Procedures: EIA=The overall process of

decision making & includes initially a

preparation of EIS by corporation & then
reviewed by the authorities. EIS=Prepared by
the proponent in support of the proposal. It
requires to identify & explain the implications
of the proposal. Contents of EIS: 1)Full
description of the designated development
2)Statement of objectives 3)Description of the
existing environment 4) Analysis of the likely
of the likely interactions between the
development & environment 5)Analysis of the
likely EI 6)Justify the proposed development in
terms of E,E & S consideration 7)measures
taken to protect the environment & Energy
requirements 8)Any feasible alterna 9)why
should the project be carried out 10)other,
appropriate system boundary & establishment
of needs & cumulative impacts (existing &
future activities). Who should prepare the EIS.
The proponent that is required by law.
Advantage-forces consideration of EI at early
stages. Disadvantage-public perception of
bias&lack of credibility. OR independent
consultant OR An authority (Govt example).
Study Teams. Proponent can assign EIS
consultant, who can then assign
subcontractors, meetings can be in presence
of proponent. Community participation. EIS
should be put on public exhibition for a min.
period & decision makers looks at the
comments that have come in. Additional-
Information provision OR consultation
(survey,CCC,public meetings) OR participation
(CCC,site selection,impact mitigation design).
HOW? The consultant can take: (PR,modeling
community,open & niave approach (ask
decision makers&ask what they want)).
Techniques: Establishment of the need &
constraints. Private or public sector. Explain
economics not part of the of the
substantiation of the project. Plicy, strategy
documents: planning policy for a region, waste
management strategy for a region, & resource
assessment commission. Site Selection. No
issue if the project is site determined (mining,
highways, HTP). Use the method of constraint
mapping, avoid the black&grey areas & choose
the white areas, avoid: church, institutional
values, resedintial areas, national park,
recreational values. METHOD of constrain
mapping: 1)eliminate the unsound areas, or
areas outside brief 2)highlight promising areas
3) assess promising sites in detail which can be
done by listing all of the routes&then assigning
#s based on opinions but no weights are
assigned, we then choose the best of all
alternatives. All of the above information
would be placed in the EIS&the interested
parties could then say whether they agree or
not. Identification of Impacts. Here we are
just looking at the interaction between the
project component & the environment
component. The proponent should send a
letter to the decision maker asking for
advice/requirements. The department of
planning (decision maker) will tell what
aspects are required. The proponent will have
study brainstorm & then a community
consultation which includes: workshops,
shopfront & general mail out news letter.
METHOD:1)checklist table from Dee et.al, we
have to work our way through the checklist to
make sure that we dont forget anything. The
numbers are weighted&the weighting can be
changed when talking to stakeholders.
2)Interaction matrix, X, tick off what is relevant
in project actions & ,Y, the environmental
characteristics. After collecting the
information we draw the interaction matrix.
Analysis & evaluation of impacts. (all r
bullets).Aim is to identify the significance of
the identified impacts. Needs to be explicit &
transparent in the EIS. Dont use a lot if of
expert opinion. May be descriptive, but try to
be quantitative. Can use simulation modeling
(eg. Qualitative modles, source->pathway-
>target concept OR numerical models OR
sensitivity models). Evaluation can be done
with weighted scoring systems, where we
come up with a # relative comparison from
environmental impact index. THE HIGHER THE
EI index THE BETTER, EI= w[with-without].
Management of impacts. (bullet points).
Report mitigation facilities, procedures,
measures. Design monitoring program.
Develop a contingency plans, to be
implemented if monotiring shows adverse,
unexpected impacts.
EMS
Sustainability :Sustainability Aims: 1)
Conserve resources, both renewable & non-
renewable resources. Conserve the input into
the metabolism of our economy, the
anthroposphere. 2)Protection of the
environment from the output of materials, so
we can have a good quality of life.
Sustainablity from a materials flow view: we
have natural flows of metals & organics, then
mining materials/feeding them into the
metabolism of the anthroposphere. This
causes some higher amounts to get outside
our economy into aour air,soil & water
(receiving environment). Sustainability: policy,
criteria & implementation. Esd principles-
>controls resource utilization (renewable,
nonren & carrying capacity of the
environment(materials accounting tools). EMS.
