Resources — Open Access Journal

The marula tree (Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra), a common species in sub-Saharan Africa, grows naturally in both protected and communal land. Although considerable research has been undertaken on these trees in southern Africa, to the authors’ knowledge, the attitudes of local communities towards the protection of marula trees, particularly in communal land, has not been researched. This study intends to fill this gap in knowledge by examining the attitudes of local people towards conservation of marula trees. Studying the attitudes of people can provide insights on how they behave and how they are willing to coexist with S. birrea. The case study is set in Limpopo Province of South Africa in the villages of Ha-Mashau (Thondoni) and Ha-Mashamba where marula trees grow naturally. To fulfil the aim of this study, door-to-door surveys were carried out in 2018 and questionnaire interviews were used as the main data collection tool in 150 randomly selected households. The study revealed that local communities in the study area had positive attitudes towards conservation of marula trees. Strategies that are used by local communities to protect marula trees in communal land are discussed. Full article

Operating life of a mine lasts from a few years to several decades. Mine closure occurs once the mineral resource is exhausted, or operations are no longer profitable. Mine closure plans are required by most regulatory agencies worldwide before a mining closure permission is granted, and must demonstrate that the site will not pose a threat to the environment and health of the society in future. The article describes a new tool, the brownfields methodology, which can help to promote the revitalization of old mining areas as a part of their technological modernization and subsoil full extraction with environmental damage reduction. Full article

Today the process of transition to a new technological order has become evident to everyone, especially in developed countries. One of the most urgent areas for ensuring the long-term competitiveness of industrial enterprises is the development of the Arctic zone. This region has many economic and logistical difficulties, the solution of which may lie in the use of advanced technologies of the new technological order, for example, 3D-printing technologies. The aim of the article is to study the transformation of the cost structure of industrial products as a result of integration of 3D-printing technologies into the production process of industrial enterprise operating in the Arctic zone. It was found that the structure of the main cost elements varies greatly, due to the ambiguity of replacing computer numerical control (CNC) (or other classical shaping technologies) with 3D-printing technologies, as well as the specifics of supply chains, which is quite urgent for the Arctic region. The results of empirical study necessitate the development of tools for predicting the economic viability of integrating 3D-printing technologies into the technological processes of industrial enterprises operating in the Arctic zone. Within the article, the authors substantiated and developed a fuzzy-multiple model for assessing the level of investment attractiveness of integration of 3D-printing technologies into the production process of an industrial enterprise operating the Arctic zone. One of the aims of this model is to answer the question of whether an enterprise should invest in a technological transition to 3D-printing technologies. Full article

This paper presents a market-price-based method to value sub-soil resources in environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment. The market price incorporates the privileged information of the market agents, explicitly or implicitly anticipating future applications of the resource, future backstop technologies, recycling potentials, the evolution of reserves and extraction costs. The market price is therefore considered as the best available integrated information reflecting the actual values of these parameters. Our method is based on the Hotelling rule and the fact that private agents discount future costs and benefits at a higher rate than society as a whole. In practice, the price of the last resource unit sold is calculated with the Hotelling rule using a market discount rate. Then, the price at depletion is retropolated with a social discount rate smaller than the market discount rate. The resulting corrected “socially optimal” price is higher than the market price. The method allows to calculate the social cost of resource exhaustion, which is applicable in Cost-Benefit Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment. The method is applied to mineral and fossil resources and the results are compared with other recent methods that seek to place a monetary value on resource depletion. Full article

Ecosystems provide a wide range of goods, services or ecosystem services (ES) to society. Estimating the impact of land use and land cover (LULC) changes on ES values (ESV) is an important tool to support decision making. This study used remote sensing and GIS tools to analyze LULC change and transitions from 2001 to 2016 and assess its impact on ESV in a tropical forested landscape in the southern plains of Nepal. The total ESV of the landscape for the year 2016 is estimated at USD 1264 million year⁻¹. As forests are the dominant land cover class and have high ES value per hectare, they have the highest contribution in total ESV. However, as a result of LULC change (loss of forests, water bodies, and agricultural land), the total ESV of the landscape has declined by USD 11 million year⁻¹. Major reductions come from the loss in values of climate regulation, water supply, provision of raw materials and food production. To halt the ongoing loss of ES and maintain the supply and balance of different ES in the landscape, it is important to properly monitor, manage and utilize ecosystems. We believe this study will inform policymakers, environmental managers, and the general public on the ongoing changes and contribute to developing effective land use policy in the region. Full article

