740 billion metric tons of moisture. The most of this moisture (more than 80%) falls during the cold season, when evaporation is weakened and, as a result, annual evaporation from the soil surface is relatively small - near 35% of annual income (data of Meteorology Service). It means that nearly 23 881 bill. m. t. of rain water has time to penetrate into the soil before the beginning of summer drought. Nearly 11% of this moisture (4041,4 bill. m. t.) supplements the deep underground flow. The remaining quantity of moisture (19 840 bill. m. t.) is distributed inside the soil profile and is drawn into life process of ecosystems, forming their organic components. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

390 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI The calculation, made on the basis of Beideman [5] for different dry land ecosystems, allowed us to define that most of this moisture is spent by plants during their life activity, mainly for transpiration (nearly 11 000 bill. m. t.), and the remaining 8000-9000 bill. m. t. of water plays the main role in the forming of organic part of ecosystems. 2.2 Formation of quantity of phytomass Regular geobotany investigations have been performed in the deserts of Turkmenistan since the end of the 1920’s. The results defining the quantity of phytomass, its distribution over the area, and its seasonal and annual fluctuations have been presented in hydrometeorology reference books, soil cadastres and in numerous scientific investigations ([6–10] and others). These data have been supplemented by materials of our field investigations, generalized and computed by conformity of the results of measurements of the areas of desert ecosystems of Turkmenistan, obtained from map and remote sensing materials. According to the above-mentioned data, the average quantity of phytomass in authomorphic ecosystems of Turkmenistan plain deserts is defined as 242,42 bill. m. t. Over the period of a year, the quantity of phytomass changes from 218,31 bill. tons in the rainy spring to 76,87 bill tons- in dry summer, which correlates with the annual fluctuations of precipitation (from 46 mm-spring to 5 mm-summer). The common picture is complicated due to “physiological drought” in winter, as a result of low temperatures (from –5 °C in the northern regions to 5-10 °C at the southern ones, with the minimum below –25 °C). The multi-annual fluctuations of precipitation and quantity of phytomass obviously correlate. The amount of precipitation in dry years (67 mm) is to 2,6 times less than in wet years (173 mm). It is reflected in the fluctuations of phythomass quantity by 2,8 times - from 119,14 bill. m. t. during dry year to 365,7 bill. m. t. during wet ones. These calculations allow us to conclude that the average quantity of productive moisture income of 8 000 - 9 000 bill. m. t. provides the formation and conservation of 242, 42 bill. m. t. of life phytomass, i.e. that 1 ton of organic material demands for its existence, as average, nearly 35 tons of water. A significant quantity of moisture is used by plants for the creation of annual growth. It composes 55,88 bill. m. t. during the year of average income of precipitation (110,4 mm), which is 23% of the regular quantity of life biomass. The quantity of dead phythomass in authomorphic ecosystems is 82,96 bill. m. t. (34,22% of the phytomass). The dead phytomass is created by the dying off of ephemerous plants and on-ground parts of ephemeroids at the beginning of the summer drought and the fall of dry leaves and shoots and dying parts of roots of trees and shrubs during the dry summer, cold autumn and winter. Part of this dead phytomass is removed during the year, part is carried off by wind and rainwater out of ecosystem, but part is conserved in the ecosystem for many years, which is the reason of why the quantity of dead phytomass is higher than the annual growth.



391

2.3 Formation of quantity of zoomass Both the live and dead phytomass are involved into the circulation of organic material in ecosystem as compost. It is the source of the formation and existence of animal life, from the simplest single-cell organisms to higher mammals. The quantity of phythomass, its consumption by animals and also the quantity of zoomass in the authomorphic desert ecosystems at the plains of Turkmenistan has been calculated on the basis of data of [6, 11–14] and others. The calculations have demonstrated that consumption of phytomass by animals in authomorphic ecosystems in Turkmenistan plain deserts is almost 33 bill. m.t. tons during a year of average moisture. It is 10,14% of all the quantity of live and dead phytomass (325,38 bill. tons) or 59% of annual growth. This quantity provides the existence of 4,82 bill. m. t. of animal biomass, i.e. for the formation and activity of the 1 m. t. of zoomass, 6,9 m. t. of phytomass is demanded. The annual quantity of zoomass is exposed to seasonal and multiyear fluctuations reflecting the fluctuations of quantity of phytomass and precipitation. In dry years it is 2,39 bill. m. t. and in wet years - 7,26 bill. m. t. The quantity of zoomass in wet years is three times the quantity of dry years, similar to the quantity of precipitation and phytomass in wet and dry years. It is complementary evidence of direct correlation of these three values. The next process of circulation of materials in an ecosystem is formation of animal wastes. The average annual quantity of wastes is approximately 22,97 bill. m. t, including 6 bill. m. t. of solids, 1,47 bill. m. t. of liquids and 15,5 bill. m. t. of gaseous wastes. About 5 bill. m. t. of used organic material is concentrated in organisms of animals, which live more than 1 year and return to circulation with the dead zoomass. All wastes and remnants of dead organisms enter the air, soil and underground water and are used by plants for the formation of new phytomass. The cycle is complete. 2.4 Deductions The main active components of the authomorphic ecosystems of the plain deserts of Turkmenistan are connected in the following proportion: 8500 bill. m. t. of water — 242,4 bill. m.t. of phytomass — 4,8 bill. m. t. of zoomass, or, accepting the zoomass as a unit – 1171:50:1. This correlation, formed during the process of evolution, may be accepted as optimal for the conservation and stability of desert ecosystems. Fluctuations in the amount of precipitation by as much as 2,6-2,8 times lead to fluctuations in the quantity of phytomass in the same boundaries and to fluctuations in the quantity of zoomass of approximately 3 times. These fluctuations don’t result in irreversible damage of environment and degradation of ecosystems. The attribute of elasticity of ecosystems, their capability to maintain stability, is manifested also in the conditions of multi-century fluctuations of climate, noted in the works of Kostiukovsky [15], Lisitzina [16], Vinogradov and Mamedov [17] and others. These data testify that the ecosystems of the plain deserts of Turkmenistan have maintained their countenance and fullness during no less than the last 15,000 years (since the Holocene age), notwithstanding periodical alternations of the warm and cold, wet and dry periods [18–21]. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


3

Conclusion

During the last 8000-9000 years, throughout the territory of Turkmenistan, special types of ecosystems – man-made ecosystems – were created. These ecosystems include the special character of hydrographical nets (canals, waterbodies, irrigate systems), relief (plane agricultural fields, buildings, dams, roads, etc.), special microclimate, cultural vegetation, and animal life. The area of man-made ecosystems throughout the plains of Turkmenistan has increased from 20 km - 9000 years ago (data of Kostiukovsky [15], Masson [22], Lollekova [23], Lisitzina [24]) up to 80 000 km (statistic data for 1995). Up to the end of the 19th century, the growth of man-made ecosystems cramped to a significant degree the natural hydromorphic ecosystems of river valleys, deltas and foothill plains, but almost hadn’t influenced the authomorphic desert ecosystems. The nomadic cattle-breeding tribes, widespread in their territory, tended to cramp the area occupied by wild large mammals (onagres, gazelles, saiga) excluding them from most pastures and water sources, but the role of these animals in the desert ecosystems passed to the herds of domestic cattle. During the 20th century the human pressure on the natural ecosystems became threatening in character. The consumption of water for irrigation and other agricultural and industrial aims has led, on the one hand, to the drying up of the Aral sea and hydromorphic ecosystems in the valleys and deltas of rivers and, on the other hand, to formation of salty marshes and polluted water-bodies of the waste water in place of authomorphic desert ecosystems. The creation of highways, pipelines, power-lines, passage of off-road vehicles have all resulted in the destruction of soil surface, intensification of wind and water erosion, reduction of plants and animals, pollution of air and soil. The same problems, in non-comparative large grade are typical for all types of settlements, their neighborhood and the environs of industrial and mine regions. The grazing of cattle increased in intensity, exceeding the limits of sustainability of ecosystems of desert pastures and, in some of cases, has led to the full degradation of the environment, leading to catastrophic desertification. Nearly 80% of the territory of Turkmenistan is now exposed to desertification. In such a manner, the problem of conservation of natural ecosystems and their sustainability, the regulation of human pressure, rational using of the nature is the problem of existence for human population. The monitoring of naturehuman interaction, planning of the human activity at the natural environment, nature conservation, creation of the reserves is the daily necessity. During the decision of all of these problems the discount of the keeping of proportional correlation of water regime and activity of biota as the base of sustainability of ecosystems is necessary.

References [1]

Orlovsky, N. S., Climate of Turkmenistan. Biogeography and Ecology of Turkmenistan. V. Fet and K.I. Atamuradov (eds.). Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dorderecht/ Boston/ London, pp.23-48, 1994 WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

393

Romanov N.N., About Short- Time Prediction of Early Frosts in Central Asia. Meteorology and Hydrology, pp.27-30, 1952. Kunin V.N., Water in the Deserts and Environment. Nauka: Moscow, 286 p., 1980. Kirsta B.T., The Disposition of Hydrology at the Western Regions of Central Asia. YlYm: Ashgabat, 295 p., 1976. Beideman I.N., Reference Book of the Expenditure of Water by Plants in the Natural Zones of USSR (geobothany and ecology characteristic). Nauka: Novosibirsk, 256 p., 1983 Productivity of the Vegetation of the Arid Zone of Asia (The Results of Soviet Investigations under International Biology Program, 1965-1974). Nauka: Leningrad, 232 p., 1977. Nikolaev V.N. The Natural Fodder Sources of Turkmenistan. Ylym: Ashgabat, 190 p., 1972. Netchaeva N. T., Antonova K.G. Biological Productivity of On-Ground mass of the Main Formations. Vegetation of Central Karakum and its Productivity. Ylym: Ashgabat, pp. 101- 109, 1970. Netchaeva N.T. Dynamics of pasture vegetation of Kara-Kum under the Influence of Meteorology Conditions. A.N.TSSR Publishers: Ashgabat, 214 p., 1958. Arnageldyev A., Kostiukovsky V.I. Ecosystems of Karakum. Ylym: Ashgabat, 311 p. 1988. Wildlife of USSR. Desert Zone. A.N. USSR: Moscow- Leningrad, vol. 2, 366 p., 1948. Nature Conservation in Turkmenistan. (4), Turkmenistan: Ashgabat, 178 p., 1978. Abaturov B. D. Mammals, as a Share of Ecosystems (Example of Herbivourous Mammals of the Hemi-Deserts). Nauka: Moscow, 286 p., 1984. Formozov A.N. The Main Peculiarities of Wildlife of the Plain Part of Central Asia. Central Asia. A.N. USSR Publishers: Moscow, pp.392-419, 1958. Kostiukovsky V. The History of Human Activity and Desertification in the Territory of Turkmenistan. Journal of Arid Land Studies Vol. 14,S, pp. 203- 206, 2004. Lisitzina G.N. The vegetation of Southern Turkmenistan at the VI- I Thousand Years B.C., by the Data of Coals. Karakum Antiquities, 3, Ylym: Ashgabat, pp.51- 56, 1968. Vinogradov A.V., Mamedov E. Landscape and Climatic Conditions in the Deserts of Central Asia in Holocene Period. The History of the Material Culture of Uzbekistan. II Fan: Tashkent, pp.32-44, 1974 Mamedov E. Fluctuations of the Climate of Central- Asian Deserts in Holocene. The Fluctuations of Moisture of Aral- Caspian Region in Holocene. Nauka: Moscow, pp.170- 174, 1980. Budyko M.I. Climate in the Past and Future. Hydrometeoizdat: Leningrad, 351 p. 1980. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


Kind N.V. Paleo-Climate and Nature Environment at the Holocene. The History of Bio-Geocenoses of USSR in Holocene. Nauka: Moscow, pp. 514, 1976. Gribbin J., Lem G. The Fluctuations of Climate during the Historical Period. Climatic Fluctuations. Hydrometeoizdat: Leningrad, 102- 121, 1980. Masson V.M. First Civilizations. Nauka: Leningrad, 275 p., 1989. Lollekova O. The Local Variability in the Culture and House- Keeping of Jeitun Tribes. Ylym: Ashgabat, 178 p., 1988. Lisitzina G.N. Origin and Development of Irrigated Agriculture at the South of Turkmenistan. Nauka: Moscow, 239 p., 1978.



395

Environmentalism and sustainable development from the point of view of tourism Z. Baros1 & L. Dávid2 1

Department of Regional and Rural Development, Károly Róbert College, Gyöngyös, Hungary 2 Department of Tourism and Regional Development, Károly Róbert College, Gyöngyös, Hungary

Abstract As a consequence of the rapid growth of the tourism sector, special emphasis is placed on destinations and tourism products connected to or based on certain physical and environmental factors. However, the negative environmental consequences of tourism are, in many cases, overemphasised to the social and/or economic elements of sustainable development. Thus, it is important to find an adequate balance of the elements mentioned above within tourism development in order to achieve an optimal way of fulfilling all requirements of sustainable development. In order to do this, a potential method is introduced by applying the Sustainability Value Map, developed originally for buildings and urban development projects, to the evaluation of sustainable tourism products. This method gives rise to further questions concerning the selection of the right set of indicators and the importance of local or regional issues. Using it as a tool, it may promote the process of holistic tourism planning and development. Keywords: environmentalism, sustainable tourism, environmental impacts, Sustainability Value Map.

1

Introduction – sustainability in tourism and its aspects

The term ‘sustainable development’, in the last decade of the 20th century, became widely used by governments, non-governmental organisations, the private sector and academia. Although, sustainable development is associated by many with issues like energy use, pollution and waste, they are now recognised as certain elements of sustainability, and the concept addresses three equally important issues: environment, economy and society [1]. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070371

396 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI The concept has been applied in the tourism sector in various ways of which one gives the following definition of sustainable tourism: ‘meeting the needs of present tourists and hosts while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future’. Thus, sustainability in the context of tourism means regulating the use of tourist resources so that they are not consumed, depleted or polluted in such a way as to be unavailable for the use by future generations of tourists [2]. This form of sustainable tourism, oriented toward the viability of tourism industry, is referred to as the ‘economic sustainability of tourism’ or ‘tourism imperative’ [1]. In order to achieve this, the primary aim of tourism development is satisfying the needs of tourists and other players in the industry. As the public has become aware of the extent of human impact on natural systems, environmental issues began to gain more ascendancy by the late 1960s and also with the rapid growth in tourism experienced in the second half of the 20th century, concerns grew about the physical environments of destinations used for tourism. The reliance of tourism upon the natural resources of the environment and the fact that its development induces changes which can be negative were realised. Accompanying the heightened awareness of environmental problems was also a realisation that the environment and development are inexorably linked. Development cannot take place upon a deteriorating environmental resource base neither can environment be protected when development excludes the costs of its destruction. In some cases, the environmental resources of tourism receive consideration, but are secondary to the growth of the tourism sector (‘product-led tourism’). A third concept called ‘environmentally led tourism’ can also be mentioned where types of tourism would be promoted that are reliant upon a high-quality environment [1]. Several forms of tourism were assumed to be ‘appropriate/responsible’ causing the least change to the tourist resource and the most likely to be sustainable, e.g. natural area tourism including a number of activities such as hiking, mountain-climbing, fishing, hunting, camping, etc. However, there is wide scepticism about the long-term sustainability of these.

2 Destination and the physical environment 2.1 The role of place The attractiveness of a given tourist destination implies the state of the physical environment, thus the variety of activities and the resultant cognition as shown in figure 1. Most tourism products and destinations are connected to certain physical and environmental factors therefore any changes in these may lead to a decrease in the popularity of and the demand for the given product as well as maintaining the quality of the product may be a special challenge for the tourism sector [3]. In some cases, such as the case for outdoor tourism activities based on the attractions of the physical environment, the basis for the product itself (the system of physical environment) can be degraded and destructed to an extremely high degree.



Figure 1:

397

The main factors of selection of destinations, modified after Dávid et al [4].