Managing the input of materials & operation
of our labour force to produce goods of a
particular quality. It has to be written &
documented. We want to integrate EMS into
our usual business procedures,&not a separate
document. Procedure for doing ISO14001
EMS. 1)CEO initiation,Environmental review, if
existing, EIS, if new. 2)Environmental policy, 1
page max, the environmental policy statement
should be on the corporate website & in a
frame in the reception for everyone to read.
3)Planning. Writing out environmental aspects
& identifying the legal & other requirements.
Also, what we will do to minimize environment
impact. 4)implementation&operation. Who is
responsible & their job description related to
environment performance. Employers can also
be trained to know how to work. 5)checking &
corrective actions. Are we meeting out
objectives/targets & what to do if we are not.
6) Management review. Review the outcomes
of the audit & check that it has been met, if
not to be able to put more resources to try to
get the environmental performance closer to
the objectives & targets. If met then reset&set
stringent objectives.
Method for environmental review. 1)Collect
information prior to site visit.(from flow
chart)&team selection, made out of
independent person from outside, someone
that does not know anything about the steel
making but was involved in the EM, who
deliberately asks dumb questions. 2)Visit the
site. Speak to senior management, do site
interviews, prepare summary of report.
3)prepare detailed site report 4)compile
division & company wide summaries 5)usefull
hints: look in remote sheds/bins & ask for
locked doors to be opened. Ask the same
question to different levels in the organization.
Go on the weekends where superintendents
are away. Look for drains & see where they go.
Look & ask where waste goes. Outcomes
Environmental review. 1) Awareness raised
amongst all people working in the company &
the employees are happy that they are
working in a company that takes care of the
environment. 2)Networks established
3)organizational structure reviewed
4)Environmental policy developed.
Environmental Reporting. What to report on:
the resources that are going into the
environment, the stock built up in the
economy, & the emissions. Guidelines for ER:
1)investigate the rationale for the PER (y r we
doing it) 2)Identify key stakeholders 3)Identify
key environmental aspects 4)Develop
environmental performance indicator 5)Set
objectives & targets 6)Measure & evaluate
7)strengthen communicability 8)publish,use &
review. National SoE. We want to reduce the
input so that we reduce the output, but at the
same time we want to increase the liveability
without producing waste (dematerialized
economy). P-S-R EM framework.
Currently, we start with the checking the
SoE,&then making a response to reduce the
pressure from the economy. What we SHOULD
do it that we start with pressure,&predict
what will happen, then check the state, so that
we avoid having a response.
Sustainability:monitoring & control Current
situation. In the SoE report, a lot is reported
on the SoE. If there was something wrong then
we have to respond to it & fix it up. We then
find that the pressure has reduced&the SoE
has improved. Sustainability:monitoring &
control NEEDS. We should put emphasis on
the consumption of the substances from the
environment & their path way through the
economy, that continues to put a loading onto
the receiving environment & then anticipate
the problems & then fix up our use of
substances in our economy.
EF.
Define EF: is an accounting tool that enables
us to estimate the resources consumption &
waste assimilation requirements of a defined
human population or economy in terms of
corresponding productive land use.
Assumption: 1)Current industrial harvests are
sustainable. 2)Only includes basic services of
nature(renewable resources, waste
absorption, extraction of non renewable
resources) 3)Do not double count 4)8 land
categories 5)recycling included. METHOD: 1)
for every item of material or energy
consumption, a certain amount of land, of one
or more categories, is required. 2) select major
categories 3)avg per capital consumption 4)
prod+ imports-exports 5)calculate the
appropriated area 6) calculate the EF per
person (sum aa) 7)Calculate EF in a
region/population. Types of land: Energy land,
area we need to set aside associated with
burning of fossil fuels, to soak up the CO2.
Consumed land. What we build over.
Currently used land. Gardens, pasture and
crop land. Land of limited availability. Not
allowed to be consumed (national parks).
MFA
Aims:1)fundamental & holistic understanding
of pollution problem (we will not put a filter
but will instead solve the problem upstream)
2)where to concentrate resources (what the
prioritise are) 3)predicitive ability (predict
what will happen in the future) 4)Input to
human toxicology & ecotoxicology.
