PEDIA environmental terms defined and explored

TOBACCO STRATEGY

Sun, 1 Apr 2012 13:46:49 -0400

As originally used, the term refers to a political campaign by the tobacco industry to undermine attempts by government to regulate the sale or consumption of tobacco products in the United States. The strategy included hiring public relations firms and people in the health field to produce reports that questioned the science behind the risks of smoking, claiming the science was unsettled, uncertain and that more time was needed to determine what the real risks were. These were studies paid for by the interests that would be most adversely affected, economically, if people believed the science behind the health risks from smoking. The tobacco industry also paid people to talk to the media and publish articles attacking the regulation of tobacco as an assault on individual freedom (to smoke) and on capitalism and free markets.

The prime intent of the strategy was to delay regulatory action. The tobacco interests knew that tobacco was dangerous both for people who smoked and for those around them (second-hand smoke), and that this reality would eventually prevail, but any delay in governmental controls over use of tobacco products would provide substantial profits to the industry in the interim. A decade’s delay provided a decade of profits, a not inconsiderable sum of money, and much less than the money spent to undermine regulatory reforms.

The strategy has been adopted by the fossil fuel industry, led by Exxon Mobil and others, as a model for the industry’s aggressive opposition to any governmental regulation of the burning of fossil fuels that are significant contributors to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), and global climate change. In 2011, Exxon Mobil earned a profit of $41.1 billion. Delaying regulation of fossil fuels for a decade can help protect that level of profit.

In an interesting twist, government interests in the UK, including in Northern Ireland, and the US have adopted the term “tobacco control strategy,” to refer to government regulatory programs that are aimed at preventing young people from starting to smoke, reducing the number of smokers of all ages, and protecting people from passive smoking. In a way, the usage of the term has been reversed.

Some further ideas to explore on Tobacco Strategy

Identify each of the arguments used to oppose tobacco regulation and compare them to arguments used to oppose climate change legislation.

Develop answers to each of the arguments used to oppose climate change legislation.

Be sure to provide reliable published sources for your answers.

Check one published article that attacks the established science on climate change and evaluate the sources on which that article relies.

Sources:

Bob Guerico, “The Tobacco Strategy,” The Environment Site, http://www.theenvironmentsite.org/the-tobacco-strategy/

Larry Breed, “Strategies of the Tobacco Industry,”
http://www.tobacco.org/resources/history/strategieslb.html

“Edwin Poots to launch 10-year tobacco strategy,” BBC NEWS Northern Ireland, 28 February 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17184678

See, also, the Interview with John Gibbons, Environmental Journalist in the Podcast section of irish environment

William D. Nordhaus, “Why the Global Warming Skeptics Are Wrong,”
The New York Review of Books, March 22, 2012. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/mar/22/why-global-warming-skeptics-are-wrong/?pagination=false

Rebecca Leber, “Exxon Mobil’s Tax Rate Drops To 13 Percent, After Making 35 Percent More Profits On Rising Gas Prices in 2011,”
http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/03/26/452213/exxon-mobils-tax-rate-drops-to-13-percent-after-making-35-percent-more-profits-in-2011/

TAR SANDS

Thu, 1 Mar 2012 11:21:13 -0500

The term refers to a form of sandstone which contains sand, clay and water and is saturated with a dense viscous form of petroleum that is similar to bitumen or tar. Extraction of the heavy oil from the sandstone formation requires substantial amounts of energy. More conventional forms of oil are extracted simply by sinking a well into a reservoir of oil below the ground. This oil naturally flows into the pipe and is pumped to the surface. The bitumen is heavier and requires either strip mining (not usually available because of the depth of the tar deposits) or injecting steam, hot water or solvents into the well to make the petroleum flow. This later, more common method requires a lot of water and energy (for heating and pumping) to extract the oil.