The most popular locations for (activity-based) tourism are usually the most susceptible (coastal and mountain areas) ones, too. Sustainability has become a focal point of interest especially in areas which, in the future, will become more susceptible or more popular destinations and as such, the increasing number of visitors (i.e. the higher level of crowdedness) will result in more serious of environmental impacts. The development of tourism requires physical resources to facilitate its expansion. Maintaining the quality of the environment, however, is usually also among the main goals of sustainable tourism as set up by various authors. Despite the confusion about what is meant to be an environmentally ‘responsible’ approach to tourism development, it is apparent that the protection of the natural resources upon which tourism is based is essential for the sustainable development of a location [5]. It is also important to realise that sustainable development is not concerned with the preservation of the physical environment but with its development based on sustainable principles of which environment is only one. 2.2 The relevance of environmental impacts of tourism With increasing numbers of people visiting a spatially diminishing and continually degraded natural world there is much scope for negative impact [6]. The negative environmental consequences of tourism include resource usage (land, water, etc.), human behaviour towards the destination environment and pollution (water, noise, air and aesthetic). The impacts of tourism and recreation on the physical environment (interaction of humans with their environment) are important because of the sheer significance of the physical environment for the WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

398 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI recreation and tourism industry. In the absence of an attractive environment, there would be little tourism [7]. Tourism in natural areas impacts upon the natural environment in either positive or negative ways; it also has many social and economic consequences. Clearly, there are also social and economic impacts associated with recreational activity and tourism development [6]. It is often disregarded, however, that impact significance can depend on the type and source of impact (diversity, intensity and duration of the activities), environmental sensitivity (location), other cumulative pressures and the effectiveness of any management that is in place. Mountain environments are susceptible to disturbance due to steep slopes and thin soils and this is especially so in the high rainfall environments that span the tropics [8]. It is important to detect the effects of tourism on all aspects of an ecosystem as well as to distinguish between perceptions and actual impacts of tourism.

3

Finding a balance – visually

3.1 Finding a balance The goal of any kind of sustainable development project is finding an optimal way of fulfilling all requirements of the concept. The maximisation of one or two leads to an unbalanced way of development which might be sustainable regarding these parameters but not the rest. However, ecological aspects often gain priority within the concept. When the susceptibility of the physical environment represents an obstacle to the development of a viable tourism sector, sustainable tourism development cannot be the case. Environmental issues are continuous focal points of activity at resort and hotel developments, particularly when the development is situated entirely or partly in a natural setting. The impact of these either they are found at the edge of a natural area/national park or at areas of particularly hard risks tend to be more significant. A major study of resident perceptions on the impact of tourism on natural environments in Hawaii, North Wales and Turkey carried out by Liu et al. [9] showed the highest priority given to the protection of the environment for planning purposes. It was ranked higher than cultural benefits, social cots and even economic benefits. Thus, regarding environmental impacts, there is usually an obvious imbalance observed in many respects. First of all, negative impacts of tourism on the environment have been discussed in more details than positive. Also, social and economic aspects of tourism development projects are often disregarded to environmental ones [6]. Taken environment as whole, appreciation of the complexity of the environment as a system is often lacking. Local circumstances may support that certain environmental aspects gain higher priority of importance. Moreover, what is a well-recognised and significant impact in one region or type of environment may not be a problem elsewhere.



399

For destination management to be sustainable it needs to address all the economic, social and environmental issues of that particular area. A number of methodologies have been put forward in an attempt to ensure that tourism activity is carried out in a sustainable way. Briefly, tourism development is sustainable only when none of the core components are neglected to others. Theories and management methods of sustainable tourism development and life-quality improvement must be applied to all types of tourism and destinations. In order to secure long-term sustainability, the accordance amongst these is indispensable. Monitoring survey and analysis of various indicators assumes the existence of a complex, long-term approach, of which primary aim is the establishment of sustainable welfare as shown in figure 2.

Figure 2:

The system of sustainable development, tourism indicators and life quality.

3.2 Adding visualisation 3.2.1. Applying the Sustainability Value Map In order to select an adequate method of integrated approach of planning, a useful tool would be the Sustainability Value Map (SVM), developed by Chris Butters, originally for buildings and urban development projects, although it can WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

400 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI also be applied to the evaluation of any other sustainable products. The SVM visualises the three core elements of sustainability and the degree of what any product fulfils its goal. A summary of the main features of SVM [10] is as follows. For each of the three main areas, eight parameters are defined, thus a product is benchmarked by 24 parameters in a complex way. The scale is set from 0 to 5 where 5 means what is seen as fully sustainable today. The values are scaled so that the outer rim, corresponding to a “horizon” of full sustainability, is clearly shown to be off. The selection of parameters is, though provisional, systematic. Considering that sustainability is a dynamic process, the model can be used in relation to time, to assess how the sustainability of the product develops from year to year. Also, by applying the same indicators, it can be a tool for comparing different projects. However, as pointed out earlier in this paper, impacts my vary locally, it is important to bear it in mind that the indicators used can and should vary to some extent depending on local conditions and on project scale. Also, as some of the components are rather complex, for a full assessment most will need a more detailed breakdown. Applying the Value Map for tourism development projects may be relevant from the point of view of key elements often associated with sustainable tourism, i.e. preservation of the current resource basis for future generations, maintaining the productivity of the resource basis, maintaining biodiversity and avoiding irreversible environmental changes. In its simplified form, it provides a checklist and framework for designers, and for discussion amongst participants in a planning process. In its detailed form, ideally, it gives a complete qualitative and quantitative picture of the condition of a project [10]. Visualisation is further promoted by having the mean value of indicators all three areas calculated, and also added to the original version of SVM. 3.2.2. Selecting the right set of indicators As pointed out by Newsome and Moore [9], the degree and extent of any negative impacts, however, will depend on where the development is located, building design and adaptation to existing natural conditions, waste treatment systems, recycling and pattern of resource consumption as well as approaches to the recreational activities that take place in association with the development. Due to both the great variety of tourism activities and that of the local endowments, questions may be raised on the relevance and general applicability of a given indicator. One might be used restricted only for certain local or regional issues. Furthermore, there is a necessity to distinguish qualitative and quantitative parameters; and finally two more questions are raised as (a) whether the selected indicator can be quantified, and (b) selecting the right set of indicators is possible at all [11]. For the latter one, an integrated approach of planning is required that takes the project scale and local endowments and the variables created on the basis of WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


401

these into consideration. In a full assessment most variables also need a more detailed breakdown. 3.3.3. Examples As a first step, the SVM is used to evaluate the environmental aspects of tourism development. Taken as an example, environmental impacts of a fictitious hotel development are discussed hereby and the SVM is applied in figure 3. The average conditions of the receiving environment are well-indicated in the figure and can be marked as ‘average’ (with a sustainability value of 3.125). It can also be seen, however, that waste management, being a major issue elsewhere too, is the main problem source. Due to the large amount of volumes proceeded (average tourists tend to produce more waste than local people), the low application level of recycling, waste prevention strategies and the nature of the receiving environment here, it is an unsolved problem. Thus, the value given is well below that of other indicators as shown in table 1. On the other hand, demands for further development in fields such as noise prevention or soil prevention can now be held back as probably adequate measures have already been to taken to fulfil these goals.

Figure 3:

Environmental impacts of infrastructure and support facilities in the development of tourism.

For the evaluation, the most determinant environmental factors applied are indicated in table 1. As a next step, the relationship of the three core elements is shown in figure 4. Here, a development project is visualised where environment seems to be managed in a more or less sustainable way thus is in a generally good conditions indicated by its average sustainability value of 4. Key issues of discussing sustainable development projects are about this average. Renewable energy sources (RES) seem to be one of the keystones of discussion. A survey carried out among tourist operators in Queensland, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

402 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI Australia [12] indicated positive interest in installing RES for their operation, and this is of fundamental importance to the viability of future strategies for increasing RES uptake. It is especially large hotels that tend to be affirmative on this issue may be due to their perceived market pressure to be ‘Green’. Also, according to Edgar’s [13] observation, they are more likely to consider marketing of environmental initiative as an important component for overall business strategy. However, opinions on the marketing value of RES within the tourism industry are rather mixed. Table 1:

Environmental impacts of infrastructure and support facilities in the development of tourism, derived from Newsome and Moore [6].

Activity Land clearing Noise Light pollution at night Removal of vegetation

Soil erosion Energy supply Water supply Waste disposal Transportation infrastructure Roads

Possible impact

Sust. value

Disturbance to wildlife Disturbance to wildlife Loss of habitats Shift in species composition of area Smaller population of plants and animals Weed invasion Increased fragmentation of habitats Soil loss Stream sedimentation and reduced water quality Noise from generators Pollution from fumes and oil/reduced air quality Disturbance corridors Disturbance corridors Ground water abstraction/reduced water tables Construction of dams/disrupted stream flow Need for solid landfill or removal of waste off-site Liquid treatment facilities/odour, litter

4 4 3

Nutrient, fertiliser, pesticide and oil run-off Road corridor impacts and noise from vehicles Barriers to animal movement

3

4 3 3 1

In cases, when the goals of sustainability are neither accomplishable from the point of view of the society nor reasonable from the point of view of the economy, these issues must receive more attention. At this stage, this development does not meet the demand of the local population at all. Without public involvement and the support of the local economy by fundamental financing for infrastructure among others, the outcome of this project is rather doubtful. From the point of view of tourists, it can be considered to be on a somewhat average level. In the one hand, certain aspects (accessibility) indicate a higher level of development whereas on the other, most of the components (aesthetics, security, variety) are just average.



Figure 4:

4

403

An example of the Sustainability Value Map applied for tourism development projects.

Conclusions

The topic of sustainable tourism is still an evolutionary paradigm that is seen as a goal to be achieved for small-scale development in the supply environment and research enhancement on the niche characteristics in the demand and supply sides of the tourism system. A sustainable planning approach includes the integration of economic, environmental and socio-cultural values (i.e. holistic planning), also having it integrated to other planning processes as well as preservation of essential ecological processes. With its complexity, Sustainable Value Map provides a possibility to the advancement of sustainable tourism development. However, in order to achieve this, it has to undergo further research with several case studies of all branches of the tourism sector.

Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge Chris Butters for permitting the use of the Sustainability Value Map for this research purpose. For further details, please contact [email protected] or the authors. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Holden, A., Environment and Tourism, Routledge Introduction to Environment Series, Routledge: London and New York, 225p, 2000. Burton, R., Travel Geography, Longman, 514p, 1995. Rátz, T., The role of climatic and weather factors in influencing travel behaviour (in Hungarian), Turizmus Bulletin, 10, special edition, pp. 4253, 2006. Dávid, L., Baros, Z. & Szilágyi, Zs., Dimensions and environmental problems of sport tourism (in Hungarian), Tájökológiai Lapok, 4(2), pp. 395-405, 2006. Hall, C. M. & Lew, A. A., (eds.), Sustainable Tourism: A Geographical Perspective, Addison Wesley Longman: Essex, pp!!! 1998. Newsome, D. & Moore, S. A., Natural Area Tourism, Aspects of Tourism 4., Channel View Publications: Clevedon, England, 340p, 2002. Mathieson, A. & Wall, G., Tourism: Economic, Physical and Social Impacts, Longman: London, pp!!! 1982. Ahmad, A., Environmental impact assessment in the Himalayas: An ecosystem approach, Ambio, 22(1), pp. 4-9, 1993. Liu, J.C., Sheldon, P. J. & Var, T., Resident perception of the environmental impacts of tourism, Annals of Tourism Research 14(1), pp. 17-37, 1987. Urban Ecology: Projects in Europe – visions for Oslo?; Oslo kommune Havnevesenet. http://www.arkitektur.no/files/file46226_urban_ecology. pdf Puczkó, L. & Rátz, T., Impacts of Tourism (An Introduction), Häme Polytechnic: Finland, 408p, 2002. Dalton, G. J., Lockington, D. A. & Baldock, T. E., A survey of tourist operator attitudes to renewable energy supply in Queensland, Australia, Renewable Energy, 32, pp. 567-586, 2007. Yielding, E. D., Giants versus minnows, is there a difference? Progress in Tourism and Hospitality Research. 4(3), 255–265, 1999.


Section 11 Soil and agricultural issues



407

Application of the SWAP model for sustainable agriculture in an arid region B. Mostafazadeh-Fard1, H. Mansouri1, S. F. Mousavi1 & M. Feizi2 1

Irrigation Department, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran 2 Isfahan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract Iran is located in an arid and semi-arid region of the world with average annual precipitation of about 250 mm. Due to lack of suitable water resources, many farmers are using saline river or groundwater for irrigation which causes gradual accumulation of salts in the soil. Salinity of soil and water resources is one of the major environmental factors limiting the productivity of agricultural lands and reduces land area under cultivation. For sustainable agricultural productions, appropriate irrigation management practices should be applied if the saline irrigation water is to be used for irrigation. The SWAP (soil-water-atmosphereplant) model is a physical-based model that can be used to simulate crop yield and soil salinity, among others. To collect field data to apply to this model as input and calibrate it, a field experiment planted with wheat was conducted on a silty clay loam soil, in the central part of Iran (the Rudasht region near Isfahan with an annual average precipitation of about 80 mm), with three irrigation water salinity levels of 2, 8 and 12 dS/m with/without leaching levels of 4, 19 and 32 percent with two different irrigation water managements, using factorial design with four replications. The results showed that the model is applicable in this arid region and has low sensitivity to input data of root distribution depth and irrigation water salinity and medium sensitivity to climate data, soil surface layer hydraulic characteristics, leaf area index and amount of irrigation. The model simulated wheat yield and the calibration coefficients were obtained. The results showed that the model could be used as an effective tool for sustainable agricultural production. Keywords: SWAP model, wheat, yield, Iran.



1

Introduction

During the last 3-4 decades, as the demand for agricultural productions increased the irrigated lands also increased by about 300%. This has imposed a further increase in soil salinization and a relative decrease in crop yield [8]. Soil salinity is a major environmental factor limiting the productivity of agricultural lands. This problem is not only reducing the agricultural productivity, but is also putting far reaching impacts on the livelihood strategies of small farmers [11]. Use of saline water for irrigation is a subject of increasing interest because of the increasing water requirements for irrigation and the competition between urban, industrial and agricultural sectors and moreover because of the pressure for the disposal of drainage water through reuse [7]. It is estimated that up to 20% of irrigated lands in the world are affected somehow by different levels of salinity and sodium content. In Iran about 15% of lands, that is about 25 million ha, are suffering from this problem, including 320000 ha in Isfahan province [4]. Wheat is the most important and widely adapted cereal in Iran. Although Iran has recently been self-sufficient in its annual domestic demand for wheat, but salinity of soil and water resources, especially in arid and semi-arid regions of central parts of Iran, has effectively decreased wheat productivity. Overcoming of soil salinity and sodium content problems can be achieved by managing water resources, growing salt-tolerant plants, using leaching with appropriate drainage system and applying suitable models for irrigation and drainage management. Knowledge of water flow and solute transport processes in the soil zone is essential to derive proper management conditions for plant growth and environmental protection in agricultural systems. Numerical models are widely used as helpful tools to gain insight in the processes occurring in these complex systems and to analyse optional management scenarios. One of these numerical models is SWAP (Soil-Water-Atmosphere-Plant). This model is a hydrological model which simulates transport of water, solutes and heat in variably saturated top soils in field scale [1, 12]. The model is the modified form of SWATR, SWATRE, and SWACROP models. Several researchers [2, 3, 13] have worked with this model to verify it or use it for different field conditions. For instance in India, SWAP was applied to formulate guidelines for irrigation planning in cotton–wheat crop rotation using saline ground water in alternation with canal water for sustainable crop production. The results showed that it was possible to use the saline water up to 14 dS/m alternatively with canal water for cotton– wheat rotation in both sandy loam and loamy sand soils [9]. In another research using SWAP model on an approach to explore water management options in irrigated agriculture considering the constraints of water availability and the heterogeneity of irrigation system properties the results showed that under limited water condition, regional wheat yield could improve further if water and crop management practices are considered simultaneously and not independently [5]. In Netherlands, field data were collected to evaluate the SWAP model for nitrogen leaching [13].



409

Considering the fact that simulation models can be used as an effective tool for management of agricultural lands the objective of this study is to calibrate the SWAP model and determine its compatibility to simulate wheat yield for an arid region in central part of Iran.

2


The Rudasht region (32.29/N, 52.10/E and elevation of about 1560 m above mean sea level) is located in southeast of Isfahan city, central part of Iran, with about 50000 ha of salt affected soils. In this area, because of high evapotranspiration demand, low annual rainfall of about 80 mm, shallow groundwater table of about 3 m, limitation of good quality river water and use of saline underground and drainage water for irrigation, the soils are losing their productivity continuously. To achieve the objectives of this study, a typical salt affected soil of Rudasht region (silty clay loam texture) was chosen to plant wheat. Physical and chemical properties of soil were determined as shown in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. The chemical characteristics of irrigation water are shown in Table 3. Forty field experimental plots, each 5×25 m, were used to collect data. The winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar M-73-18 was planted in each plot. About 1.25 kg of N.P.K fertilizer was applied with irrigation water to each plot. Table 1:

Physical characteristics of soil.