This article is devoted to the study of the role of natural cryogenic resources in the traditional subsistence systems of the people of Russia. The main source of the actual information and the empirical basis reflecting the features of traditional ecological knowledge of the ethnic groups considered in the article are the scientific publications and ethnographic descriptions made by Russian researchers in the second half of the 19th century through to the beginning of the 21st century, and the results of our modern field research in the territory of Siberia and the Far East of Russia. The methodology of the study lies in the field of ethnoecology, and contains comparative and typological approaches, which have allowed for the detection and systematization of the main spheres of using natural cryogenic resources in traditional subsistence systems by the people of Russia, which include using the environment for indigenous subsistence, building materials, food preservation, obtaining potable water, the irrigation of crops, etc. In conclusion, some of the prospective for the ethnoecological examination of the role of the natural cryogenic resources in traditional subsistence systems were designated, and adaptations to modern innovative technologies based on the rational use of natural resources were also examined. Full article

The minimization of negative externalities is a key aspect in the development of a circular and sustainable economic model. At the local scale, especially in urban areas, externalities are generated by the adverse impacts of air pollution on human health. Local air quality policies and plans often lack of considerations and instruments for the quantification and evaluation of external health costs. Support for decision-makers is needed, in particular during the implementation stage of air quality plans. Modelling tools based on the impact pathway approach can provide such support. In this paper, the implementation of health impacts and externalities analysis in air quality planning is evaluated. The state of the art in European member states is reported, considering whether and how health effects have been included in the planning schemes. The air quality plan of the Piemonte region in Italy is then considered. A case study is analyzed to evaluate a plan action, i.e., the development of the district heating system in the city of Turin. The DIATI (Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Ambiente, del Territorio e delle Infrastrutture) Dispersion and Externalities Model (DIDEM model) is applied to detect the scenario with the highest external cost reduction. This methodology results are extensible and adaptable to other actions and measures, as well as other local policies in Europe. The use of health externalities should be encouraged and integrated into the present methodology supporting air quality planning. Efforts should be addressed to quantify and minimize the overall uncertainty of the process. Full article

This paper focuses on autonomous multi-islanded entities and the seamless reconnection to the main grid as the self-healing ability of the future power system. The minimization of power quality issues (mainly that of voltage, frequency, and harmonics) in such entities based on controllers, with or without intercommunication, is also an important part of this paper. The future power system, with the significant penetration of distributed generations (DGs), can rapidly respond to any problem occurring within it by separating into autonomous islanded entities to prevent the disconnection of DGs. As a result, high-quality and continuous power is supplied to consumers. Finally, future research that is necessary for the realization of the future power system is discussed. Full article

Calcium carbonate is one of the most used raw materials in various industries, such as construction materials, food supplement, pharmaceutics, animal feed, plastic production, and others. Calcium carbonate can derive from marine wastes, like crustaceans and bivalve’s shells. The worldwide demand for new sources of food has increased exponentially, and following that tendency, the mariculture—especially the oyster culture—has been increasingly resorting to farming techniques. In 2016, 438 billion tons of oysters were produced. The majority of the shells were unduly discarded, presenting a public health problem. This article offers a solution based on the reuse and recycling of oyster shell residues in the production region of Florianópolis, SC, Brazil. The presented solution is an oyster shell by-product developed by a local company which produces artificial stone. The main component of the artificial stone is a composite material made of oyster shells incorporated in a polymeric resin. The mechanical properties, such as its flexural strength, hardness, Weibull modulus, and fracture analysis, were held in the artificial stone. The mechanical results of the new artificial stone were compared with other natural stones, such as granite and marble, and other commercial artificial stones. This material owns suitable mechanical properties for table tops and workbenches. Using this product as an artificial stone represents an innovation in the development of a new product and adds commercial value to local waste. This product is an excellent example of a circular economy for local producers who care about the environment, and it encourages the reduction of extraction of natural stone, such as granite and marble. Full article

Twenty years of formal private sector participation in solid waste management in Ghana has failed to deliver an increase in collection coverage and recycling rates. This article shares lessons and experiences from Accra, Ghana, a middle-income city where researchers and municipal solid waste managers have collaborated to modernize the municipal solid waste management system by working together to develop a locally appropriate response to the informal waste service sector. Stakeholders have used inclusive decision-making and participatory research methods to bring formal service providers to work in partnership with their informal counterparts to improve collection and recycling. The Wasteaware benchmark indicator framework has been used to assess and compare the improvements in the physical and governance aspects of the municipal solid waste management system, supplemented by statistical analysis of responses to a survey on the socio-economic contribution of the informal service providers in the city. Within two years of their inclusion, the number of informal service providers has increased by 71 percent, from 350 to 600, creating new livelihoods and contributing to poverty reduction. The informal service providers have been able to increase collection coverage from 75% to 90%, waste capture from 53% to 90%, and recycling rates from 5% to 18%, saving the municipality US$5,460,000.00 in annual operational costs. The results have influenced the decision-makers to move towards structural integration of the informal service providers into the formal waste service system. The shift towards practical, locally responsive interventions in Accra provides a positive example of sustainable waste management modernization, and key lessons for cities in similar economies. Full article