The use of substantial volumes of water and solvents in tar sand extraction makes it similar to fracking for shale gas. Both are considered by many as producing more adverse environmental impacts, so-called hard-to-get fossil fuel, than other forms of fossil fuel. Also because the tar sand oil is so thick, it has to be diluted, often with lighter fractions of oil, in order to transport it through pipelines.

Some further ideas to explore on Tar Sands

Compare gas from fracking, oil from tar sands, and conventional oil from on-shore oil wells and determine which form of energy produces the most Greenhouse Gases through its entire life cycle – from extracting the fossil fuel to refining it to using it?

Why is the European Union evaluating the levels of GHG emissions associated with the extraction and use of oil from tar sands?

Sources:

“About Tar Sands,” U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
http://ostseis.anl.gov/guide/tarsands/index.cfm

Robert Kunzig, “The Canadian Oil Boom,” National Geographic, March 2009
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/canadian-oil-sands/kunzig-text

Tar Sands Action
http://www.tarsandsaction.org/

BIOCIDAL PRODUCTS

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 07:56:55 -0500

Biocidal products, often called biocides, are used to control harmful organisms, and are found in such products as disinfectants, preservatives, rodenticides, insecticides anti-fouling products, and taxidermist and embalming fluids. The European Union’s 1998 Biocidal Product Directive (BPD) defines biocides as "active substances and preparations containing one or more active substances, put up in the form in which they are supplied to the user, intended to destroy, deter, render harmless, prevent the action of or otherwise exert a controlling effect on any harmful organism by chemical or biological means."

Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament controls the placement of biocidal products on the market through the BPD in order to protect humans, animals and the environment. The BPD also aims to standardize and control the European biocidal market so that the regulation of biocidalproducts can be harmonized within the EU. At present, there are over 200 existing active substances being evaluated under the BPD‘s Review Program to ensure these pesticides pose negligible risks to human health and the environment.

In Ireland, the Department of Agriculture and Food (DAF) is the authority for biocide legislation implementation. EU directive 98/8/EC is given effect in the Irish law by Statutory Instrument S.I. No. 625 of 2001. In order to register a biocide, Irish citizens and companies would need to contact the Pesticide Registration and Control Division of DAF in Celbridge, County Kildare.

On the 19 January 2012, the European Parliament voted to implement stricter safety standards on all biocides within the EU in an attempt to increase health safety and standardization.

Entry by Madeleine Kuhns

Sources:

European Commission. 1998. “Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market.”
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/biocides/pdf/dir_98_8_biocides.pdf

European Commission. 2011. “Competent authorities and other Contact Points in relation to Directive 98/8/EC on Biocidal Products.”
http://circa.europa.eu/Public/irc/env/bio_reports/library?l=/competent_authorities/_EN_1.0_&a=d

European Commission. 2011. “List of participants/applicants to the Review Programme of existing active substances used in biocidal products (Substances classified by product- types).” http://ec.europa.eu/environment/biocides/pdf/list_participants_applicants_subs.pdf

New Europe. 2012. “EP demands tougher control on pesticides.” 19 January. Online:
http://www.neurope.eu/article/ep-demands-tougher-control-pesticides

Republic of Ireland. “Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Biocides” Accessed January 24, 2012. http://www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/biocides.htm

DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE

Mon, 2 Jan 2012 13:36:32 -0500

The term from philosophy and politics is somewhat abstract, relying on two Latinate words, but it encompasses a simple idea: to each her or his due. To “distribute” is to divide and dispense in portions, including goods and services, and we all want any such distribution to be done with justice, or fairness. What gets distributed includes not only benefits but also burdens. The contest is over who gets to make that decision and what criteria are used to determine fairness.

One way of ensuring goods and services are distributed fairly is to give equal portions to each person, a form of egalitarianism. Others of a more conservative political bent would see this as unfair and smacking of socialism. They might see distribution more fair if done according to how hard one works, how much merit one earns, or by how much money one holds. While it may be an abstract term, it is loaded with controversy.