Depth (cm)

Clay (%)

Silt (%)

Sand (%)

Texture

FC (%)

WP (%)

0- 30 30- 40 40- 65 65- 75 75- 90

14 46 56 56 64

54 44 40 40 30

32 10 4 4 6

Silty loam Silty clay Silty clay Silty clay Clay

28 27 31 32 30

17 17 18 19 16

Table 2: Depth (cm) 0- 30 30- 60 60- 90

Table 3: Treat. Q1 Q2 Q3

EC (dS/m) 6.8 6.2 6.5

HCO3 3.6 3.5 3.5

ρb

K (m/day)

(gr/cm3) 1.22 1.10 1.33 1.82 1.91

1.2 1.4 1.2 2.0 1.4

Chemical characteristics of soil. Cl 40.3 30.0 30.0

Ions (meq/lit) SO4 Ca+Mg 33.7 43.6 35.4 41.4 40.0 39.0

Na 35.0 28.5 36.5

pH

ESP

SAR

7.6 7.6 7.7

19.8 21.1 31.1

7.5 6.3 8.3

Average values of irrigation water quality for the irrigation season. Water source River Well Drainage

EC (dS/m) 1.7 9.0 12.5

HCO3 3.2 4.9 4.6

Cl 11.6 68.1 104.3

Ions (meq/lit) SO4 Ca+Mg 7.1 6.6 31.8 32.6 26.2 35.0


Na 11.2 66.9 101.0

SAR 6.2 16.6 24.1

410 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI The treatments consisted of three irrigation water salinity levels of 2, 8 and 12 dS/m (Q1, Q2 and Q3) without leaching (LR0) and with leaching (LR1), including leaching levels of 4, 19 and 32 percent. Two different irrigation water managements were used. They include irrigating half of the plots with the above irrigation water salinity levels from the planting to the end of the growing season (GQ) and the other half with ECiw of 2 dS/m up to plant germination and thereafter applying the above irrigation water salinity levels (GU). The factorial design with completely randomized blocks with four replications was used. The amount of irrigation water was based on cumulative evaporation from Class A pan, using pan coefficient of 0.81. For all treatments, the irrigation intervals were based on about 82 mm evaporation from the pan. To account for rainfall, the precipitation data were taken from the weather station located nearby the experimental plots. Seven irrigations were applied during the growing season. For each plot, soil samples were collected at the beginning, middle and end of the growing season. Soil samples were taken at depths of 0-30, 30-60 and 60-90 cm and were analyzed to determine bulk density, moisture content at field capacity, moisture content at wilting point, saturated hydraulic conductivity, saturation paste extract EC (ECe), Ca2+ + Mg2+, CO32−, HCO3−, Cl− and Na+ using standard methods. The plant components were collected after harvest and were analyzed using standard methods. The leaf area index was calculated at five different crop growth stages during the growing season. The SWAP model [1, 12] which was developed by researchers at both the DLO Winand Staring Centre and Wageningen Agricultural University was used to simulate yield for the field conditions using the collected data. Schematic of the SWAP model in relation to volume balance parameters for soil, plant and environment is shown in Fig. 1. The model contains five sub-models of METEO, CROP, SOIL, IRRIGATION, and TIMER. Each sub-model receives the related input data and analyzes it and sends the results to the main program. In submodel SOIL, SWAP employs Richards' equation for soil water movement. Due to its physical bases, the Richards' equation allows the use of soil hydraulic function data bases and simulation of all kind of scenario analysis. The soil hydraulic functions are described by the analytical expressions or by tabular values. Root water extraction at various soil depths is calculated from potential transpiration, root length density and possible reductions due to wet, dry, or saline conditions. The input data such as soil surface layer hydraulic characteristics, maximum air temperature, leaf area index, root depth, irrigation water amount and irrigation water salinity were obtained and applied to the above five sub-models and the model was run. The sensitivity of the model to the input parameters was determined, the model was calibrated for the field conditions and the simulation results of yield for each treatment was compared with the field measurements and the statistical correlations were calculated. Further information about the model, input data and the functions that are used in the model are given at internet address of www.alterra.nl/models/swap.



Figure 1:

3

411

A schematized overview of the modelled system [12].


3.1 Sensitivity analyses Before applying a model, it is necessary to study the sensitivity of the model to the input parameters. The results of sensitivity analysis show the importance of each individual input parameter. After collecting the input data for the model, the sensitivity of the model to yield prediction due to the input parameters was studied. Soil, crop, irrigation and meteorological data were applied to the model and the Lane method [6] was used and the sensitivity of the model to the input data was determined. First, the model was run using the collected field data during the year 2005-2006 and the model output results were determined and the results were used as base data. Then, the model was run for the same input data again but the value of one of the input data was changed and set equal to +50 and - 50 % of its original value. This process was repeated for all input values and the results were compared with the base data and the absolute differences were determined using the following equation [6]: D=

M −I × 100 I

(1)

where D is the absolute difference between the output value and the base value, I is the base value, and M is the output value. Then, based on Lane suggestions, the sensitivity of the model to each of the input data was determined as follows. For D = 0, model is not sensitive, for 0 < D < 10, the sensitivity of the model is low, for 10 < D < 50, the sensitivity of the model is medium, and for D > 50, the sensitivity of the model is high. The results of the sensitivity of the model to some of the input parameters are shown in Table 4. The results in Table 4 shows that the model has low sensitivity to the input data of root depth and irrigation WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

412 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI water salinity and medium sensitivity to climatic data of solar radiation and maximum air temperature, soil surface layer hydraulic characteristics, leaf area index and amount of irrigation water. In Table 4, Ea is actual evaporation, Ep is potential evaporation, Ta is actual transpiration, Tp is potential transpiration and Dp is deep percolation. Table 4:

Values of the sensitivity of the model to input data.

Output Parameter Input Parameter Soil surface layer hydraulic characteristics (-50%) Solar radiation (+50%) Maximum temperature (-50%) Leaf area index (-50%) Leaf area index (+50%) Root depth (-50%) Irrigation water amount (-50%) Irrigation water salinity (+50%)

Soil salinity

Yield

Ea

Ep

Ta

Tp

Dp

Average

33

22

0

25

0

33

69

23

38

10

34

19

66

32

55

36

29

1

35

35

12

7

82

29

19

1

30

29

58

32

56

27

10

2

17

14

32

20

24

14

5

52

15

0

6

0

0

9

28

129

100

0

31

0

0

35

2

48

7

0

3

0

0

7

3.2 Calibration Different methods can be used to calibrate the model, but the researchers [2] have suggested using the yield data to calibrate the model. In this study the model was calibrated based on wheat yield data. For calibration, the following steps were taken: 1- For different treatments, input data was given to the model and model was run and the simulation results of yield were obtained. 2- The simulation yield results were compared with the actual field yield results for each treatment. 3- If the model simulation results were not close to the actual field results the crop sensitivity coefficient for yield (Ky) was changed until the difference between the model simulation results and the actual field results become equal or less than 10 %. The results of the above study for the determination of crop sensitivity coefficients for yield for model calibration are shown in Table 5. 3.3 Statistical correlation After calibration of the model, the results of model simulation for yield and actual yield were used to determine the accuracy of the model. For this purpose, the statistical analysis was applied for yield and correlation coefficient, mean WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


413

square root, absolute mean error and mean error were determined using standard methods (Table 6). The results in Table 6 show that the model is applicable to the study area which is an arid region and the model can be used as an effective tool for sustainable agricultural production. Since the model is applicable to the study area, then the model was used to simulate yield. Table 5:

Crop sensitivity coefficients for model calibration.

Treatment Q1GQLR0 Q1GQLR1 Q2GQLR0 Q2GQLR1 Q2GULR0 Q2GULR1 Q3GQLR0 Q3GQLR1 Q3GULR0 Q3GULR1

Crop sensitivity coefficient (Ky) Beginning of season Mid season End of season 0.33 1.27 0.28 0.30 1.15 0.25 0.90 3.45 0.75 0.87 3.34 0.73 0.75 2.88 0.63 0.39 1.50 0.33 1.31 5.00 1.09 1.20 4.60 1.00 0.81 3.11 0.68 0.69 2.65 0.58

Table 6:

Results of statistical analysis.

Statistical indicator

R2

RMSE

MAE

ME

Indicator value

0.68

0.71

0.39

-0.19

100

Simulated yield (%)

80

y = 3.3911x 0.7099 R2 = 0.6856

60 40 20 1:1

0 0

20

40

60

80

100

Actual yie ld (%)

Figure 2:

Comparison of the actual and simulated yield for different treatments.


414 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI 3.4 Yield simulation After calibration and determination of the accuracy of the model, then it was used to simulate yield for the study area. In Fig. 2 the comparison between the model prediction and actual yield data for different treatments and also the equation of model simulation for yield is shown. The percentage shown in Fig. 2 is the ratio of yield of individual treatment to the yield of treatment that has the maximum yield. The results in Fig. 2 show there is a reasonable agreement between the model prediction and actual yield data. The results of other researchers [2, 5, 10] for different crops and field conditions also show similar results.

4

Conclusions

For sustainable agricultural productions, appropriate irrigation management practices should be applied if the saline irrigation water is to be used for irrigation. The SWAP model can be used in such irrigated area to have better irrigation management for long term agricultural production. The model was calibrated for an arid region planted with wheat and irrigated with saline water and the accuracy of the model was determined. The simulation results of the model for yield showed that the SWAP model is applicable in arid region and could be used as an effective tool for better irrigation management.

Acknowledgements This research was supported by Isfahan University of Technology and Isfahan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Centre which is appreciated.

References [1] [2]

[3]

[4]

Ashby, M., Dolman, A. J., Kabat, P., Moors, E. J. & Ogink-Hendriks, M. J. SWAPS version 1.0. Technical reference manual. Technical document 42, Winand Staring Centre, Wageningen, 1996. Brandyle, T., Szaty, L., Gnatow, S. & Tomasz, O. Examination of SWAP suitability to predict soil water conditions in a field peat-moorsh soil. Department of Water Resources, Wageningen Agricultural University. Report No. 69, 2005. Eitzinger, J., Trnka, M., Hösch, J., Žalud, Z. & Dubrovský, M. Comparison of CERES, WOFOST and SWAP models in simulating soil water content during growing season under different soil conditions. J. of Ecological Modelling 171, pp. 223-246, 2004. Feizi, M. Considering the effect of water quality and quantity on desalinization of Isfahan Rudasht Soils. Technical Research Report, Isfahan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, Isfahan, Iran. 8(1), pp. 16-34, 1993



[5]

[6]

[7]

[8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

[13]

415

Ines, A.V. M., Honda, K., Das Gupta, A., Droogers, P. & Clemente, R. S. Combining remote sensing-simulation modelling and genetic algorithm optimization to explore water management options in irrigated agriculture. Agric. Water Manage. Available at: www.sciencedirect.com, 2006. Lane, J. W., & Ferrira, V. A. Sensitivity in CREAMS: A field scale model for chemical runoff and erosion from agricultural management systems. Ed. w. g. Knisel, A model documentation. VSDA Conservation Res. Report No. 26. pp. 113-158, 1990. Ould Ahmed, B. A., Yamamoto, T., Rasiah, V., Inoue, M. & Anyoji, H. The impact of saline water irrigation management options in a dune sand on available soil water and its salinity. Agric. Water Manage. 88, pp. 6372, 2007. Poustini, K. & Siosemardeh, A. Ion distribution in wheat cultivars in response to salinity stress. J. of Field Crops Research 85, pp. 125–133, 2004. Singh, R. Simulation on Direct and Cyclic Use of Saline Waters For Sustaining Cotton-Wheat in a Semi-arid Area of North-West India. Agric. Water Manage. 66, pp. 153-162, 2004. Singh, R., Van dam, J. C. & Feddes, R. A. Water productivity analysis of irrigated crops in Sirsa district, India. Agric. Water Manage. 82, pp. 253278, 2006. Tanwir, F., Saboor, A. & Nawaz, N. Soil salinity and the livelihood strategies of small farmers: A case study in Faisalabad district, Punjab, Pakistan. Int. J. Agric. Biol. 5(4), pp. 440-441, 2003. Van Dam, J. C., Huygen, J., Wesseling, J. G., Feddes, R. A., Kabat, P., Van Walsum, P. E. V., Groenendijk, P. & Van Diepen, C. A. Theory of SWAP version 2.0. Department of Water Resources, Wageningen Agricultural University. Report No. 71, 1997. Van der Salm, C., Van der Gon, H. D., Wieggers, R., Bleeker, A. & Van den Toorn, A. The effect of afforestation on water recharge and nitrogen leaching in the Netherlands. J. of Forest Ecology and Management 221, pp. 170-182, 2005.




417

River water qualities and types of agricultural production –a comparison between paddy farming and intensive livestock production areas S.-I. Mishima Natural Resources Inventory Centre, National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Japan

Abstract The nitrogen (N) flows in the Omoigawa and Nakagawa river basins in Tochigi prefecture, central Japan, in 2000 have been estimated. Omoigawa was characterized as a paddy rice – upland field area and Nakagawa as an intensive livestock farming area. Residual N caused by agricultural production in Omoigawa was caused mainly by chemical fertilizer application and that in Nakagawa by livestock excreta. Residual N from agricultural production per farmland area was the same (c. 110 kg N ha–1), and occupation of farmland was also the same (c. 20%). Because Omoigawa is a smaller river basin than Nakagawa, total residual N in Omoigawa was 2,093 Mg and that in Nakagawa was 2,469 Mg. Nitrogen flow in river water was divided into sewage-derived N and non-point-source-derived N, mainly from agricultural production. Nonpoint-source N in Omoigawa was 2,467 Mg and that in Nakagawa was 1,426 Mg, in spite of the smaller residual N in Omoigawa. This difference might be caused by differences in sources of residual N in each basin, and chemicalfertilizer-derived N might be more easily leached to the water environment than livestock-excreta-derived N. This difference should be considered in vulnerability assessments of water environments. However, livestock excreta N will eventually leach out too, so intensive livestock farming cannot be said to have a lower effect on water environments and be more sustainable than chemical-fertilizer-dependent agriculture. Increasing sustainability and reducing impacts will help achieve complete N cycling in river basins with minimal N input from outside. Keywords: agriculture, nitrogen cycling, nitrogen surplus, river water. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070391


1

Introduction

Appropriate nutrient use is essential for sustainable agricultural production. However, excessive agricultural N use causes various environmental problems, such as acidification and eutriphication of water and terrestrial environments. The OECD set the soil surface balance as the method to evaluate substantial of nutrient use and N surplus (or deficiency) as an agro-environmental indicator of the impact or sustainability of agriculture [1]. Although it also set the N concentration in infiltrated water as a water quality indicator (calculated as N surplus divided by water surplus [precipitation – evapo-transpiration]) [1], the relationship between N concentration in infiltrated water and the real contamination or eutriphication of ground and surface water is unclear. Hatano [2] related the ratio of farmland in catchments to N concentration of river water in grassland farming area in Japan. Nishio [3] calculated N load indices for each kind of crop in Japan and found a correlation between the sum of N load indices divided by region area and ground water N concentration in one prefecture. These reports indicate that contemporary agriculture already affects water environments in Japan. However, the relationship between river water quality and agricultural production structure in a river basin has not been reported. In this study, the relationship between amount of river water N and N surplus in 2 mid-scale river basins with different agricultural structures, and thus different causes of N surplus have been examined. Table 1:

Total area (ha) Population Farmland Planted area Paddy field Upland field Orchard Forage field Dairy cattle Beef cattle Pigs Layers Broilers

Outline of the river basins.