The purpose of this paper is to determine indices of environmental, economic and social sustainability related to the Italian production of ceramic tiles in porcelain stoneware in order to contribute to the construction of a reference benchmarking useful to decision makers, designers and end users of ceramic tiles. To achieve this goal, this paper is based on the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) framework that incorporates the three dimensions of sustainability with cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) tools. The study has shown that in the production of porcelain stoneware one of the major environmental problems, in addition to production in the strict sense, is the distribution system of the product to end users and, to a lesser extent but always significant, the process of supplying raw materials. Finally, it was highlighted that the joint use of the three impact assessment tools (LCA, LCC, S-LCA) requires further methodological work to avoid the risk of double counting of sustainability performance. This research has adopted a detailed methodological approach, both in the collection and in the processing of data, keeping the main phases of the production process separate. In this way, it has been possible to highlight that the major environmental criticalities are just beyond the “gate” of the ceramic factories, along the logistics chain. The study also proposes for the Italian ceramic sector not only indicators of environmental sustainability but also economic and social. Full article

The natural forests of Northern Thailand are the mother source of many utilisable natural products because of their diverse flora and fauna. Northern Thai people have learned to utilise plants, in particular those of plants with cleansing properties, since the beginning of time. Several local species of detergent plants in Thailand are traditionally used by the locals and indigenous people. However, these plants may become extinct because their habitats have been replaced by industrial agriculture, and their uses have been replaced by chemically synthesised detergents. Researchers need to study and communicate the biology, phytochemistry, and the importance of these plants to conserve natural biodiversity of Northern Thailand. Of many utilisable detergent phytochemicals, natural saponins are known as bio-based surfactant and foaming agents. Their physiochemical and biological properties feature structural diversity, which leads to many industrial applications. In this review, we explained the term “detergent” from the physiological mechanism perspective and the detergent effects of saponins. We also compiled a list of Thai local plants with cleansing properties focusing on the saponin-containing plants. Future studies should investigate information relative to plant environment, ethnobotanical data, and the bioactive compound content of these plants. The knowledge acquired from this study will promote the maintenance of the local biodiversity and the conservation of the detergent plant species found in Thailand. Full article

Controlling the flow and bed morphology in a river confluence is important in training and navigation works. The flow in river confluence is highly complex due to crucial and rapid changes associated with flow dynamics, sediment transport, and geomorphology. The flow in Malaysia’s rivers has many confluence junctions in natural drains of catchment areas. The confluence between Kurau and Ara Rivers, in Perak, Malaysia, is selected to investigate the scour hole that usually forms in the erosion zone and the bar that forms in the deposition zone. A 2D numerical model is used in simulating hydro-morpho dynamics in the rivers confluence to mitigate the erosion and deposition zones by adopting vanes as control structures. Simulation results suggest that the most effective location, dimension, and angle of vanes can be decided based on their performance in scouring and deposition zones. The distribution velocity and flow vectors can help in deciding the location of the vanes. Full article

In response to the lack of locally natural sources and the environmental concerns about greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, using a wide variety of biomass residues as energy sources has attracted much attention in the past two decades. The purpose of the case study was to examine the energy use of imported palm kernel shell (PKS) in Taiwan, which has generated superheated steam for the end users in the industrial sector. In this work, characterizing the thermochemical properties of imported PKS (including proximate analysis, elemental analysis and calorific value) was first conducted by the standard test methods. Based on the statistics of imported PKS and the method developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the preliminary benefit analysis of PKS-to-energy was further addressed in the paper to verify its equivalent GHG emission mitigation. The results showed the annual benefit of equivalent GHG mitigation of about 78,647 metric tons (using annual imported PKS of 60,000 metric tons on an average). In addition, the economic benefit for purchasing PKS in the industrial boilers can gain the cost-down at approximately NT$60,000,000 (US$2,000,000) in comparison with that of fuel oil. Furthermore, the regulatory measures for upgrading PKS-to-energy and countermeasures for controlling air pollutant emissions from PKS-to-energy facilities were briefly summarized to create another circular economy. Finally, some technological recommendations have been addressed to upgrade the added values of imported PKS in Taiwan. Full article