An application in the environment field is the discussion of how environmental goods, such as natural resources, are distributed among the nations of the globe. The atmosphere is one such resource and developed countries have been filling it with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the detriment of the resource. Now the emerging economies of certain countries, including China, India and Brazil, also want to fill that resource with GHG emissions to assure their people have the same benefits as those of developed countries. So the issue becomes, how can the burdens of reducing GHG emissions be fairly distributed across countries.

Some further ideas to explore on Distributive Justice:

Have students assume the role of different countries and let them argue how they should be treated for purposes of distributing in a fair way the burden of reducing GHG emissions. Be sure to include someone to speak for Ireland, Northern Ireland, UK, EU, US, China, India, Brazil, and any other country that seems to balance the discussion. You might also include a spokesperson for the next generation.

How do the economic, social and/or cultural values of the country influence the positions taken in any such arguments.

Pick a specific, small environmental burden in your immediate environment — classroom, home, community — and devise how you would distribute it among people who share that space.

Sources:

See, Sunita Narain, “Equity: the next frontier in climate talks” in the current Articles section of irish environment.

European Environment Agency, “The Concept of Environmental Space,”
http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/92-9167-078-2/page003.html

For an application of distributive justice considerations to the problem of nuclear waste disposal, see Statement of Thomas B. Cochran, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) before the Subcommittee on Energy Research and Production of the Committee on Science and Technology U. S. House of Representatives (May 16, 1979).
http://www.nrdc.org/search.asp?cof=FORID%3A11&ie=UTF-8&q=distributive+justice&sa.x=0&sa.y=0&cx=001024953138106184952%3Alevppyfplwy&hq=-inurl%3Ahttps&t=iframe

Maiese, Michelle. "Distributive Justice." Beyond Intractability. Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. http://www.beyondintractability.org/bi-essay/distributive_justice/

GLOBAL WARMING POTENTIAL

Thu, 1 Dec 2011 07:55:35 -0500

Global climate change results from the emissions into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, water vapor, nitrous oxide and ozone. To evaluate the relative contribution of each of these GHGs to global warming, a calculation is made as to the ability of each GHG to trap heat in the atmosphere, including how much of the gas is removed from the atmosphere over a given number of years. The calculation is called the global warming potential (GWP) and it uses CO2 as the standard to which the others are compared.

There is generally more CO2 discharged to the atmosphere than other GHGs and it remains for decades, while methane releases may be less in volume and remain for shorter periods, but methane is more powerful in trapping heat. So methane is determined to have a GWP of 21 compared to the GWP of 1 of CO2; in other words, methane is approximately 21 times more heat-absorptive than CO2 per unit of weight. Such comparisons provide useful information for policy makers to determine which GHGs require what kind of mitigation or adaptation.

Some further ideas to explore on Global Warming Potential:

Since methane traps more heat than CO2 but lasts for a shorter period of time, what different policies would make sense for mitigating effects from methane in comparison to policies for CO2.

What different policies would help mitigate the impacts from the other GHGs.

Sources:

“Global Warming Potential,” Global Greenhouse Warming http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/global-warming-potential.html

European Environment Agency, “Global warming potential” http://glossary.en.eea.europa.eu/terminology/concept_html?term=global%20warming%20potential

“Global Warming Potentials and Other Metrics for Comparing Different Emissions,” Climate Change 2007: Working Group I: The Physical Science Basis (Section 2.10), IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007. http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/ch2s2-10.html

US Environmental Protection Agency, “Global warming potential.” http://iaspub.epa.gov/sor_internet/registry/termreg/searchandretrieve/termsandacronyms/search.do;jsessionid=8541177390de0d7fa1f321a4fe908881b00ad415d844766ba27825ec2e9bc86f

METHANE

Tue, 1 Nov 2011 14:31:05 -0400

Methane (CH4) is the principal component of natural gas, a significant source of energy for heating buildings or producing electricity. It also has its downsides as it is found in coal mines where it presents dangers because it burns and can be explosive at certain levels. Methane is also emitted from animals like cows and sheep that chew their grass (ruminant animals), and it is discharged from landfills from the decomposition of garbage, both of which emissions contribute to global climate change. While methane traps heat more than an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide (CO2), by weight, it lasts for a shorter period of time in the atmosphere, from 9-15 years, in contrast to CO2 that lasts for hundreds to thousands of years.