Omoigawa 92,800 532,502 Area (ha) Ratio 19,030 16,048 100% 11,289 70% 4,122 26% 432 3% 205 1% Head Head ha-1 5,737 0.36 14,808 0.92 37,654 2.35 1,665 0.10 471 0.03

Nakagawa Japan 123,090 37,788,025 205,125 126,926,000 Area (ha) Ratio Ratio 23,273 21,475 100% 100% 12,478 58% 55% 3,768 18% 25% 128 1% 7% 5,101 24% 13% Head Head ha-1 Head ha-1 33,960 1.58 0.38 23,969 1.12 0.58 87,673 4.08 2.00 706,250 32.89 38.67 13,839 0.64 6.00



2

419

Sites and estimation of N flows

The Omoigawa River basin and the upper Nakagawa River basin, in Tochigi prefecture, central Japan have been studied. Statistical and estimated data of these basins are listed in Table 1 [4]. Occupation of farmland is c.20% in both basins, although the agricultural production structures are different. In Omoigawa, livestock density is near the Japanese average and occupation of paddy fields is higher than the Japanese average. The remaining farmland is vegetable fields and orchards. Therefore, Omoigawa could be defined as a paddy farming area. In contrast, the livestock density of Nakagawa is 2 to 4 times the Japanese average, and c. 20% of farms grows forage for dairy and beef cattle. Therefore, Nakagawa could be defined as an intensive livestock farming area. Models of N flow in the river basins are shown in Figure 1. Data were sourced and estimated according to Mishima et al. [5], except for sewage discharge, leaching, and river water N. Raw sewage discharge was set as 12.0 g N day–1 per capita and N removal by sewage treatment as 49% [6]. River water flows and their N concentrations came from a river water quality database [7] for Omoigawa and the River Water Yearbook [8] for Nakagawa. Products

Feed(1) (2)

Sewage(13)

Natural in and out(9)

(7) Feed(8)

Livestock Volatilization(4)

Chemical fertilizer(6)

Manure(3) Dispose(5)

Farmland Surplus(10)

Local land (11) Leaching(12) River(14)

Figure 1:

Model of N flow in the river basin.

3 Results and discussions 3.1 Nitrogen flows in river basins The results are indicated in Table 2. In Nakagawa, N in livestock product (80.4 kg N ha–1) was nearly 3 times that in Omoigawa (27.6 kg N ha–1). This emphasizes that Nakagawa is an intensive livestock production area, where production was sustained by 58.6 kg N ha–1 of feed produced in the basin and 275.0 kg N ha–1 imported from outside. Although livestock manure containing 55.0 kg N ha–1 was applied to farmland for crop production, more livestock



Livestock Feed (1) Product (2) Manure (3) Volatilization (4) Disposal (5) Farmland Chemical fertilizer (6) Product (7) Feed (8) Natural in and out (9) Surplus (10) Local land(11) Leaching (12) = (14) – (13) Sewage (13) River (14)

Nitrogen flows in the model. Omoigawa Mg N kg N ha -1

Nakagawa Mg N kg N ha -1

2,180 526 503 738 532

6,400 1,870 1,281 2,395 1,683

1,817 922 88 99 1,561 2,093 2,467 1,190 3,657

114.6 27.6 26.4 38.8 28.0 0.0 95.5 48.4 4.6 5.2 82.0 110.0

1,686 975 1,364 156 785 2,469 1,426 458 1,884

275.0 80.4 55.0 102.9 72.3 0.0 72.4 41.9 58.6 6.7 33.7 106.1

excreta was disposed of to local land (72.3 kg N ha–1). How to use or treat all livestock excreta is a common problem in intensive livestock production areas in Japan. In Omoigawa, manure application to farmland contained 26.4 kg N ha–1 and feed production for livestock contained 4.6 kg N ha–1, so N exchange between livestock and farmland was not as active as in Nakagawa. This was a result of the smaller livestock production and low occupation of forage fields. On the other hand, chemical fertilizer application was larger in Omoigawa (95.5 kg N ha–1) than in Nakagawa (72.4 kg N ha–1). This difference resulted from the difference in planted crops. Although paddy fields are dominant in both basins, upland field crops differ. Omoigawa has more areas of vegetable fields, which receive more chemical fertilizer than in Nakagawa, and occupation of upland fields in Nakagawa is smaller than in Omoigawa. Natural N input and output are the same in both basins. Crop production for shipment outside the basin was 15% larger in Omoigawa (48.4 kg N ha–1) than in Nakagawa (41.9 kg N ha–1), although the difference is small and the values might be said to be the same, total productivity in each basin was different. Total N input by chemical fertilizer and manure was 121.9 kg N ha–1 and total crop production was 53.0 kg N ha–1 in Omoigawa, vs. 127.4 kg N ha–1 and 100.5 kg N h–1 in Nakagawa. Therefore, the N input in both basins was the same, but total crop production was c. 2 times as large in Nakagawa. This difference was caused by forage production, which has higher productivity per area than other crops. As the result of the higher production, the N surplus on farmland in Nakagawa (33.7 kg N h–1) was lower than that in Omoigawa (82.0 kg N ha–1). Livestock production was smaller in WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


421

Omoigawa than in Nakagawa, so disposal of livestock excreta (28.0 kg N ha–1) was c. 1/3 of that in Nakagawa, but disposal was larger than manure use. Residual N in agricultural production (i.e. disposal of livestock excreta plus surplus N on farmland) was 110.0 kg N ha–1 in Omoigawa and 106.1 kg N ha–1 in Nakagawa. This residual N is loaded onto local land. 3.2 Nitrogen flow in river water and N load to local land The amount of N flow in river water on average from 1989 to 1999 was estimated to be 2 times as large in Omoigawa (3657 Mg N year–1) than in Nakagawa (1884 Mg N year–1) because of the higher N concentration in Omoigawa water (2.5–5.1 mg N L–1; 964 Tg water year–1) than in Nakagawa water (1.28–1.83 mg N L–1; 1194 Tg water year–1). Sewage discharge to the river was estimated as 1190 Mg N year–1 in Omoigawa and 458 Mg N year–1 in Nakagawa. This difference came from the difference in population in the river basins. The remaining N in river water came from local land in the basin, mainly as residual N from agricultural production, because the natural ecosystem is basically N limiting, so N discharge (i.e. background level) is very low. Nitrogen leaching from local land was 2467 Mg N year–1 in Omoigawa and 1426 Mg N year–1 in Nakagawa. Residual N from agricultural production was 2093 Mg N in Omoigawa, less than the estimated N leaching from local land. This result might be caused by the high N removal rate by sewage treatment or leaching of past high N application before 2000. For example, N application for paddy rice in Tochigi prefecture has reduced over the past 2 decades by c. 30%. On the other hand, only 58% of residual N load to local land (i.e. (12)/(11)) leached to the river. The rest would accumulate in local land, at least for now. The N load to the river from agriculture is larger in Omoigawa than in Nakagawa. The difference might be caused by differences in the causes of residual N. In Omoigawa, N surplus on farmland (1561 Mg N) was c. 3 times the disposal of livestock excreta (532 Mg N), and was caused by a large application of chemical fertilizer (1817 Mg N), because the natural input/output of N plus manure application (602 Mg N) was 1/3 of chemical fertilizer. Therefore, the N load to local land in the Omoigawa River basin can characterized as chemical-fertilizer-derived N. On the other hand, the disposal of livestock excreta (1683 Mg N) was 2 times the N surplus on farmland (785 Mg N) in Nakagawa, and farmland received more than twice as much livestock manure (1281 Mg N; 55 kg N ha–1) than in Omoigawa (503 Mg; 26 kg N ha–1). Livestock manure (1281 Mg) was 3/4 of chemical fertilizer application (1686 Mg N), so the proportion of manure-derived N in surplus would be larger than in Omoigawa. Therefore, the N load to local land in the Nakagawa River basin can be characterized as livestock-excreta-derived N. This difference in sources of N load might cause differences in N leaching from local land to river, as chemical-fertilizer-derived N is relatively easier to leach out than livestock-excreta-derived-N. Although farmland soil can accumulate organic matter including N, the N eventually becomes mineralized and starts to leach out. Maeda et al. [9] found that N leach-out from soils treated with chemical fertilizer or swine manure became the same after 4 years when N application in swine manure was twice that in chemical fertilizer. This result WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

422 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI might suggest that leaching of manure-derived N will be less than that of fertilizer-derived N, but accumulated N will leach out later. Therefore, it will be too late to do anything when an increase in N concentration in river water becomes apparent. Figure 2 indicates the dynamics of the number of livestock in the Nakagawa River basin in the last 50 years. Although broilers have been decreasing, dairy and beef cattle numbers have doubled in the last 20 years, and pig numbers have doubled in the last 10 years. This increase in intensive livestock farming could presage a large increase in N leaching from manure applied to farmland or loaded onto local land. Daily cattle Beef cattle Pig Layer

Number of cattle and pig

80*103

250*103

200*103

60*103

150*103

40*103

100*103

20*103

50*103

0

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Year

Figure 2:

Number of layer

100*103

0

Growth of livestock numbers in Nakagawa.

3.3 N application: vulnerability and possible mitigation methods The risk of N leaching from livestock excreta might be lower than that of leaching from chemical fertilizer if Maeda et al.’s results [9] can be substantiated. However, broad scale and substantial N reuse will reduce environmental impacts, and help achieve sustainable agriculture. In Omoigawa, excessive chemical fertilizer is applied: for example, 56 kg N ha–1 is applied on strawberries, although guidelines recommend 20 kg N ha–1. Therefore, complying with fertilizer guidelines can reduce chemical fertilizer application. Manure used in Nakagawa comes from outside the basin. The use of local manure in forage production, expansion of forage area, and an increase in selfsufficient feed would mitigate leaching, and limiting livestock numbers would WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


423

contribute to healthy and sustainable N cycling within river basins. However, an appropriate level of manure N application remains an open question. However, fertilizer guidelines are aimed at achieving crop yields or maintaining high soil fertility, not at having a low environmental impact. To assess this we would need to use mathematical models of N mineralization and leaching, such as Roth N and Soil N, or develop site-specific models and set new standards for livestock excreta application.

4

Conclusion

Woli et al. [10] regressed N surplus and occupation of farmland area and found a significant relationship between the regression coefficient (which they called an “impact factor”) and river water N concentration. In this study, although Omoigawa and Nakagawa had the same farmland occupation and residual N, the N concentration in river water caused by non-point sources, mainly agricultural production was 1.7 times as large in Omoigawa as in Nakagawa. But delay of leaching between chemical fertilizer and livestock manure will have an effect on the evaluation and delineation of vulnerable areas, and large uncertainty in N dynamics remains. Which basin is more sustainable cannot be concluded, even though N flow in Nakagawa is lower than in Omoigawa, because a huge amount of livestock excreta is disposed of. Livestock excreta should be completely consumed on farmland within each basin and chemical fertilizer usage should be reduced to the minimum needed. Continuous monitoring of soil N content, N availability, and N concentration in groundwater will be needed. Such monitoring would support low-impact, sustainable agriculture and management of river basin agriculture. The ideal sustainable agricultural production system would isolate the N cycle within a river basin and minimize N input from outside. However, such agriculture might reduce yields, so it would be necessary to balance sustainability against productivity.

References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

OECD, Environmental Indicators for Agriculture, pp. 24–35, 1999. Hatano R., Evaluation of nitrogen cycling in river basin by measuring nitrogen outflow to river. Sequel to predicting environmental load, ed. R. Hatano & K. Inubushi, Hakuyusha, Tokyo, pp. 43–59, 2005. Nishio, M., Analysis of the actual state of nitrogen application in an arable farming in Japan. Japanese Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 72(4), pp. 513–521, 2001. Kanto Nosei Kyoku, Tochigi prefecture Agricultural Census 2000 CDROM, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tokyo, 2001. Mishima, S., Taniguchi, S. & Komada, M., Adaptation of life cycle assessment (LCA) to agricultural production on a regional scale in Japan. Ecosystems and Sustainable Development V, ed. E. Tiezzi, C.A. Brebbia, S.E. Jorgensen & D.A. Gomar, WIT Press, Southampton, pp. 671–678, 2005. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


Kunimatsu, T. & Muraoka, H., Model Analysis of River Water Contamination, Gihodo Press, Tokyo, pp. 12–14, 1989. RPWQM, http://www-gis.nies.go.jp/intro/intro.html River Association Japan, River Water Quality Yearbook, p. 340, Tokyo, 2001. Maeda, M., Zhso, B., Ozaki, Y. & Yoneyama, T., Nitrate leaching in an Andisol treated with different types of fertilizers. Environmental Pollution, 121, pp. 477–487, 2003. Woli, K.P., Nagumo, T., Kuramochi, K. & Hatano, R., Evaluating river water quality through land use analysis and N budget approaches in livestock farming areas. Science of Total Environment, 329, pp. 61–74, 2004.



425

Emerging environmental and educational service of dairy farming in Japan: dilemma or opportunity? Y. Ohe Department of Food and Resource Economics, Chiba University, Japan

Abstract Multifunctionality in agriculture indicates the performance of various functions of positive externalities. However, unless these externalities are internalized in farming activity, they will not be sustainable over the long term. In the livestock farming arena, a program was started in Japan in 2000 whereby dairy farmers would offer farm experiences mainly to youngsters. Although this service is considered to be a by-product of dairy farming with positive externalities, this subject has received minimal attention. Therefore, this paper sheds light on how dairy farmers cope with this new situation by empirically examining national survey data on this activity, presenting study cases, and conceptualizing problems and ways to find solutions. The main findings were as follows: 1) Dairy farms providing farming experiences play a positive role in teaching about farm life, how food is produced and the stress relief provided by the rural environment, especially for compulsory school-age children at elementary and junior high schools in local communities. To cope with the rising number of visitors, minimal necessary facilities such as toilets should be prepared. 2) Farming experiences have an educational effect not only on visitors, but also on the farmers themselves. This is because farmers can discover new possibilities for agriculture, which eventually leads to a deepening realization of new environmental and educational services that benefit society. 3) However, it is often difficult for farmers to harmonize the provision of the service of a farming experience to visitors with performance of their own farming activity. Farmers often face the dilemma of whether to offer farming experience services on a voluntary basis free of charge or to sell such services as a new farm product, such as traditional milk products, in exchange for money. Therefore, it is necessary to raise the social recognition of the educational function generated by those farmers who provide farming experience services. Keywords: multifunctionality in agriculture, externality, educational function, internalization, environmental and educational services of dairy farming, farm diversification, sustainable rural-urban relationship. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070401


1

Introduction

Multifunctionality in agriculture exerts externality that benefits society and includes various sub-functions (Brouwer [2], OECD [3, 4], Pezzini [8], Van Huylenbroeck and Whitby [11], Van Huylenbroeck and Durand [12], Tabuchi and Siomi [10], Ohe [7]). Among these functions, the educational sub-function of farming has been recognized as providing a significant educational experience (Shichinohe et al [9]). It is expected that the educational function in farming plays an increasingly important role in easing stress of people caught up in the modern urban lifestyle and in complementing educational capabilities of the household and local community in terms of education on food, the rural heritage and the rural environment. Thus, an educational function is considered as a new role of agriculture in society. However, little has been investigated empirically on this educational function. Ohe [6] investigated the educational function of dairy farms and found that this function was not connected with farm size. A preceding study on educational farms showed that launching an educational farm does not require major investments in the facility compared with rural tourism activities that require investment in lodging facilities. Because of this, an educational farm is relatively easy to begin for farmers (Oshima [5]). To our knowledge, the demand side has not been examined at all. On the other hand, economic analyses on education and the educational system have increased recently. However, these studies did not focus on the educational function as a joint product of farming or other economic activities, but on the educational system in general or student behaviour related to higher education from the human capital and/or signalling theories (Arai [1]). Essentially, there has been little investigation on how to position this function into farm activity from a farm policy perspective, especially in relation to rural and farm diversification taking into account multifunctionality. Concerning the educational function in farming, dairy farming is most advanced in making this function a reality. The program for educational dairy farms started in 2000 in Japan, which means that incorporating the educational function into farming practically began through providing the service of a dairy farming experience. However, since the significance of a farming experience service is not widely known in society, its position as a farm activity has not yet been well defined. The purpose of this paper is to examine some of the issues related to this new farming activity. First, this paper provides an overview of educational dairy farms, explains what they are doing and who demands this service in what way. Second, we illustrate within an economic framework how to properly position the educational function into farm activity from two case studies. Finally, we consider the policy measures that are necessary so that the educational function of farming can take root in society.



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2 What is an educational dairy farm? Educational dairy farms as designated are not only operated by individual dairy farmers, but also can be corporate farms, such as public or private ranches. As of 2003, 167 farms were designated as educational dairy farms, which is about 0.5% of the total dairy farms in this country. The number of designated farms is increasing annually. To qualify, the farmers themselves or their families or employees must take part in a seminar to obtain this designation. The Japan Dairy Council certifies those farms that completed the seminar after examination of the application form. Besides attending the seminar, farms must do the following: 1) provide visitors with toilets and hand-washing facilities, 2) prepare emergency medical kits, 3) be located near medical institutions and make such institutions aware of their operation, 4) have insurance against damage to the facilities or injuries to visitors, and 5) observe safety and hygiene standards. Especially, damage insurance is of importance to both farmers and visitors in the event of personal injury or property damage. Now let us examine the details of the activities of these farms. No answer 1%(3)

Other groups 27%(113)

Elementary school 33%(137)

Individual & family 9%(39) Kindergarten & nursery school 4%(18)

College & job training school 3%(14)

Junior high school 19%(79) High school 4%(17)

Figure 1: Visior affiliations Note: As of year 2002, Japan Dairy Council. Sample size in ( ).