Renewable energy remains an underutilised resource within urban environments. This study examines the ongoing German Energiewende (energy transition) as an example of renewable energy being treated as a necessary resource for urban development. It departs from existing literature by operationalising the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), taking a policy systems approach to analyse (and explain) the cases of three German cities—Munich, Berlin, and Freiburg. This approach helps draw lessons for future UK energy scenarios by placing more abstract conceptions of Sustainable Energy Transitions (SETs) within the context of UK cities, post-Brexit. By discussing five main themes: the shift from government to governance; the need to break ‘carbon lock-in’; renewable energy innovation as an underutilised resource; developing governance strategies for renewable energy resources; the shift from policy to practice, the study yields a detailed reconceptualisation of approaches to renewable energy resource-use policy. The novelty of this study lies in its response to these challenges, taking a policy systems approach to energy governance. The article concludes with a proposed integrated framework. The framework, which is based on multi-scalar and multi-stakeholder integrated energy governance strategy, reconsiders the way in which renewable energy resources are seen in current governance terms in the UK. The framework presents a new approach to renewable energy resource-use policy that embraces innovation, responsible governance, and inclusive processes, (alongside thinking beyond simply technical solutions) to considering the socio-economic impacts of policy decisions in cities. Full article

The degradation of natural resources at an intense rate creates serious problems in the environmental systems particularly with the compounding effects of climatic vagaries and changes. On the one hand, desertification is a crucial universal, mostly an anthropogenic environmental issue affecting soils all over the world. On the other hand, drought is a natural phenomenon in direct association with reduced rainfall in various spatial and temporal frames. Vulnerabilities to drought and desertification are complex processes caused by environmental, ecological, social, economic and anthropogenic factors. Particularly for the Mediterranean semi-arid conditions, where the physical and structural systems are more vulnerable, the abuse and overuse of the natural resources lead to their degradation and ultimately, if the current trends continue, to their marginalization. The scope of the current effort is trying to find any common drivers for the pressures of both processes. Thus, the vulnerabilities to drought and desertification are comparing by using the Standardized Drought Vulnerability Index (SDVI) and the Environmentally Sensitive Areas Index (ESAI). The indices are calculated from October 1983 to September 1996 in Greece. Greece is prone to desertification and it is often experiencing intense droughts, thus it presents an almost ideal case study area. The results may indicate that the most important factor for such procedures is the deficits in water resources, either due to lower than usually expected rainfall or to higher societal water demand. Full article

For many years, shale gas exploitation has been generating contradictory views in the UK and remains subject of rising debates throughout these years. Favorably backed by the government, looking upon it as potential mechanism for gas import independency and competitiveness in global gas industry while strongly opposed by stakeholders (mainly public), idea of shale gas exploitation remains disputed with no substantial progress in past years. And this irresolution is worsened by obscurity of estimates for potential reserves and conflicting assessments on potential impact of shale gas. Yet, in case shale industry is signaled to search and extract resources, there remains another scrutiny stage that shale industry will be subjected to i.e., its extraction must be economically feasible as extracting unconventional resources is financially expensive and riskier than conventional. Hence, this study aims at analyzing the economics of UK’s most prolific Bowland shale play development by a financial model that discovers gas prices range required to earn capital cost on investment in Bowland shale play and is tested on three development plans where it determines that based on given set of hypothesis and past decade’s average gas price of $6.52/Mcf, none of the development plans hold enough probability of adding value, however, hybrid plan formulated by combination of consistent drilling and refracturing proves as economically sustainable with a RGP mean $7.21/Mcf, significantly lower than $9.76/Mcf mean for ‘drilling only’ plan. It is found that required gas price is most sensitive to initial production rate and drilling costs where ±10% variation offsets RGP by ≈ ±8% and ±7%. Full article

Ecosystem services (ES) are increasingly recognized as a means to facilitate adaption to environmental change. However, the provisions of ES are likely to be impacted by changes in climate and/or changes in land use. In developing countries, where people are typically dependent on these services for their livelihoods, these impacts are of concern; however, very little is known about the changes in provisioning of ES over time. In this study, we assess the perceived changes on ES in the Panchase Mountain Ecological Region of western Nepal. The study area accommodates three distinct ecoregions, ranging from lowland to upland ecosystems and communities. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were used to collect information on how ES may have changed in the landscape over time. This approach was supported by transect walks, field observations, and secondary sources of information, such as climatic and remote sensing data. Perceived changes on ES in the study region include reduced availability of water, reduced food production, degradation of forest ecosystems, and changes in species compositions. These changes are thought to have impacted other ES, and, in turn, local livelihoods. Management actions that can help local communities foster ES are recommended. Full article