Recently methane has received a good bit of attention as a result of a documentary, Gasland, which investigated a process of extracting natural gas called fracking and where it was shown that water from faucets caught fire as a result of methane infiltrating the homeowner’s water source. A recent study has found methane contamination of drinking water attributed to shale-gas extraction in Pennsylvania and New York. Dissolved methane in drinking water is not currently classified in the United States as a health hazard by ingestion (very little research has been done on this issue) but it is an asphyxiant in enclosed spaces (like coal mines) and is an explosion and fire hazard.

Companies are currently exploring the possibility of fracking in Ireland.

Some further ideas to explore on Methane:

Identify the areas in Ireland that are potentially subject to fracking.

What environmental laws and regulations apply to methane emissions from animals and fracking.

How can methane contamination of drinking water be prevented or remedied if it occurs.

Sources:

“Methane” http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/chemweek/methane/methane.html

“Methane” http://www.epa.gov/methane/

“Fracking” See entry in iePEDIA section of irish environment and the article “The Pennsylvania Experience With Methane Extraction, or Fracking,” by Jim Morris in the Articles section of irish environment.

Osborn, SG, A Vengosh, NR Warner, RB Jackson, “Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas‐well drilling and hydraulic fracturing.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (May 17, 2011). http://www.pnas.org/content/108/20/8172

Robert B. Jackson, Brooks Rainey Pearson, Stephen G. Osborn,
Nathaniel R. Warner, Avner Vengosh, Research and Policy Recommendations for Hydraulic Fracturing and Shale-Gas Extraction (Duke University)
http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/research-and-policy-recommendations-for-hydraulic-fracturing-and-shale-gas

See, also, “Enteric Fermentation,” in the iePEDIA section of irish environment

ENTERIC FERMENTATION

Mon, 3 Oct 2011 19:21:37 -0400

The term is a bit abstract and Latinate which is ironic in light of what it represents — the gas that comes from cows, sheep and other animals that chew grass to eat. Certain animals are called ruminant because they have a “rumen” or large stomach that allows their digestive system to process the plant materials the animals eat. “Fermentation” is a chemical breakdown and “enteric” means ‘relating to or occurring in the intestines.’ Since cows and sheep are able to digest grass and other plant materials their food source can be cheap to produce and such conditions serve as the basis for Ireland’s grass-fed farming system.

Unfortunately the gas that is produced and emitted by the cows and sheep is methane that is a very strong greenhouse gas that contributes to global climate change. Globally, ruminant livestock produce about 80 million metric tons of methane annually, and an adult cow can emit 80-110 kgs of methane. The methane from animals is a large part of the GHG emissions from the agricultural sectors in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Experiments are being undertaken to see if changing the diet of the animals, by adding materials to the grass or to the animals, can reduce the level of methane generated, and at the same time improve the productivity of the animals.

Some further ideas to explore on Enteric Fermentation:

Determine how the methane gas emitted from cows and sheep is measured.

How can the diet be changed to reduce the levels of methane generated?

If one solution to rising levels of GHGs is a carbon tax, would that reduce the levels of methane from farm animals?