Figure 1:

Visitor affiliations. (Note: as of year 2002, Japan Dairy Council. Sample size in brackets.)

Figure 1 illustrates the composition of visitor affiliations as reported by the Japan Dairy Council for 2002 and shows that one third of visitors were from elementary schools and about one fifth from junior high schools. Therefore, over WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


Ju n. Ju l. Au g. Se p. Oc t. No v. De c. Ja n. Fe b. Ma r.

4500 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Ap r. Ma y

visitor

half of the visitors were from compulsory education institutions. This means that these farms contributed to the local community in sharing an educational role in the compulsory education system.

m onth Figure 2: Monthly number of visitors Note: As of year 2002, Japan Dairy Council.

Figure 2:

Monthly number of visitors. (Note: as of year 2002, Japan Dairy Council.)

Study of food 14%(84)

Other 7%(40)

Contact with creatures & nature 50%(284)

Study of life 12%(71) Study of farming 17%(101)

Figure 3:

Purpose of visit: multiple answers. (Note: as of year 2002， Japan Dairy Council． Sample size in brackets.)



429

Figure 2 shows monthly attendance. The highest attendance is during the first part of the school year, that is, in May, June and July. Although we have a rainy season from June to July in Japan, visitors can experience dairy farming practices indoors. This is an advantage of livestock farming compared with crop farming. September and October is the second busiest season, while, in contrast, there are few visitors in the winter season from December onward. Thus, the early summer is the most suitable time for farming experiences. As to the purpose of the farm visit, whereas more than 50% answered that the purpose was contact with animals, less than 20% stated the study of farming as the purpose (Figure 3). This means that multifunctionality of agriculture stimulated interest for farm visits rather than farming per se. In other words, the purpose of farm visits tells us where the educational function of agriculture originates. In this respect, taking into account multifunctionality is a necessary condition to enhance the educational function of agriculture.

Making milk product: other 2%(18)

Other 18%(195)

Making milk product: ice cream 12%(131)

Feeding 15%(165) Making milk product: butter 14%(154)

Figure 4:

Milking 27%(277)

Dung cleaning 5%(57)

Suckling 7%(75)

Content of farming experience: multiple answers. (Note: as of year 2002, Japan Dairy Council. Sample size is in brackets.)

The content of the farming experience was divided into two categories: dairy operations and dairy products (Figure 4). Visitors usually are exposed to experiences in several service areas, so that there were multiple answers. Milking and feeding were common menu items among operations while making butter and ice cream were the first and the second common among products. Making dairy products is an important menu item related to experience in terms of raising interest in food as a means of food education. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

430 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI The most frequent complaint was lack of sufficient toilets. This problem becomes serious when large groups visit farms because the long lines hinder smooth implementation of the farming experience. In summary, the significance of providing farming experiences in dairy farms was recognized especially by the compulsory education system. Experiences in the farm yard result in providing education on farming and food for visitors whereas the initial motivation for the farm visitors was interest in multifunctionality rather than for farming per se. Facility-wise, adequate toilet facilities should be prepared.

3

Case studies of educational dairy farms

The two dairy farmers studied here did not consider providing farming experience services as a full-time economic activity. Rather, they thought that their offering those services was a volunteer activity to benefit the local community. In this sense, it is safe to say that they aimed to establish mutual long-term trust with the local community. 3.1 Case 1: services provided free of charge Mr Y. Kameda receives mainly junior high school students in Sakado, a northwestern suburb of the metropolitan area. He does this because he wants his dairy farm to be supported and considered necessary to the local community. He believes that the educational function in the local community has become increasingly necessary to compensate for the declining function of the traditional family educational role. However, a major problem of performing this activity is that it takes many hours to complete the planned program of activities. He has not yet received any monetary reward for this service. He feels that it will be difficult to maintain the same attitude in the future because the requests to visit his farm are rising. 3.2 Case 2: services provided for a fee Mrs Y. Sudo is another example of this type of dairy farmer in Tateyama, the southern tip of Chiba prefecture. She also feels that without doubt the demand for farm visits and for farming experiences has risen in the last decade. However, she also thinks that social recognition for this service is still low. Therefore, to gain the acknowledgement that she appropriately feels is deserved, she believes that dairy farmers should outgrow the role of volunteer. For that reason, she discloses service fees and charges for the services that her farm provides. However, she does not intend to seek profit from this activity or to be a tourism ranch. In short, providing farming experience services is a new activity for farmers and farmers are still seeking how to position this new activity within each farm. However, there is no reason why the demand for this new activity will not grow because modern urban life has become more and more stressful. There should be something to ease the stress. The first factor that the two farmers have in WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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common is that they actively seek a new role for dairy farming in connection with their local communities. The second common point is their conviction that this new role is closely connected to the multifunctionality of farming and that the significance of this role is growing. That is why it is necessary to increase social recognition of their new activity.

4

Toward internalizing the external effect of farming experience services

4.1 Two external effects As mentioned above, educational dairy farms exert externalities on the local community. However, this situation cannot be resolved for either farmers or society by farmers simply asking payment from visitors. This is because we should take into account the relationship between farmers and the local community. We consider that this relationship contains two types of externalities that are mingled. Thus, we attempt here to clarify how to realize the internalization process by taking into account these two effects. We call them the neighbourhood effects, which are subdivided into the first effect and the second effect. 4.2 First effect: collectable by farmers The first effect is characterized by the fact that farmers do not internalize it for the local community but use it to build trust from the local community. This behaviour means that they obtain intangible compensation in the form of trust in exchange for taking care of local elementary and junior high school students from the perspective of nurturing community resources. In this sense it can be said that they try to internalize the externality by attaining trust with the local community from the long-term perspective. Then once a trustful relationship is established, even if there are troublesome episodes such as annoying complaints or complaints related to noise pollution by livestock, local residents would understand the farming activity and would not file any serious complaints. This means that transaction costs with the local community would be minimized. Thus, we can say that this offered farming experience contributes to community resources in the form of trust. Moreover, in addition to minimizing the transaction cost with the local community, there is another important point. That is the discovery of a new role for farming people and thereafter formation of a new identity for farmers. This results in improving the quality of service that farmers provide and eventually in the integration of the whole farm activity. However, in any case, these efforts by farmers will not be paid for in the short term, but will be paid for over the long term by gaining trust from the local community, which is a form of long-term insurance.


432 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI Thus, the above effect is rational economic behaviour from the farm management point of view as a going concern. These costs are internalized in any case, although there is variation in the degree of this internalization from one farm to another. However, the problem is that the cost that farmers have to carry is not limited to the costs mentioned above. That is why we should consider another effect next. 4.3 Second effect: uncollectable for farmers The second effect is also caused by the relationship with the local community. Particularly when the demand for the farming experience increases, so does the burden for farmers in terms of time spent for coordination and preparation to accept visitors. This entire process takes opportunity costs as foregone income. The issue is that farmers feel hesitant in asking for visitors to pay for these preparation costs due to their sense of neighbourliness with the local community. In other words, on the farmers’ part, excess supply of farming experience services is offered to the local community. This is a truly positive externality brought by farmers to the local community. In this sense it can be designated as an over-commitment effect to the neighbourhood or strictly speaking the neighbourliness effect. This effect has an ironic aspect; the more a sense of neighbourliness a farmer has, the more difficult the cost is to collect. Because generally those who start this activity originally have a volunteer spirit, it is difficult for them to ask the local people to cover these costs. Thus, the closer to the neighbours, the more difficult it is for farmers to collect unpaid costs. In this sense, it can be said that it is an externality that has a neighbourhood effect. This is a situation where a farmer is forced to provide over-supply on one hand and the local residents take a free ride without paying the cost on the other hand. In short, we can classify the externality created by providing farming experience services as shown below: 1. Investment in forming trust with the local community; collectable in the long run. 2. Over-supply from the sense of neighbourhood; not collectable for farmers. The composition of the two differs from one farmer to another, depending on the farmer's attitude toward this new activity. In any case, the cost that farmers do not collect in the short term includes these two types of cost. While the first behaviour to gain trust is rational as farm activity, the second neighbourhood effect is not rational, which will raise disutility for providers, although the degree will depend on their attitude toward this activity. From an economic perspective of socially optimal resource allocation, externality that is difficult to internalize by farmers is the second case. The problem here is that if the second effect becomes too large, it will eventually discourage farmers from continuing to provide farming experience service. To examine this point further we built an economic framework on how to deal with the educational function of farming, which is described in the next chapter.



5

433

Economic framework

Here for simplicity we assume that only local residents are demanding farming experience services. Figure 5 illustrates the demand curve and the supply curve of farming experience, measuring horizontally the level of farming experience services and vertically the value of such services. Curve cp1 represents the private marginal cost of producing a farming experience service, curve cp2 is the private marginal cost when cost of forming trust from the local community is taken into account, and curve cs is the social marginal cost of the farming experience service. These curves become one identical horizontal line at the low level of farming experience service. This is because providing a farming experience service does not require any additional cost due to its characteristic of a joint product with dairy production. Therefore, to a certain extent, depicted as point k in Figure 5, even if demand increases up to this level, the price remains low. At this stage, in response to the small size of demand as depicted in demand curve d0d’0, for instance, at the point where the price is very low as shown at oc, it is easy to reach an equilibrium even with something like a small gift brought by visitors, such as home-made cookies.

¥

p1 p2 d

d1

f

b d0

e

g a

c

s

d’1

k d’0

o

Figure 5:

u

v

w

x

Farming experiences

Conceptual model of farming experience service.

However, at the stage when demand increases beyond point k, the curve begins to move upward and branches off into three curves. In these areas, the farmer begins providing full-scale farming experience services and consequently generates the positive externality as the educational function for local communities. Because of this externality, the social marginal cost curve cs is always under the private marginal cost curves cp1 and cp2. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

434 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI Suppose the demand increases to demand curve d1d’1, the local society does not recognize this externality, which means that visitors do not consider the social marginal cost curve cs while farmers recognize that cost. In short, there is asymmetry of information between farmers and local visitors or residents. This information gap results in excessive demand at ox for farming experience services without paying the cost. However, the demand ox is at a socially optimal level only when the social marginal cost is borne by visitors. This is not the case in reality because farmers face the private marginal cost curve rather than the social marginal cost curve. This private marginal cost increases as production of the farming experience service increases. The reason why the curve is right and upward is that the transaction cost for providing farming experience service increases along with increases in the service offered. The transaction cost includes opportunity cost for coordination of the farming operation and visitors and for preparation while taking into account labour allocation between the farming operation and providing visitor services. As far as farming experience services are concerned, farmers must deal with coordination and preparation themselves, unlike in the case of traditional farm products where division of labour is possible through use of shipping and marketing organizations such as agricultural cooperatives. This burden results in lowering labour productivity in the dairy farming operation and eventually further raises the opportunity cost for providing the farming experience service. This is the reason that the private marginal curve moves steeply upward. Therefore, the private optimal point for farmers is at point b where it is rational for them to provide the service to ow. However, local community demands rise to ox, a point where farmers cannot refuse and then must provide the service. This is not a social optimal point because if visitors pay the amount of de, a social optimal point is attained at point e instead of b. However, that is not the case in reality, since visitors do not pay. When the amount of de is not paid to farmers by local beneficiaries due to the unrecognized social marginal cost curve cs, the private marginal cost reaches point d for the farming experience service at ox. The amount of df out of the unpaid amount of de will be able to be internalized for farmers as trust forming, and fe, the rest of the de, is difficult to be internalized due to the neighbourhood effect that makes it difficult for farmers to ask for payment. When local communities become dependent on these farming experience services, the demand curve becomes inelastic or more steeply sloped. For comparison, suppose that the inelastic demand curve crosses at point e with the social marginal cost curve cs. Then some of the unpaid portion is shifted on to the demand side, so the difference between the private optimal supply ow and the social optimal supply ox will be reduced. In this respect, inelastic demand is preferable for farmers and from the social resource allocation viewpoint as well. However, even if the difference will be reduced, the difference remains unless the demand becomes perfectly inelastic, which rarely happens in reality. Thus, whereas making the demand inelastic will be one solution for the externality, we should recognize that it is not the perfect solution. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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It can be said that originally the farming experience service by farmers was born as a complement or substitute for the educational capability of the family and local community, which is in decline. In view of this, the amount of the unpaid portion or the over-commitment effect fe should be as small as possible in order to ensure sustainable provision of this service. However, these activities are not yet fully recognized socially, so farmers end up providing excessive service in taking into account the neighbourhood relationship. Particularly, those farmers that provide this service tend to be highly motivated to perform volunteer work and they willingly meet this challenge. However, they face the dilemma that the greater the love of the community, the larger is the unpaid portion by excessive supply of service. Eventually it becomes difficult to continue providing the service. Therefore, to maintain this educational function and develop it sustainably, it is necessary to build a social system so that the demand side should not remain a free rider of the externality provided by farmers. To this end, first, measures should be taken to widely inform society of this educational function in farming to resolve the information asymmetry between farmers and the rest of the society, particularly the local community. Second, in taking into account the large number of compulsory education institutions that are beneficiaries, a certain part of the unpaid portion should be paid as an investment in education or be considered a necessary educational cost and be paid from the budget of the local government. Moreover, also, it will be necessary to seek a third body to assume an intermediary coordinating role between farmers and visitors to reduce the transaction cost for farmers.

6

Conclusions

This paper explored economic conditions for increasing the educational function of agriculture by focusing on educational dairy farms that provide farming experience services in Japan. The main findings were as follows: 1) Educational dairy farms play a positive role by offering farming experience especially for compulsory school-age children, such as those in elementary and junior high schools in the local community. To cope with the rising number of visitors, at a minimum, necessary facilities such as toilets should be adequately provided. 2) Farming experiences have educational effects not only on visitors, but also on farmers per se. This is because farmers can discover new possibilities in agriculture, which eventually leads to deepening and further realizing multifunctionality. 3) Regarding the relationship with local communities, the farmers were not able to demand payment for providing services because they felt a sense of closeness to the local community. The main reason for this situation of under-charge comes from the asymmetric flow of information between farmers and the rest of society. Therefore, supporting measures enhancing the social recognition of the external effect caused by those farmers who provide farming experience services should be taken into account in the future. This is the first step to nurture a new role of agriculture that contributes to a sustainable rural-urban relationship. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

Arai, K. The Economics of Education, Springer-Verlag: Tokyo, 1998. Brouwer, F. (eds) Sustaining Agriculture and the Rural Environment: Governance, Policy and Multifunctionality, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.: Cheltenham, 2005. OECD. Multifunctionality: Towards an Analytical Framework, OECD: Paris, 2001. OECD, Multifunctionality: The Policy Implications, Paris, 2003. Oshima, J. Educational Farm in France (in Japanese), Japan Education Press: Tokyo, 1999. Ohe, Y. Evaluating Jointness of Multifunctional Agriculture: Educational Function of Dairy Farming in Japan, Aravossis, K., Brebbia, C. A., Kakaras, E. and Kungolos, A. G. (eds) Environmental Economics and Investment Assessment, WIT Press: Southampton, pp.337-346, 2006. Ohe, Y. Multifunctionality and Rural Tourism: A Perspective on Farm Diversification, Journal of International Farm Management, in press. Pezzini, M. Rural Policy Lessons from OECD Countries. Paper Presented in the International Conference, European Rural Policy at the Crossroads, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, 2000. Shichinohe, C., Nagata, K. and Jinnouchi, Y. Educational Function of Agriculture (in Japanese), Rural Culture Association: Tokyo, 1990. Tabuchi, Y. and Siomi, M. Mountainous Areas and Multifunctionality (in Japanese), Association of Agriculture and Forestry Statistics: Tokyo, 2002. Van Huylenbroeck, G. and Whitby, M. Countryside Stewardship: Farmers, Policies and Markets. Elsevier Science Ltd: Oxford, 1999. Van Huylenbroeck, G. and Durand, G., Multifunctional Agriculture: A New Paradigm for European Agriculture and Rural Development, Ashgate Publishing Ltd.: Aldershot, 2003.