Procedure:1)Problem definition (eg. Provide
nutrition to the community) 2)System
definition, selection of substance
3)Determination of mass flow 4)Balancing of
goods 5)Determination of concentrations in
each good until the end of life 6)Balancing of
substances (amount of substance in rach of
the goods) 7)illustration & interpretation.
Units: Flow= Kg/day OR m3/hr
flux=Kg/m2.day OR Kg/capita in year.
Downside of P: Eutrophication, when there is
no sunlight the algae die & this causes bacteria
to increase taking O2 from the water which
causes the fish to die.
LCA
Few more steps beyond the MFA & we are
looking at the EI. Waste production: is the
component in the cleaner production, it is
within the manufacturing facility &
consumption process. Reduce the amount of
waste we produce in the manufacturing of the
good & in the consumption phase (when the
radiator bursts we take it out & the cu & steel
are recycled. Cleaner Production: includes &
goes beyond WM, & start making deliberate
decisions in raw material extraction, i.e what
will we make the body of the car out of. CP is
in the production & use. DEFINE LCA: is a
holistic environmental accounting procedure
which quantifies & evaluate all wastes
discharged to the environment & energy &
raw materials consumed throughout the entire
life cycle, beginning with sourcing raw
materials from the earth through
manufacturing & distribution to consumer use
& disposal. How to achieve CP. Making the
product durable, recyclable, smaller goods &
leasing not purchasing. How to achieve WM.
Change materials that have toxic impact to
non toxic ones, source control (input material
changes, technology changes, good operating
practices, & recycling. AIMS OF LCA: 1)assist in
new goods & process design (compare
alternatives) 2)Improve existing goods
3)Improve EM process 4) Eco-
labelingstandardized 5)marketing
information. LCA METHOD (has 3 parts).
i)SCOPING & INVENTORY ANALYSIS. 1)Define
the purpose & scope of the inventory
(functional unit definition, what will it be used
for, & what is left out to make life easier)
2)Define system boundries ( how far back into
the system) 3)Devise inventory checklist (to
tell client what we have done) 4)Peer review
initiation (to find out if we have left things out)
5)Gather region specific data 6)Use software
(GaBi5) 7)Present results (in tables & graphs).
ii)IMPACT ASSESSMENT. If we cant make a
decision from the inventory analysis. It is done
so the decision maker can make a decision.
1)Classification: classify the inventory data into
impact groups 2)Characterization: putting a
quantitive #, (e.g kg equivilant of CO2)
3)Valuation: Placing a weight for each of the
groups. Be able to multiply the important
weight by the potentials to get the overall EI.
The more we are worried about something,
the higher the weighting. This will help us to
achieve a single # that will help us to compare
between alternatives & choose the one with
the smallest #. iii)Improvement Analysis. Not
formally developed. We look @ the #s &
identify the major potentials that are coming
from. & what can we do to improve the
design/production of the good to minimize the
potential to reduce the aggregated #s.
MIPS
proxy= doesnt exactly measure the environmental
index. The higher the #, the higher the EI. Factor 4.
Reduce the material consumption by 4 to provide
the same service or half our material consumption
& double the welfare we get. Factor 10. Target to
decrease the absolute resource use of industrialized
countries by a factor of 10 within 1 generation.
Define MIPS: is cradle to grave material inputs per
unit of service obtained from a good. Advantages:
1)mass & energy are in the same units 2)prelim.
tool for LCA because its quick & cheap. 3)can be
used for a planning tool/index 4)can be used as a
monitoring tool/measure. Material Flow
accounts. Define: MFA provides a physical bases to
national economy, in previous lectures we went through
scales of individual substances. Here we dont look at the
money flows. We are looking @ the national flow of gross
materials. INPUT: TMR= DMI+HMF, DMI= flow of natural
resources coomdities. HMF= its a portion of the TMR that
never enters the economy. In Australia we have higher
material flow because we mine a a lot. In the US its more
technology based. Germany=unification. Germany=
burning brown coal to generate electricity (not good).