Sources:

“Enteric Fermentation Mitigation,” Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
http://www.pewclimate.org/technology/factsheet/EntericFermentation

“Ruminant Livestock,” United States Environmental Protection Agency.
http://www.epa.gov/rlep/faq.html

BIOMASS

Thu, 1 Sep 2011 06:09:11 -0400

The term refers to biological or organic material that serves as a renewable source of energy either by being burned directly (like wood) or by being converted to a fuel source, called biofuel. Examples of the latter include plants like miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn (to make ethanol), willow, sugarcane and trees like eucalyptus, and even animal and municipal waste. Its importance is an alternative to fossil fuels, such as oil, coal, and gas, which have serious adverse environmental effects, especially the release of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas (GHG). With biomass, the organic material absorbs the sun’s energy through photosynthesis and captures CO2. So when it is burned it is often merely returning to the atmosphere the CO2 that it captured. But harvesting or production of biomass energy can damage ecosystems, produce harmful air pollution, consume large amounts of water, and produce net greenhouse emissions so it needs to be done thoughtfully.

Farmers are often changing their crops from being used as a food source to use as a fuel source, largely because as a fuel the crops earn more money. The problem has developed that switching those crops that produce food to fuel may be helping to create substantial food price rises and food shortages, but this is a complex issue that requires more study. A recent report from NRDC points put how biomass crops can provide extra money for farmers without diverting crops from food and feed markets.

Some further ideas to explore on Biomass:

Identify the organic materials in your area that are being used to produce energy.

Identify the organic materials in your area that could be used to produce energy.

Determine how local farmers could earn more income from planting and harvesting a biomass source for energy either in addition to or instead of what they do now.

Sources:

Biomass: an important source of renewable energy http://www.biomass.net/

Union of Concerned Scientists: Citizens and Scientists for Environmental Solutions, “How Biomass Energy Works,”
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/technology_and_impacts/energy_technologies/how-biomass-energy-works.html

European Environment Agency, “Biomass,” http://glossary.en.eea.europa.eu/terminology/concept_html?term=biomass

“Food vs. fuel” in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_vs._fuel

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Second harvest: Bioenergy from Cover Crop Biomass” (NRDC Issue Paper, March 2011) http://www.nrdc.org/energy/covercrops.asp

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Mon, 1 Aug 2011 11:25:32 -0400

Renewable energy refers to those sources for generating energy that naturally renew, or replenish, themselves after being used to produce energy. For example, wind creates energy but wind continues to blow, from time to time, in varying degrees, and so it continues to create energy, i.e., it is renewable. The same with solar energy – whenever the sun shines or generates light, it will continue to generate energy. As far as we know now, the sun will always shine somewhere, at some times, and at some intensity. By contrast, oil and gas and peat are non-renewable energies in that once you extract the oil or gas or peat (fossil fuel) from the land or sea, it is gone. It does not regenerate itself, at least in any meaningful time frame.

Besides wind and sun, other renewable energy sources include water (hydro), heat from the ground (geothermal), tides and waves, and plant material (biomass).

Some further ideas to explore on Renewable Energy:

Is nuclear power a renewable energy?

What is the relationship between low-carbon energy sources and renewable energy sources? Is one better than the other? If so, why?

Sources:

Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland, Viewpoints: “Renewable Energy”
http://www.epa.ie/downloads/pubs/other/viewpoints/name,13175,en.html

European Environment Agency, “Renewable Energy Sources” and Non-renewable Energy Sources”
http://glossary.eea.europa.eu/terminology/concept_html?term=renewable%20energy%20source
http://glossary.eea.europa.eu/terminology/concept_html?term=non-renewable%20energy%20resource

See “80% of Energy by 2050 from Renewable Sources” in the Reports section of irish environment (August 2011).

HABITATS

Fri, 1 Jul 2011 18:44:41 -0400

A habitat refers to the physical dimensions of an environment or place or site that serves as home for an organism or community of organisms or species, and it includes all the conditions present in that place. Examples would include a desert, tropical forest, field, Arctic Tundra, a particular ocean, even a city. The Irish EPA offers the following definition: “The dwelling place of a species or community, providing a particular set of environmental conditions (e.g. forest floor, sea shore).” Literally, the word means, in Latin, “it inhabits.”