437

Effects of planting patterns on biomass accumulation and yield of summer maize L. Quanqi1,2, C. Yuhai2, L. Mengyu1, Y. Songlie2, Z. Xunbo2 & D. Baodi1 1

Center for Agricultural Resource Research, Institute of Genetic and Development Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang, P.R.China 2 Agronomy College of Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an Shandong, P.R.China

Abstract Biomass accumulation by crops depends on both light interception by leaves and on the efficiency with which the intercepted light is used to produce dry matter. Our aim was to identify which of these processes were affected for summer maize field crops grown under different planting patterns. In this paper, the effects of different planting patterns on the radiation-use efficiency (RUE) was investigated. The experimental work was carried out in 2005 in the field located in Shandong province, north China. Three planting patterns have been applied in 2005: flat planting, bed planting and furrow planting. Above-ground biomass accumulation and grain yield of bed and furrow planting patterns were higher than that of flat planting patterns. The lower biomass production and yield in flat planting patterns was accounted for by the reduced amount of photosyntheticlly active radiation (PAR) absorbed by the canopy, which was itself the consequence of the reduced leaf area index. These results obtained in field crop conditions strengthen the idea that planting patterns greatly affect radiation-use efficiency, biomass accumulation and yield of summer maize in north China. Keywords: planting pattern, radiation-use efficiency, yield, summer maize.

1

Introduction

In field crop studies, the approach developed by Monteith [1] makes it possible to analyse biomass production as the consequence of two major processes: (i) the WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070411

438 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI interception by leaves of the incoming photosynthetically active radiation and (ii) the ability of plants to transform the intercepted radiation into biomass. Environmental factors, which limit crop growth, may act through a reduction of one of these two processes, or sometimes through a combination of both. The fraction of the incoming photosynthetically active radiation that is absorbed by the canopy mainly depends on the leaf area index and crop geometry. The crop's capacity to transform the absorbed photosynthetically active radiation into biomass is called the radiation-use efficiency (RUE). It is generally estimated by the slop of the linear relationship between the above-ground biomass produced and the cumulated PAR. The physiological processes underlying the RUE have been reviewed by Kiniry et al [2], Russell et al [3], Sinclair and Muchow [4]. Sinclair and Horie [5] have calculated that increasing the leaf photosynthesis rate increases the RUE non-linearly, with the RUE reaching a maximum value at high photosynthesis rate. Other analysis has indicated that stresses that reduce the leaf photosynthetic rate should result in lower RUE. Such as the case for nitrogen, which was shown to affect the RUE of maize [6]. The current economic milieu of developing countries and its effects on the agricultural sector, particularly in the search for sustainable agricultural systems, has changed cultivation patterns as well as agricultural practices aimed at increasing productivity and improving the use of natural resources [7, 8]. Farmers in China, like their counterparts throughout the developing world, face new conditions brought about by such changes in sectoral policy as the lowering of trade barriers, limits on guaranteed prices, and reduced subsides on inputs such as seed, fertilizer, and irrigation water [9]. The need to conserve the natural resource base for agriculture is also becoming more acute. To respond effectively to these new conditions, farmers require technological options that maintain or increase productivity, reduce costs, and maintain production systems in a sustainable manner. Technological innovations must be monitored continuously to ensure that they meet these criteria. This article examines the role of a particular crop management innovation—planting summer maize on beds or furrows—in enabling farmers to meet the challenges of a changing socioeconomic and agroecological environment. In this study, three planting patterns under rain-fed conditions in north China were used to investigate the effects of planting patterns on radiation-use efficiency, biomass accumulation and yield of summer maize.

2


2.1 Site and crops management The trial was conducted at agricultural experimental station of Shandong agricultural university in north China in 2005. The soil of the station is classified as clay. In 2005, three planting patterns were conducted, which were flat planting (D), bed planting (B) and furrow planting (F). For bed and furrow planting patterns, the distance between beds turned out to be 20 cm, the height of the beds was 15 cm. The width of the furrow between two beds was 20 cm. For bed WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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planting patterns, one row of summer maize was seeded on beds; for furrow planting patterns, one row of summer maize was seeded in furrows. The summer maize cultivar was “nongda 108”, which was very popular in north China. The maize was sown on 7 June 2005, plant densities was 6.6×104 plants﹒ hm-2. Weeds were controlled before emergence by application of Bentazon (480g l-1). Nitrogen and potassium fertilization were supplied so as to be non-limiting. 2.2 Plant samples and measurements Plant samples were taken approximately every 10 days from emergence to maturity. Leaf measurements and calculations to obtain the green leaf area index (LAI) were used by SunScan. Above-ground dry matter was determined by sampling small plots consisting of 4 consecutive plants from the central rows. The sampling areas were spaced to avoid the effects of previous samplings. The 4 sampled plants were weighted (fresh weight). Dry matter was determined after drying at 80℃ for 72 h. Grain yield and yield components were measured at maturity on an area of 8 m2 corresponding to the two central rows of each plot. The number of maize ears per hm2 and the number of rows per ear were measured. The weight of 1000 grains was estimated by counting and weighting 100 grains on 3 replicates per plot. The harvest index (HI) was calculated by dividing the dry weight of grains by the aerial dry biomass at harvest. 2.3 Canopy light interception and radiation-use efficiency In the later growing seasons of summer maize, the amount of solar radiation reaching the ground surface beneath the canopy was measured at three separate positions within each plot using SunScan every 1 h. At the same time, incoming solar radiation above the crop canopy was also monitored. The difference between the above canopy and soil surface mounted by SunScan allowed for the determination of solar radiation intercepted by the canopy. Radiation-use efficiency in the growing season of summer maize was calculated by [10] E%=

∆W ⋅ H ×100% ∑S

In the above formula, △W is dry matter weight at maturity; H=17.782KJ/g, is energy conversion coefficient; ∑S is global incoming radiation in the growing season of summer maize, which was recorded at the meteorological station of Tai'an located about 0.5 km of the experimental site. 2.4 Statistical analysis The treatments were run as an analysis of variance (ANOVA). The ANOVA was performed at α=0.05 level of significance to determine if significant differences existed among treatments means. The multiple comparisons were done for significant effects with the LSD test at α=0.05.



3

Results

3.1 Leaf area index, light interception and radiation-use efficiency Mean seasonal change in leaf area index is presented in Figure 1. Leaf area index was similar for all treatments before anthesis. After anthesis, leaf-area index of bed and furrow planting patterns were higher than that of flat planting pattern, and post-anthesis green-area duration was longer under bed and furrow planting patterns. But little difference in leaf-area index between the bed and furrow planting patterns. 7 6

Leaf area index

5 4 D B F

3 2 1 0 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Days after sowing

Figure 1:

Seasoning change of leaf area index.

The proportion of the incident radiation intercepted by crop increased with leaf-area index, the amount of light intercepted by canopy of bed and furrow planting crops exceeded light interception by the canopy of the flat crop (Figure 2). Max light capture occurred in the bed and furrow treatment in the latter part of the season, but in the flat planting pattern, most incident light was transmitted to the soil surface. By contrast, the more even canopy of the bed and furrow planting crops captured more light and prevented its transmission to the soil surface. The impact of this may have been a reduction in heating of the soil surface in the bed and furrow planting crops, reducing the potential for loss of soil water via evaporation from the soil surface in this treatment. Table 1 shows the radiation-use efficiency in the whole growing season of the three planting patterns, the calculated radiation-use efficiency corresponding to the furrow planting pattern did not appear to be significantly lower than that corresponding to the bed planting pattern, but the calculated radiation-use WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


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efficiency to the flat planting pattern did appear to be lower than those corresponding to the bed and furrow planting pattern. The substantial decrease in leaf area index during the whole growing seasons of the summer maize in flat planting pattern maybe cause a large reduction of the amount of PAR absorbed by the crop, therefore radiation-use efficiency in the whole growing season was significantly lower than those of bed and furrow planting patterns.

PAR capture ratio(%)

94 92 90 88 86

D F B

84 82 80

18:00

17:00

16:00

15:00

14:00

13:00

12:00

11:00

10:00

9:00

8:00

7:00

78

Time(h)

Figure 2:

PAR capture ration in the daytime. The data was the mean value measured by SunScan on 19 Aug, 20 Aug and 22 Aug in 2005 (sunny day).

Table 1:

Radiation-use efficiency in the whole growing season of flat, bed and furrow planting patterns. Treatments

Radiation-use efficiency (%)

D 2.41b B 2.49a F 2.47a Note: Within lines, means followed by the same letter are not significantly different (P < 0.05). The same below. 3.2 Above-ground biomass production Figure 3 shows the dry matter production after sowing for the three planting patterns. In the whole growing season, the above-ground biomass produced was very close between the bed and furrow planting patterns, no statistically significant differences were found. At maturity, dry matter was between 298 and 293 g/plant for both planting patterns. In the flat planting pattern, the aboveground biomass production was reduced in the whole growing season, differences with the bed planting pattern were statistically significant (P=0.05) from the 5-visible leaf stage and onwards. At flowering, the biomass produced in WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

442 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI flat planting pattern was 15.7% lower than that in bed planting pattern. At maturity, the above-ground biomass produced in the flat planting pattern was significantly lower than that in bed planting pattern. These were coincident with radiation-use efficiency, this means that the lower biomass produced in the flat planting pattern is mainly attributable to the lower amount of PAR absorbed by summer maize.

Accumulated dry matter(g/plant)

300 250 D B F

200 150 100 50 0 15

25

35

45

55

65

75

85

95

105

Days after sowing

Figure 3: Table 2:

Changes in mean above-ground dry matter over the season. Maize yield and yield components of flat, bed and furrow planting patterns.

Treatment

D

B

F

Number of rows per ear

15.20a

15.60a

15.50a

Weight 1000 grains (g)

287.63a

327.46a

332.23a

Number of maize ears per hectare Number of grains per row Harvest index

65790a

65955a

65895a

35.43b

39.13a

38.83a

0.472b

0.514a

0.508a

9877.37b

11703.82a

11421.13a

-2

Yield (kg hm )

3.3 Grain yield and yield components Table 2 gives the grain yields and yield components for the three planting patterns. Yield and yield components differed very little between the bed and furrow planting patterns. The average grain yield was only 2.5% higher in bed WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


443

planting pattern than in furrow planting pattern. Conversely, grain yield was significantly (P=0.05) lower in flat planting pattern, the yield reduction was 15.6% and 13.5% of bed and furrow planting patterns. The number of grains per row was significantly lower in flat planting patterns than in bed and furrow planting patterns. The weight of 1000 grains, the number of maize ears per hectare and the number of rows per ear were not significantly different between any planting patterns. The harvest index was not different between bed and furrow planting patterns, but flat planting pattern was not, which suggest that planting patterns reduced grain production to the same extent as it reduced above-ground biomass production (Figure 3).

4

Discussion

In recent time, farmers have experimented with bed and furrow planting patterns not only in north China [11] but also throughout the world [12–14,16]. A major interest in these patterns is increasing water use efficiency in the growing season of crops [13,17,18]. In this article, the findings presented here show that bed and furrow planting patterns increase PAR capture ration in the whole growing season of summer maize, so decreased the evaporative loss of soil moisture from the ground surface, as a result, more soil moisture will be available for transpiration by the summer maize. This effect was ascribed to be mainly due to decreased penetration of incident radiation to the soil surface in the bed and furrow planting patterns. Bed planting offers many advantages in irrigated wheat production systems [11,14], and the authors are just beginning to determine how useful maize bed planting pattern may be for rain-fed areas, so did furrow planting pattern. We are confident that it can play an important role in environments characterized by prolonged waterlogging as a result of excessive rainfall. As this paper has attempted to demonstrate, the potential for achieving sustainable increase in crops yield in China is still considerable, especially in north China, where population is very large, land and water resource are very short. Food security will depend not only on our ability to improve yield growth, but also on our ability to improve this yield growth in such a way that natural resource base remains unharmed. Agronomy and crop management research hold some of the most exciting opportunities for sustainably improving maize system productivity in areas such as north China. This paper has given some examples of planting patterns, whose adoption may make the difference between food security and resource scarcity in the years to come. Providing farmers with viable management alternatives is the primary role of agricultural scientists. Bed and furrow planting patterns for summer maize go a long way towards achieving those goals.

Acknowledgement Funding for this project was provided by the State Key Program of Basic Research of China (“973” Project, 2005CB121106). WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


References [1] [2]

[3]

[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]

Monteith, J. L. 1997. Climate and the efficiency of crop production in Britain. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. 281: 277-294. Kiniry, J. R., Jones, C. A., O′Toole, J. C., Blanchet R, Cabelguenne, M. and Spanel, D. A. 1989. Radiation-use efficiency in biomass accumulation prior to grain filling for five grain crop species. Field Crops Res. 20: 5164. Russelle, G., Jarvis, P. G. and Monteith, J. L. 1989. Absorption of radiation by canopies and stand growth. In Plant Canopies: Their Growth, Form and Function. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Ed. G Russell, pp21-39. Sinclair, T. R. and Muchow, R. C. 1999. Radiation-use efficiency. In Advances in Agronomy. Ed. D L Sparks (Ed.). pp 215-265. Academic Press, New York. Sinclair, T. R. and Horie, T. 1989. Leaf nitrogen, photosynthesis and crop radiation-use efficiency: A review. Crop Sci. 29: 90-98. Uhart, S. A. and Andrade, F. H. 1995. Nitrogen deficiency in maize: Ⅰ. Effect on crop growth, development, dry matter partitioning and kernel set. Crop Sci. 35: 1376-1383. Dennis, W., David, C. and Garrick, S. 2002. Evaluating the impact of irrigation and drainage policies on agricultural sustainability. Irrigation and Drainage Systems. 16: 1-14. Ian, C., Mark, W. R. and David, S. 1997. Irrigation and food security in the 21st century. Irrigation and Drainage Systems. 11: 83-101. Zhang, X. Y., Pei, D. and Hu, C. S. 2003. Conserving groundwater for irrigation in the North China Plain. Irrig. Sci. 21: 159-166. Li, Z. J., Li, F. C. and Zhao, B. Q. 1998. Studies on light and heat resource use efficiency and yield effect of wheat/corm/corn intercropping system. J. of Shandong Agricultural University. 29(4): 419-426. Wang, F. H., Wang, X. Q. and Ken S. 2004. Comparison of conventional, flood irrigated, flat planting with furrow irrigated, raised bed planting for winter wheat in China. Field Crops Res. 87: 35-42. Abu-Awwad, A. M. 1999. Effects of sand column, furrow and supplemental irrigation on agricultural production in an arid environment. Irrig. Sci. 18:191-197. Panigrahi, B., Panda, S. N. and Raghuwanshi, N. S. 2001. Potato water use and yield under furrow irrigation. Irrig. Sci. 20: 155-163. Agustin Limon-Ortega., Sayre, K. D. and Francis, C. A. 2000. Wheat and maize yields in response to straw management and nitrogen under a bed planting system. Agronimy J. 92: 295-302. Kang, Y. H., Wang, Q. G. and Liu, h. J. 2005. Winter wheat canopy interception and its influence factors under sprinkler irrigation. Agricultural Water Management. 74: 189-199. Dean, D. S., Earl, C. S. and Raymond, E. K. 2000. Irrigation management for corn in the northern Great Plains, USA. Irrig. Sci. 19: 107-114. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


[17] [18]

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Wang, R. Z. and Gao, O. 2001. Photosynthesis, transpiration, and water use efficiency in two divergent Leymus chinensis populations from Northeast China. Photosynthetica. 39(1): 123-126. Mishra, H. S., Rathore, T. R. and Savita, U. S. 2001. Water-use efficiency of irrigated winter maize under cool weather conditions of India. Irrig. Sci. 21: 27-33.



Section 12 Sustainable waste management



449

A diagnostic model for M.S.W. landfill operation and the protection of ecosystems with a spatial multiple criteria analysis – Zakynthos Island, Greece T. Koliopoulos1 & G. Koliopoulou2 1

Centre of Environmental Management Research, University of Strathclyde, Environmental Consultancy, Greece 2 Department of Experimental Physiology, Medical School, University of Athens, Greece

Abstract Sanitary landfills remain an attractive disposal route for municipal solid waste, because it is more economical than alternative solutions. The produced landfill emissions by waste biodegradation could be exploited after treatment as renewable resources. In this paper the experimental design of Mid Auchencarroch landfill is taken into account, which is a UK Environment Agency and industry funded research facility. The relative magnitudes of pollution load in time by landfill gas and leachate emissions are considered, making useful conclusions for the operation of future sustainable integrated waste management systems and associated regional sustainable development protecting ecosystems and public health. Keywords: landfill design, waste emissions’ topography, spatial analysis, lining of monitoring systems, integrated waste management systems, sustainable development, public health.