Japan has low HMF because they import most of the fossil
fuels. US has a high HMF because they are more self
sufficient. Y is HF higher than TMR? When we use up the
good ores with the high concentration of the material in
them, what is left over is the poorer ores with low
concentration tailing hidden flows associated with the, so
we expect that the quality of ores to decrease, so higher
HF. Output: Total Domestic output= Domestic processed
output + domestic HF
Describe how the above approach was used for managing
the mercury problem in Minamata. What were the
problems associated with this approach? How could a
different framework be developed to avoid these
problems?
The management approach entirely focused on
monitoring the State of the environment, with Chisso
actively trying to invent other reasons to explain the
Minamatta disease. When the Pressure causing the upset
in the State of the Environment (Minamatta disease) was
finally recognised as the Hg from the Chisso factory, there
was then a Response that tried (in an unsatisfactory way)
to compensate victims, and to develop a response by
initially installing an unsatisfactory treatment plant.
The problems with this reactive response, was that there
was no cure for Minamatta disease, and the
contamination of the bay with Hg could not be cleaned
up. It has now been filled in, but some of the Hg
contamination is still beyond this bunded filled-in bay,
causing ongoing Hg disease concerns.
A proactive anticipatory approach as is possible using
material flow analysis, and deciding on an appropriate
final sink for the Hg before the Chisso factory commenced
operation is a better approach.Provide a one sentence
description of each of the ESD principles. Illustrate each
principle with an example from an activity in your
household, such as transport, nourishment, and
shelter.Intergenerational Equity: Current generation
ensures current resources and quality of the environment
can be enjoyed by future generations and have the same
opportunity to have a similar quality of life, if not better-
.e.g. reduce the amount of household consumption,
energy use, food, and waterIntragenerational Equity:
Equal access to resources and quality of the environment
within the same generation. e.g. money back scheme for
people residing in the outer west and travelling to the
CBD using the M5 (and previously the M4) Precautionary
Principle: Where there are risks of serious environmental
damage and there is a lack of scientific certainty if it will
occur or not we should take action to prevent possible
environmental damage. e.g. the enhanced green house
warming potential of fossil carbon
emissions.Conservation of Biodiversity: Try to restrict our
loss of species and conserve species diversity for human
consumption benefits but also for other value
systems.Global Issues: Local use of goods, for example
cfcs, having a global environmental impact, hole in the
ozone layer-increased UV rays.Valuing the Environment:
Including the environment in a cost benefit study rather
than letting the environment be unquantifiable, give the
cost to the environment a dollar value Q:
Which OECD countries consume less land from their
domestic consumption than if available to them?A:
Australia, CanadaQ:Are these OECD countries sustainable
from the viewpoint of a global reference?A:No, we have a
global economy, the Ecological Footprint is not a country
specific indicator, it looks at globally available land area
for the supply of materials and the absorption of fossil
carbon emissions.
Q:Is the current consumption of all countries at the global
level sustainable? If not, what global options are possible
over the next 100 years?A:No, current global EF
consumed is more than is available. Here I am interested
in your ideas on solutions over the next 50 years.Q:
Define the terms "anthroposphere" and "geogenic".A:
Anthroposphere is the physical infrastructure that
supports our economy.
Geogenic are the natural flows of materials associated
with natural geologic processes, such as volcanoes,
bushfires.Q: Describe what is meant by "metabolism of
the anthroposphere" and explain what drives this
metabolism.A: Here, the society is analogous to an
organism, that takes in food (materials), transforms them,
adds some to stock, and has emissions. It is driven by
human needs and wants
Is there any evidence that the bio-capacity of the globe is
being exceeded by the demand from human
consumption, as is indicated by the Ecological Footprints
calculations?The CO2 concentration in the atmosphere
has risen from 250ppm prior to the industrial revolution,
to now about 370ppm; and the effects of atmospheric
warming and climate change are being observed. (Matt
mentioned the current concentration was about 405ppm
in the discussion, but the point here is just that it's
increasing, you know...)
What will 2050, in 40 years time look like? ie undertake a
futures study to propose what future you will create for
yourself when you are 65 - 75 years old. Use the
Ecological Footprints measure to describe this situation,
and how it will be achieved. This is an open ended
question, without a correct answer; I am interested in
seeing the divergence of views from catastrophic; to
more of the same; to more equitable and sustainable
societies across the globe.