1

Introduction

A municipal integrated solid waste system facilitates the operation of one or more operational techniques and technologies of solid waste management systems such as landfilling, incineration, compost production, recycling, leachates treatment, waste vehicles transport etc. [2,5,6,13,20]. Sanitary landfills WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) doi:10.2495/ECO070421

450 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI remain an attractive disposal route for municipal solid waste, because, it is more economical than alternative solutions. It is accepted that the landfill biodegradation processes are complex, including many factors that control the progression of the waste mass to final stage quality [6–9]. The landfill gas and leachate generation is an inevitable result of the solid waste biodegradation in landfills and their study is necessary for future efficient designs, controlling air, soil and groundwater pollution [3,7,8,20]. This paper presents an analysis of exploitation of produced landfill emissions for regional development using proper technologies. The use of controlled batch anaerobic bioreactors accelerates waste biodegradation in short periods, avoiding any associated environmental risks due to landfill emissions [1,4–8]. Any uncontrolled dumps have to close so as to avoid any threats to the public health and to protect the ecosystems and the environmental resources. Large sanitary landfills are preferred because these provide better opportunities for potential hazard control and an increasing potential for resource recovery. Efficiently managed sustainable landfill sites can generate considerable volumes of methane gas (CH4), which can be exploited by proper landfill gas recovery installations to produce electricity or natural gas. The produced landfill gas could be exploited for energy recovery, for greenhouse heating, for biofuel use and for energy supply at several anthropogenic activities of land uses. Treated leachates, after the use of proper technologies should be used for water supply in irrigations networks and other related regional development public works, in order to minimise the use of raw resources.

2

The case study: Zakynthos Island landfill’s boundaries determination

This paper presents the decision making for efficient lining of landfill boundaries and its final location. However, efficient waste management techniques should be followed for satisfactory waste biodegradation in anaerobic landfill bioreactors like those which have been followed on Mid Auchencarroch experimental landfill project, which is located outside from Glasgow city, in Scotland [6–9]. The experimental landfill Mid Auchencarroch is a field scale facility, constructed in order to assess a number of techniques that promote sustainable landfill. Mid Auchencarroch experimental landfill is an Environment Agency, DTI and industry funded research facility. Mid Auchencarroch (MACH) experimental landfill has been capped since 1995 [6–9]. Effective diagnostic models should be used not only to evaluate current landfill projects but also to propose efficient solutions and give confrontations to associated environmental problems from landfill emissions based on any available experimental data from the literature. In this paper is examining as case study the determination of landfill location and its boundaries’ lining for the protection of any important environmental resources and ecosystems on Zakynthos Greek Ionian Sea Island in west Greece (Fig.1). It has been selected this island as is living on it the loggerhead turtle WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


451

(Caretta Caretta), which is listed as an endangered species within the EU boundaries. It is included in Annex II (priority species) and Annex IV of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC). The beaches of Zakynthos are hosting the last and most important concentration of loggerhead turtle, Caretta Caretta. Since its major nesting areas in Greece have been identified and are under various protective and management schemes (all included in the national list of proposed Natura 2000 sites), mortality at sea emerges as a high priority, which if not addressed might also undermine conservation efforts at nesting areas. Several environmental activities are taking place so as to protect Carreta Caretta. The latter activities are supported by several Environmental Organisations (Archelon, wwf etc.) focused on the reduction of losses of Caretta Caretta at sea, and the protection of its eggs. Moreover, on Zakynthos island there is the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus), for which the incidental entanglement in fishing gear is considered a major threat contributing to the overall decline of the species. Gulf Lagana is a protected area for the Caretta Caretta turtle. The southern gulf of Zakynthos and the Strofades are considered as protected areas where usually are visited by migrating birds, wild swans, swallows, kingfishers, and sea gulls [10,19].

Figure 1:

Map of Greece and Zakynthos Island location in West Greece.

Zakynthos is the capital and port of the island, located at the foot of Bochali hill. Zakynthos is known as D. Solomos’s and A. Kalvos’s island, who were lived on the island in past times, and they are among the great national poets and writers of Greece [14,19]. On the coasts, there are several fabulous tourist resorts with a wide variety of accommodations for tourists. On the island there are six municipalities which are the followings: Alykon, Arkadion, Artemision, Elation, Laganas and Zakynthion, Alikon, Arkadiou, Artemision, Lagana and Zakinthou. The municipality of Zakynthion covers the south east area of Zante and is the most populated of all the rest municipalities, with a population of over 14,000 inhabitants compared to about 4,000 inhabitants in the rest municipalities. The total population on the island is approximately 38600 inhabitants. The Prefecture WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

452 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI of Zakynthos is a non-profit Greek Governmental Organisation that is involved in the running of these areas to advise and assist with administration, citizenship, economic development and tourism in collaboration with the Municipalities’ Association of Zakynthos [15,19].

3

Spatial analysis

On Zakynthos Island there is a Marine Park, which is a protected area and is located along the southern coast from the promontory of Marathia’s Cape to the beach of Gerakas, including the outback of the beaches of Limni Kerì, Laganas and Kalamaki and the Strofades, two small islands 50 nautical miles southern of Zakynthos. This area presents the main characteristics of the Mediterranean Ecosystem, with sandy beaches, emerging rocks and sandy dunes, whereas in the outback there are thick pinewoods, fertile areas for the agriculture and the Mediterranean landscape with spontaneous vegetation [10,16,17]. The mountainous zone of the island covers 40% of its total surface, which consists of villages with different characteristics. The distribution of road network on the island is different from west to east and from north to south (Fig.2). To the north there are the towns of Volimes and Katastari, which are the capitals of the Municipalities Elation and Alikon respectively. To the west there are picturesque villages Agios Leon and Kiliomeno. To the south there are Agalas, Keri and other villages with many elements of traditional architecture, which retain the traditions of the island and are visited by many tourists during vacations [10,19]. However, based on the experimental elements of MACH project, which is a test bed for sequential batch landfill bioreactors and controls an enhanced degradation system there has been developed a simulation numerical model of landfill biodegradation stages and its associated emissions (i.e. simulation of gas risk, SimGasRisk) [8,9]. MACH project showed that is possible to control and enhance landfill gas, heat generation and flush potential leachate and other pollutants from the waste mass, by manipulating the whole process of landfill. Landfill concept in small depths can be used as an efficient sustainable sequential batch bioreactor [5–9]. A comprehensive spatial analysis model should be developed following the next steps. Based on SimGasRisk’s simulation numerical results for a given waste composition can be defined the advection velocity of probable landfill gas migration so as to determine useful spatial thresholds next to landfill boundaries, protecting any nearby ecosystems and environmental receptors from landfill emissions. The final lining of a proposed landfill location should take into account the latter fact protecting any nearby ecosystems; public health and anthropogenic properties. Moreover, based on the magnitudes of local average wind velocities and utilising SimGasRisk’s results could be determined threshold areas where there is influence on them by landfill gases emissions (i.e. carbon dioxide, methane etc.) so as to take the relative measures in time for the nearby land uses and their proper management [7,10,11,12,20].



Figure 2:

453

Map of Zakynthos Island.

The current operating landfill of Zakynthos is located next to the borders of Lagana and Zakinthion Municipalities at south-east part of island. The latter existing location provokes with its emissions several problems to the nearby protective area of Laganas Gulf. However, there have been proposed three main areas for a new landfill location on the island, according to the Municipalities’ Association of Zakynthos. The latter proposed locations are the three followings: i) next to Agalas village, which is located next to the borders between the Municipalities Artemision and Lagana; ii) south at Skopos mountain; iii) next to the borders between the Municipalities Elation and Alikon or Municipalities Elation and Artemision [15,19]. The first examining location could be presented as a safe decision, due to the fact that the existence of the eastern mountainous area next to Agalas village protects all the main ecosystems’ population and inhabitants, which are located to the east of the island. This selection will avoid any annoying odours and any associated risks from landfill emissions to the nearby ecosystems and human populations. Relative measures should be taken during the final lining of the landfill location for the protection of any surrounded rivers or ground waters. The lining of a dense monitoring system in space and frequent samples of landfill emissions in time should take place next to landfill boundaries. Moreover, the second choice could be characterised safe if it assures that the selection of the final landfill location should not provoke any risks and hazards to the ecosystem of Laganas gulf. It should be away from the ecosystem area and should be constructed on the western side of the island. However, the third examining scenario of landfill location is not too favourable in comparison to the WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

454 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI previous two ones. It includes the risk of probable landfill gases dispersion to the nearby villages to the east and south part of the island, provoking several probable environmental impacts to the surrounded ecosystems and human populations. The selection of landfill site location for the final solid waste disposal depends on a number of fundamental parameters which must be investigated in depth securing an acceptable situation to the surroundings of the site during its operation. The following parameters should be identified in detail in collaboration with the Local Authorities, during the selection of the final landfill site location: • Several socioeconomic and other parameters, which include the necessary landfill surface in relation to the served population; the solid waste which produced per capita; the solid waste composition and the selected waste disposal method; • Topographical parameters including topographical data of the site for its lining during its operational life cycle; • Environmental parameters assessing impacts and respective confrontation (i.e. lining landfill access roads with busy traffic which should not be closed to residences; noise protection taking into account local wind characteristics and the location either of neighbouring ecosystems or of the existence of natural resources exploitation (i.e. agro-tourism’s units, agricultural production units, irrigation works’ units etc.); • Hydrological parameters covering the regional water circulation from which one part flows to the landfill surface provoking operational problems; • Climatological parameters. Wind, rain and temperature directly affect sanitary landfill design, operation and maintenance; • Geological parameters. The permeability of the substratum should be investigated. The minimum distance between the bottom of the site and the first ground aquifer is a very important parameter to be determined. • Exploitation parameters including good access to the nearby road network, water supply, electricity, telephone, sewage facilities, fire protection equipment and other facilities. Therefore, the suitable criteria C could be outlined, in accordance with the analysis of the above parameters so as to select the optimum of landfill location minimising any threats to the nearby ecosystems. The established criteria that refer to the satisfaction of the examining parameters can be represented as C1, C2, C3, . . . , C n. Their values can be estimated through experience and could be based on the bibliography. The influence of the selected criteria is estimated through the insertion of weight coefficients: a1, a2, a3, . . . , an which can be classified as high, middle or low. The quality of the investigated site can be estimated by equation (1), when are taken into account the products of the examining criteria and the weight coefficients respectively: n

Q=

∑

ai ci

i =1

where Ci is the value of class i criterion and ai its weight coefficient. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

(1)


455

Below is calculated the mathematical expectation of the population of Zakynthos Island in 2031. The calculation of the population Pn after n years, there will be according to the following demographic formula (2): Pn = Po * (1+t)n

(2)

where P0 is the approximate population of Zakynthos island in 2001, P0 = 38,600 inhabitants. An increase 10% of population is taken for safety reasons covering additional necessities during holiday’s peak season. Hence, P0 = 42,460 inhabitants, t is the annual increase of population growth, is taken 2.5 %, n = 30 years life cycle operation of landfill from 2001 to 2031. According to equation (2), it yields: P2031 = 42,460 * (1.025)30 = 42,460 * 2.098 = 89,081 inhabitants

(3)

Taking that the production of waste is 0,8 kg per inhabitant and per day for the above examining inhabitants’ population and applying SimGasRisk simulation model, could be calculated probable air pollutants’ emissions from landfill boundaries to the nearby areas taking into account the following equations. The concentration C of an examining air pollutant along the central line of axis x from landfill boundary, taking the source of air pollutant on a height Η from the ground surface could be calculated by the following equation (4), for the examining comprehensive spatial analysis diagnostic model [7,9,11,12].

C ( x ,0 ,0 , H ) =

Q

π u σ yσ

z

 1 H 2 exp  − 2  2 σz

  

(4)

σy, σz dispersion coefficients dependent on x, and their relation is presented below. Also the concentration C of an examining air pollutant along the cross section to the central line at location (x,y) from landfill boundary, could be calculated by the following equation (5), for the examining comprehensive spatial analysis diagnostic model, taking the source of air pollutant on a height difference Η related to the location (x,y) of the receptor [7,9,11,12].   1 y2 C ( x , y , 0 , H ) =  exp  −  2σ 2  y 

 Q   πuσ yσ 

z

 1 H 2 exp  − 2  2 σz

where Q gas emissions from the source (Kg/sec) C air pollutant concentration at location χ, y from a height Η (Kg/m3) u wind velocity (m/sec) WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

  

(5)

456 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI x

is defined by the respective x distance on x axis, from the source of air pollutant to a nearby civic, industrial or agricultural land use receptor area, based on the particular spatial data of the examining proposed landfill sites’ areas. The selected x distance is applied on the following graphs (Fig. 3) so as to determine the respective dispersion coefficients in relation to atmospheric stability conditions A, B, C, D, E or F. y is defined as the transverse distance to the above selected x location for which is calculated the air pollutant concentration. The y distance is based on particular map data of nearby land uses next to the examining proposed landfill sites’ areas. The selected y distance is applied on the graph of σz dispersion coefficient versus distance (Fig. 3) so as to determine the respective value of dispersion σz coefficient in relation to atmospheric stability conditions A, B, C, D, E or F. σy, σz dispersion coefficients dependent on x, they are calculated based on Fig.3 graphs or by the corresponding least squares fitting curves based on Fig.3 data [15], which are presented below: σy, for A atmospheric stability condition σy = -3 10-16 x4 + 5 10-11 x3 – 4 10-06 x2 + 0.2031 x + 10.581, R2 = 0.9997; σy, for B atmospheric stability condition σy = 2 10-16 x4 – 2 10-11 x3 + 3 10-08 x2 + 0.1133 x + 36.938, R2 = 0.9973; σy, for C atmospheric stability condition σy = -8 10-17 x4 + 1 10-11 x3 – 1 10-06 x2 + 0.0922 x + 12.849, R2 = 0.9984; σy, for D atmospheric stability condition σy = 6 10-17 x4 – 1 10-11 x3 + 2 10-07 x2 + 0.0581 x + 17.218, R2 = 0.9986; σy, for E atmospheric stability condition σy = -2 10-17 x4 + 6 10-12 x3 – 5 10-07 x2 + 0.0472 x + 9.9535, R2 = 0.9979; σy, for F atmospheric stability condition σy = -4 10-17 x4 + 9 10-12 x3 – 6 10-07 x2 + 0.0333 x + 3.8686, R2 = 0.999; σz, for A atmospheric stability condition σz = -6 10-11 x4 + 3 10-07 x3 + 1 10-05 x2 + 0.1812 x – 5.1457, R2 = 0.9999; σz, for B atmospheric stability condition σz = 1 10-13 x4 – 3 10-09 x3 + 2 10-05 x2 + 0.0899 x – 1.7552, R2 = 0.9988; σz, for C atmospheric stability condition σz = -1 10-15 x4 + 1 10-10 x3 – 3 10-06 x2 + 0.0742 x – 7.5725, R2 = 0.9982; σz, for D atmospheric stability condition σz = -3 10-17 x4 + 7 10-12 x3 – 5 10-07 x2 + 0,0183 x + 12.887, R2 = 0.9965; σz, for E atmospheric stability condition σz = -1 10-17x4 + 3 10-12 x3 – 3 10-07 x2 + 0.0093 x + 11.559, R2 = 0.9899; σz, for F atmospheric stability condition σz = -1 10-17 x4 + 2 10-12 x3 – 2 10-07x2 + 0.0062 x + 6.3454, R2 = 0.9868. A, B, C D, E, F atmospheric stability categories that are selected based on meteorological conditions which are described in Table 1. where A is high unstable; B is medium unstable; C is low unstable; D neutral; E low stable and F very stable type of atmospheric stability. Source: [15].



Figure 3:

457

σy, σz dispersion coefficients dependent on x distance between the source of air pollutant and the receptor location. Source: [15].

Table 1:

Categories A, B, C, D, E, F of atmospheric stability.

Wind velocity at 10m height from G.L. (m/s) >2

High solar radiation during day

Middle solar radiation during day

Low solar radiation during day

Cloudiness of sky, n, during night, covered (n > 4/8)

Cloudiness of sky, n, during night, clear (n < 3/8)

A

A-B

B

E

F

2-3 3-5

A-B B

B B-C

C C

E D

F E

5-6 >6

C C

C-D D

D D

D D

D D

An application of equations (4) and (5) is given below. A CO emission is examined for x = 600 m, y = 60 m distances from landfill boundary to a nearby industrial land use area with CO 6615.56 µg/s air pollutant emission and applying equations (4) and (5) for D atmospheric stability category, H = 15 m the height difference from the source of air-pollutant to the examining location and wind velocity 5.5 m/sec at 10m height above (G.L.), it yields 0.307 µg/m3 at x = 600 m distance from the source on x axis and 0.126 µg/m3 at y = 60 m transverse distance to x axis. The results which were found above both are under the health and safety limits for a human working on that location avoiding any WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)

458 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI epidemiologic public health effect (limit13) and makes landfilling of this ash by hydraulic transportation highly problematic. It has been shown that the negative environmental impact of high alkalinity of these flows could be equilibrated by using CO2 from flue gases as a neutralizing agent. At the same time the emission of CO2 is diminished. Laboratory batch tests showed that by treating ash – water suspension with CO2-containing flue gases, the most of the free CaO can be reduced to an acceptable level. Some aspects of processes deceleration during wet carbonization of ash have been elaborated. Part of the free CaO present is not accessible due to low porosity and the formation of reaction products on the surface of ash particles. Also, lowering the pH of carbonized ash suspension influences the composition of the liquid phase by increasing leaching of some of the ash components. The behaviour of CaSO4 as one of the dominant Ca-compounds in ash has been elaborated. Keywords: CO2 mineralization, waste oil shale ash.



1

Introduction

Extensive usage of low-grade solid fuels in the world energy production is accompanied by a variety of problems, including emission of greenhouse gases and safe deposition/utilization of solid wastes. Reducing CO2 emissions is an actual problem, being recognized and investigated by numerous research groups all over the world. One of the options is CO2 sequestration by mineral carbonation, considering both natural minerals (O`Connor and Dahlin, [1], Haywood et al., [2]) and alkali wastes (Teir et al., [3], Huijgen et al., [4], Anthony et al., [5], Kuusik et al., [6]) as CO2 sorbents. The other part of the problem is related to the stabilization and safe landfilling of alkaline wastes. Carbonization has been recognized to be an important weathering process affecting alkaline waste materials such as ashes from power plants (Soong et al., [7]; Back et al., [8]; Reddy et al., [9]), and MSWI bottom ash (Meima et al., [10], Ecke, [11]). The above-mentioned problems concern also the Republic of Estonia, whose energy sector is predominantly (up to 67%) based on local low-grade fossil fuel – Estonian oil shale. Compared with other fossil fuels, oil shale contains more mineral CO2 in the form of limestone and dolomite. During combustion of oil shale, high temperatures drive off CO2 from carbonate minerals and forming ash contains considerable amounts of Ca and Mg oxides (15-30%), which in certain conditions can be the binders of CO2. Since 1959 the main combustion technology of oil shale has been pulverized firing (PF); in 2004 a more suitable combustion method for low calorific fuel – the circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) was also implemented. The differences between the temperature levels (higher in PF boilers and lower in CFBC boilers) for the new and old boilers influence the phase and chemical composition, as well as the surface characteristics and reactivity of ashes. The objective of this paper is to elaborate the mechanisms of processes deceleration and changes in leaching of some of the Ca compounds during wet carbonization of ashes at ambient conditions.

2


Initial samples of ash were collected from different points of the ash-separation systems of CFBC and PF boilers at the Estonian Thermal Power Plant. The CFBC ash samples used for the research were named and marked as follows: intrex ash (CFBC/INT), economizer ash (CFBC/ECO), electrostatic precipitator ash – 1st field (CFBC/ESPA1). The PF ashes used were bottom ash (PF/BA), cyclone ash (PF/CA) and electrostatic precipitator ash – 1st field (PF/ESPA1). All ash samples were analyzed using chemical, grain-size and quantitative XRD methods, as well as SEM and BET methods (ash properties are discussed in more detail in Kuusik et al., [12]). XRD data was collected in powdered unoriented preparations with a Dron-3M diffractometer using Ni-filtered Cu-Kα radiation. Digitally registered diffractograms were measured within the range of 2–50º 2θ, with 0.03º 2θ step size and 3 s counting time. The diffractograms were analyzed with the code Siroquant using full-profile Rietveld analysis. A scanning WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 106, © 2007 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line)


475

electron microscope Jeol JSM-8404 was used for surface observations and specific surface area (SSA) was determined with a BET–method at Sorptometer KELVIN 1042 (Costech Microanalytical SC). Porosity measurements were carried out with the high pressure Hg intrusion method with a porosimeter Quantachrome AutoScan-33 (pressure range 0.1-227 MPa, pore diameter range 6.5-1500 nm). The carbonization of aqueous ash suspensions with model gas, whose composition (10% CO2 and 90% air) simulated CO2 content in flue gases formed at oil shale combustion, was carried out in an absorber (diameter 55 mm, water column height 60 mm) equipped with a magnetic stirrer for achieving a better interfacial contact and a sintered glass gas distributor (pore diameter 100 µm). Distilled water or ash transportation water (TDS=7.79 g/l, Ca2+-ions previously precipitated) were used for preparing the suspensions. The solid/liquid ratio was 1/10. Experiments were carried out at room temperature under atmospheric pressure until the suspension reached a definite value of pH (10; 9; 8.5). After carbonization, the suspension was filtered and solid residue dehumidified at 105 0C; in the solid residue free CaO content and CO2 were determined. SSA and pore distribution measurements were performed for investigation of the deceleration mechanism. In order to elaborate leaching characteristics, ash (CFBC ash, CaOfree=8.0% and CaSO4=12.75%) or model mixtures (CaO and CaSO4 of analytical grade) were mixed with water. The solid/liquid ratio was 1/10 in the case of ash. For the model system the amounts of CaO and CaSO4 were calculated based on the actual contents in ash. Contents of Ca2+, Mg2+, SO42- (Spectrophotometer Spectrodirect, Lovibond Water Testing) and alkalinity were determined in the liquid phase to study leaching.

3


3.1 Characterization of oil shale ashes formed at industrial scale boilers Reactivity of waste ashes towards CO2 was estimated by their chemical and phase composition (Tables 1, 2) as well as by physical structure of ash particles (Kuusik et al., [12]). XRD analysis indicated that, as compared to PF ashes, the CFBC ashes contain more calcite (4.0–14.6 and 2.0–5.7%, respectively) and less free lime (10.8–19.9 and 26.5–29.3%, respectively). Mg was found in both cases mainly as periclase (MgO). In CFBC ashes, silica compounds are mainly presented by quartz (up to 17.1%) and orthoclase-type K-feldspar (up to 12.5%), while PF ashes contain noticeably more secondary silicate – belite (up to 15.9%) and merwinite (up to 13.2%). Relatively higher content of secondary silicates can be explained by significantly higher temperatures (1250–14000C) used in PF boilers, which leads to the formation of melted phase initiating the reactions between free CaO and clinker minerals. Comparison of SEM photos of ash samples shows that particles of CFBC ashes formed at moderate temperatures (750–800OC) are characterized by an irregular shape as well as by a porous and uneven surface (Fig. 1a). The glassy



Chemical composition and physical properties of CFBC and PF ashes. CFBC/ INT 47.59 13.65 18.87 1.23 2.61

CaOtotal,% MgOtotal.% CaOfree, % CO2, % SSA, m2/g Total intruded 0.32 volume, cm3/g dmean,µm 95

Table 2:

CFBC/ ECO 32.84 9.50 10.40 5.48 6.89

CFBC/ ESPA1 29.52 8.33 8.45 4.60 8.00

PF/BA

PF/CA

50.75 15.19 24.84 2.75 1.75

49.39 14.19 22.52 0.70 0.36

PF/ ESPA1 36.08 11.26 13.56 1.16 0.61

0.39

0.62

0.23

0.13

0.34

27

25

115

48

24

Mineral composition of CFBC and PF ashes, %.

Minerals

CFBC/ CFBC/ CFBC/ PF/BA PF/CA PF/ INT ECO ESPA1 ESPA1

Quartz SiO2 OrthoclaseKAlSi3O8 Albite NaAlSi3O8

5.6 2.7 2.7

17.1 9.4

16.8 12.5

Illite+Illite-Smectite Na,Kx(Al,Mg)2Si4O10(OH)2⋅H2O

3.1

11.2

13.8

7.3 5.2 1.4 7.0 3.6 29.9 0.8 19.9 4.0

5.8 3.0 2.0 3.8 1.6 11.1 0.5 13.3 14.6 0.8 0.7 3.6 1.9

5.3 3.7 2.3 2.7 1.2 9.5

13.5 9.4 2.3 7.9 17.8 5.4

15.9 13.2 2.2 8.7 5.8 5.4

12.3 6.5 2.8 8.5 3.3 16.8

10.8 13.5

26.5 5.7

29.3 2.5

28.1 2.0

4.3 3.6

0.9 0.9

3.1 1.1 1.6

1.0 1.6 0.8

Belite Ca2SiO4 Merwinite Ca3Mg(SiO4)2 Tricalcium aluminate 3CaO.Al2O3

Periclase MgO Melilite (Ca,Na)2(Mg,Al)(Si,Al)3O7 Anhydrite CaSO4 Gypsum CaSO4⋅2H2O Lime CaO Calcite CaCO3 Aragonite CaCO3 Portlandite Ca(OH)2 Hematite Fe2O3 Pseudowollastonite CaSiO3

2.1 2.1 1.8

3.1 6.6

3.3 1.7

12.0 3.8

6.1

b)

a) Figure 1:

SEM pictures of CFBC (a-CFBC/ESPA1) and PF ashes (b-PF/CA), magnification 2000×.



477

phase is not formed. In the case of PF ashes, melting significantly affects the particle shape and surface properties: the particles are characterized by a regular spherical shape with a smooth surface (Fig. 1b). BET measurements (Table 1) showed significant differences in the physical structure of CFBC and PF ashes – depending on ash type, the differences in SSA were up to a factor of ten. While SSA of CFBC ashes can reach 8.00 m2/g, the SSA of PF ashes is within 0.36–1.75 m2/g, which is caused by more intensive sintering of PF ashes at high boiler temperatures. 3.2 Transformations in the heterogeneous system CO2 - ash - water: changes in the structure of ash particles Laboratory batch tests (Table 3) showed that as compared to PF ashes, CFBC ash can be carbonized more deeply with lowering the content of free lime below 1%. In the case of PF ashes as less-porous materials, some of the free CaO present is not accessible, especially with PF/CA, which has the lowest porosity. Electrostatic precipitator ashes are most easily carbonized due to their finer fractional composition (Table 1). Ash transportation water characterized by a high concentration of dissolved salts also inhibits wet carbonization of ash. If ash transportation water was used for preparing the ash suspensions, the carbonization process stopped even earlier and most of the free CaO (8.3% Abs.) remained unreacted. Pore distribution analysis of initial ashes showed that most of the pore volume of CFBC ashes (CFBC/ESPA1) is contributed by pores in the size range of 0.030.007 µm and 0.3-0.1 µm (Fig. 3a) as for PF ashes (PF/CA) the dominating pore diameter is considerably smaller – below 0.01 µm. Thereby, the PF ashes are expected to be more extensively influenced by the formation of reaction products on the surface of particles and pore plugging, which could lower mass transfer rates. The changes in porosity and pore distribution of ashes at different stages of processing were analyzed to elaborate the deceleration mechanism taking place during the carbonization process. During treatment, while ash containing free CaO went through hydration, leaching and carbonization processes, both the specific surface area and total intruded volume (TIV) of ash increased (Table 3, Fig. 2) as a contribution from reaction products. The deepness of carbonization did not influence noticeably the value of TIV (0.92-0.98 cm3/g in the case of CFBC/ESPA1) ashes. The pore distribution analysis showed that the average pore diameter of hydrated and leached ashes was in the range of 0.007-0.04 µm (Fig. 3). Carbonized ashes had average pore diameter in the ranges of 0.007-0.03 µm and 0.08-0.3µm. At deeper carbonization (pH=8.5) in the case of PF ashes (PF/CA) the amount of bigger pores (pore diameter in the range of 0.08-0.3 µm) and the value of TIV started to decline. However, there were no remarkable differences in pore size distribution of ashes carbonized up to definite pH level (Figure 3c). It seems that in the case of PF ashes as almost nonporous materials, the reaction products formed hinder


478 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VI Table 3: Ash CFBC/ INT

Initial pH=10 pH=9 pH=8.5 Initial pH=10 pH=9 pH=8.5 Initial pH=10 pH=9 pH=8.5 Initial pH=10 pH=9 pH=8.5 Initial pH=10 pH=9 pH=8.5 * pH=10 * pH=8.5 Initial pH=10 pH=9 pH=8.5

CFBC/ ECO

CFBC/ ESPA1

PF/BA

PF/CA

PF/ ESPA1

Characterization of initial and carbonized ashes. CaOfree, % 18.87 1.48 1.13 0.94 10.4 1.03 0.5 0.42 8.45 0.84 0.33 0.38 24.84 2.07 2.14 1.57 22.52 4.25 3.20 3.24 8.27 8.13 13.56 1.53 0.58 0.40

SSA,m2/g 2.61 16.54 13.05 20.56 6.89 15.35 14.76 15.02 8.00 17.16 15.00 15.88 1.75 9.58 10.27 13.18 0.36 6.26 11.27 7.20 6.16 5.01 0.61 10.71 13.20 11.45

CO2,% 1.23 13.08 13.5 15.14 5.48 11.84 13.1 13.2 4.60 10.75 11.72 12.88 2.75 13.00 15.93 17.12 0.7 10.88 13.89 13.16 10.24 10.13 1.16 9.66 11.91 12.15

TIV, cm3/g 0.32 0.73 0.63 0.72 0.39 0.64 0.63 0.57 0.62 0.98 0.92 0.94 0.23 0.45 0.56 0.51 0.13 0.32 0.63 0.32 0.22 0.22 0.34 0.71 0.91 0.87

*Ash transportation water was used for preparing suspension. CFBC/INT

CFBC/ECO

1

(a)

0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 Initial

Figure 2:

Hydr. Leach. Carb.

Carb.

Carb.

pH10

pH9

pH8.5

Total intruded volume, cm 3/g

Total intruded volume, cm 3/g

CFBC/ESPA1 1.2

1.2 1

PF/BA

PF/CA

PF/ESPA1

PF/CA*

(b)

0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 Initial

Hydr. Leach. Carb.

Carb.

Carb.

pH10

pH9

pH8.5

Changes in total porosity of (a) CFBC and (b) PF ashes during different stages of carbonization.



479

2.5

a)

PF/CA initial ash

2.0

CFBC/ESPA1 initial ash

dV(d)

1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 1

0.1

0.01

0.001

5.0

b)

CFBC/ESPA1 hydrated

4.0

CFBC/ESPA1 CaO leached out

dV(d)

3.0 2.0

PF/CA CaO leached out

1.0

PF/CA hydrated

0.0 1

0.1

0.01

0.001

2.5 c)

CFBC/ESPA1 carbonised pH 9

2.0 dV(d)

1.5

PF/CA carbonised pH9

PF/CA carbonised pH 8.5 PF/CA carbonised* pH 9

1.0 0.5 0.0 1

Figure 3:

0.1 0.01 Pore diameter, micrometers

0.001

Changes in pore size distribution at hydration, leaching and carbonization of ashes (* - aqueous carbonization process carried out in ash transportation water).



Ca

Mg

Si

C

Figure 4:

SEM and EDAX analysis of initial ash (PF/CA) and carbonized ash (on left).

reactions with CaO. It was verified also by SEM and EDAX linescan analysis that carbonized particles were covered with a perceptible layer of CaCO3 (Fig. 4). Also, as the initial ash particles contain noticeable amounts of Ca-silicates, which participate at lower pH in carbonization reactions (Kuusik, et al., [13]), the SiO2 released can block the pores of ash particles. 3.3 Transformations in the heterogeneous system CO2 - ash - water: leaching of CaO and CaSO4 at different pH levels Ashes contain considerable amounts of free CaO (8-25%) and CaSO4 (5-30%) (Tables 1, 2) which significantly influence the composition of the liquid phase while contacted with water: the liquid phase becomes deeply alkaline (pH>12) and saturated with Ca2+ and SO42- ions. Laboratory experiments showed that the content of Ca2+ decreased significantly during carbonization due to the formation of more stable CaCO3 (Fig. 5). Also, the content of SO42- decreased to some extent (1190 and 847 mg/l, respectively) indicating possible co-precipitation of CaSO4. At deeper carbonization to pH

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