What is happening to the stock of Pb in the process
household in the given year of 1990?Declining by 0.35t
per year; because leaded goods such as lead drainage
pipes in houses, lead sheet water protection in houses,
are being replaced by goods with less or no lead, such as
(respectively) PVCWhat will be the stock of Pb in the following
processes in the Year 2000, and 2100?
Forest soil 156t; 216 t Agricultural soil 249t; 339 Urban soil 32t;
52t Landfill +600t; +6600t
River
-10.1t; -111.1t (ie river includes sediment, and bottom with lead minerals is
eroding) or if 1.01t of lead is leaching from landfill, then zero
change in stock in river (ie only the water column defined as river).
This gives a range of values, the correct answer will lie in this range.
Is this sustainable?
No; the agricultural and urban soils are being loaded with
Pb well beyond their geogenic rates, and this will
eventually overload the capacity of the soils and
human and animal toxicity will result.
What are the implications for environmental
management in the region?
See above on sustainable
How could the MFA for Pb in the region be used in the
EIA for a lead-acid battery manufacturing plant
proposal?
Will need to improve sustainability of existing Pb use
before new facility with more emissions is
allowed. Need to, in a staged manner:
-Ban leaded petrol
-Ban burn off of white paint
-Stop application of sewage sludge to land
-Improve trade waste discharge from industry
-Improve emissions from households by changing goods
in side household (eg lead drainage pipes)
-Return sewage sludge to soil (is no other problems)
For emission regulations that you are familiar with ( e g
incinerator gaseous emissions ); determine which
approach was used to derive the numerical limits. What
advantages and disadvantages result when compared to
use of alternative approaches?Incineration emission
regulations are derived from a Best Available Technology
approach.Advantages:
It is a simple approach; and is substantiated by saying
we are doing the best technically possible
Disadvantages:
The regulations may be too good; going beyond what is
necessary to maintain good health for people and the
ecosystem. We could better spend the wasted money on
improved hospitals, education or transport systems.
The regulations may not be good enough, and we could
be endangering health. In this case we may be better
doing something else other than incineration until one of
the other methods provide us with more sound
regulations.
Explain how leasing rather than purchasing a
photocopying machine leads manufacturers to the
provision of a cleaner production service.The
manufacturer is now paid on say 2.3 cents per page
copied; and is now responsible for repairing the machine
within a certain time frame (eg 24 hours), and retains
ownership of the machine at the end of its useful life.
They therefore have an incentive to make the machine
more durable; easier to repair; more able to re-use
components at the end of life of the machine, and to
recycle materials from remaining components. See the
Fuji-Xerox example.
Consider the general service provided by a pen, and define
a functional unit for this service so that a range of
information transfer sets of goods can be compared in a
LCA.General service: conveying information from one
person to many people. Functional Unit: convey 10,000
words from one person to 10 people.
Explain how MIPS could be applied to the problem of
designing a transport system for a city.The Wuppertal
Institute has proposed a MIPS reduction of ten fold for
developed economies, in order to move to a sustainable
global economy. How could this reduction be achieved?
(Generally and provide some examples for this transport
system example).The Service in MIPS could be defined,
for example, as provision of 10,000km travel per person
each year in Sydney. The transport system is composed of
the road; the vehicle and the energy supply material.
We can reduce the Material Inputs as follows:
Make a road that conveys more people per m
2
(and
thereby the associated material to make the road)
Use a vehicle that conveys more people per unit mass of
vehicle
-Use a vehicle that is most efficient in consumption of -
energy materials per person kilometer travelled.
-This can be done by moving from single person occupied
large 4WD high petrol consuming vehicles to:
-Car pools using smaller more fuel efficient cars such as
hybrids
-Improved public transport systems (train, tram, bus,
ferry)
-Electric motorbikes or bicycles charged with solar
electricity
-Bicycles
Explain why the SPI is conservative approach in relation to
the use of fossil organic material (for fuel or plastics); and
the area required to dissipate toxic or stable synthetic
substances. Compare this to MIPS approach.
SPI entails making new carbon deposits via eg peat beds,
which require land in the SPI unit of measure (area of
land); and does not allow any increase in CO2
concentration in the atmosphere. Similarly, there is no
allowed increase in the concentration of toxic organics or
metals in soilswe have to create new soil from compost
to absorb these substance emissions, and this requires
land area.
MIPS does not include outputs; only gross material inputs
which are not differentiated.
Environmental Reviews and Audits may be undertaken by
consultants, internally or by a combination. How was the
BHP Environmental Review undertaken; what were the
key advantages and outcomes of this method? It was
undertaken by a core team of 4 people; 3 from various
devisions in BHP, one an external environmental
consultant. Key advantages and outcomes:
Awareness raised..positive attitude to env protection
Networks established
Organisational structure reviewed, environmental
responsibilities clarified
Environment Department as support function, prime
responsibility with operators
Environmental policy developed
EMS system could be developed with :
- organisation in place
- priorities identified
Browse through the environmental reports in the web
sites and on the CD, select a few of interest to you to gain
an impression of where the emphasis of monitoring and
reporting is; is it at (1) in the above diagram, or also at (2)
and (3). Provide a comment on where future
environmental reports at each scale should place
increased emphasis .Most look at the State of the
Environment; and then develop Responses to this by
altering the Pressure when an upset is observed. To avoid
the lag with fixing problems, and not being able to fix
some problems (the mercury poisoned people in
Minamatta); we need to measure the inputs (1) and the
residence in goods within processes (2) and anticipate,
then avoid future problems by taking preventative action
Describe the advantages of having the EIS being prepared by the
proponent, and alternatively by some independent authority.
Give your opinion on the preferred procedure. Describe at what
stage and what influence you believe a community consultation
committee should have in a project.Example: some companies
will sell ISO14001 approved cars & therefore will benefit from
selling cars to customers that worry about the environmental
performance of the car. The car company can set easy targets &
therefore meet them, it can state this in the PER, this will only
increase the overheads, and hence the price of the car. But in
reality we have not done anything. ON THE OTHER HAND, it might
also force the company to define stringent objectives so that the
people comparing the environment performance of 2 steel
companies that supply for cars, also there can be a publicly
available website that allows people to see the top 100
companies related to their environment performance. & part of
that ranking system relates to that if they have a environmental
public report that has a EM system. This will then allow to
compare companies in the same industry. Stake holders that will
have effect: -local council insurance company shareholders
competitors community environment NGO Media programs
(expose). Employees of the corportation (dont belong to
companies......) Figure 1 shows TMR per capita for Germany ,
the Netherlands , Japan and theUnited States ;Why has the US generally
been declining and the Netherlands and Germanyincreasing over the past 20
years?Restructuring of economy away from heavy industry and
manufacturing to finance, consulting, design of goods, information
technology services. Germany and the Netherlands still have a major oil
refinery and car manufacturing as part of their economy.Why is Japan much
lower than the other 3 OECD countries?Japan imports semi-finished
materials of metal concentrates for smelting; has (until recent shut-downs of
nuclear reactors) significant nuclear and hydro power; and is increasingly
outsourcing manufacturing of Japanese designs to China, Thailand and
Malaysia.Why did Germany increase significantly in 1990 - 91 ? Re-unification
of east and west Germany, with inclusion of the heavy industry from east
Germany.Figure 2 shows the primary contributions to TMR in 1991.
Comment/explain the relative contributions among countries.USA and
Germany have high fossil carbon use for energy; with brown coal fired power
stations in Germany at that time; and USAs use of fossil carbon for cars and
electricity generation.Finland has a large use of forests for paper and
construction timber making and exports.Netherlands has high oil import
from the North sea for refining and export. Figure 3 and 4 show the
proportions of Direct inputs and hidden flows, and domestic and foreign
components. Do these make sense from your general knowledge of these
economies ? ( explain )The high hidden flows are associated with mining
open cut coal, and other mining, especially gold mining in Australia.Figure 5
and 6 show material intensity trends, mostly showing good improvements.
Why is this same trend not shown in TMR and DMI graphs ? What does this
mean for sustainability achievement over the next 20 - 30 years ?When the
population and/or GDP grow faster than the efficiency improvements (TMR
per person or per $GDP) then the overall TMR will grow. We want both; and
many international targets, such as the Kyoto Protocol, and independently
set CO2eq targets for 2020, are set on total (TMR type) amounts. This makes it
very difficult for Australia to reach 5% reduction in CO2 by 2020; but easier
for Japan