Habitats can be distinguished from “ecosystem” which refers to “A community of organisms that depend on each other and the environment they inhabit.” In one sense, an ecosystem can be seen as a collection of habitats where organisms interact with each other.

Some further ideas to explore on Habitats:

Identify the nearest habitat and try to determine its boundary.

What organisms live in the habitat?

What protections are provided for the habitat – by law, by regulation, by custom or practice.

Sources:

“Habitat” Irish Environmental Protection Agency, http://www.epa.ie/glossary/

“Habitat”, European Environment Agency,
http://glossary.eea.europa.eu/terminology/concept_html?term=habitat

See “Ecosystem” in iePEDIA section of irish environment

National Geographic, “Habitats” http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/

FEED-IN TARIFF

Wed, 1 Jun 2011 14:46:54 -0400

The term refers to a scheme through which people who generate electricity from renewable sources, e.g., solar or wind, are guaranteed a price for that electricity which is fed into or sold to the electricity grid. The feed-in tariff (FIT) is an economic instrument by which the government encourages people to spend money to install alternative, renewable energy. The scheme is intended to accelerate adoption of renewable sources of energy that emit lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuel sources, e.g., coal or peat.

The utility companies are required to purchase the renewable energy from the private generators at a guaranteed price that is higher than other sources of energy, and sometimes the guarantee extends for a set period of time. Since the utilities also generate electricity, they often oppose the FIT as setting up competition for them and reducing their profit margins.

While many countries have adopted a FIT, there are many variations: people get paid for any electricity they generate or just whatever surplus energy they create (what is leftover once they use the energy for their own needs); different rates are set for different renewable sources; sometimes the government limits the size of the renewable energy project that is eligible. This last issue is a matter of contention in the UK in light of the recent decision to limit FIT to only smaller generators. In Germany, a leader in the field, the price is guaranteed for a period of time, everyone is eligible, and everyone is guaranteed access to the electricity grid.

FITs have often led to a small annual increase in the price of electricity per customer because the electricity generated from renewable energy sources is typically more expensive than electricity generated from conventional sources, such as coal, gas, hydropower, or nuclear. At the same time, they are an equitable means of supporting renewable energy sources because everyone, or at least many individuals, farmers, cooperatives, large and small companies, can participate in the FIT.

Some further ideas to explore on the Feed-in Tariff:

Determine which forms of renewable sources of electricity are subject to FIT payments in your area.

Go through the exercise of adopting a renewable source of energy for your school or work place or home and determine what you have to do to qualify for the FIT scheme in your area; what it will cost you to install the renewable source of energy; and what, if any, savings you will earn from the FIT.

Sources:

European Union Environmental Agency (EEA), “Feed-in tariff”
http://glossary.eea.europa.eu/terminology/concept_html?term=feed-in%20tariff

Miguel Mendonca and David Jacobs, “Feed-in Tariffs Go Global: Policy in Practice” Renewable Energy World, http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/09/feed-in-tariffs-go-global-policy-in-practice

Wind-Works, “Electricity Feed Laws, Feed-in Laws, Feed-in Tariffs, Advanced Renewable Tariffs, and Renewable Energy Payments”
http://www.wind-works.org/articles/feed_laws.html

See, also, the video “Earth Report – Pay Back Time – Feed-in tariff” in the current You Tube section of irish environment (June 2011).

“The German Feed-In Tariff Model: A Solution to the Energy Crisis?” (Dec 11, 2009) http://www.suite101.com/content/the-german-feedin-tariff-model-a179183

WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE

Sun, 1 May 2011 12:40:56 -0400

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) establishes a water management program based on river basins as the natural geographical and hydrological units for such management. It also sets specific deadlines for Member States to protect aquatic ecosystems. The directive addresses inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters, and groundwater. The program requires public participation in planning.

The WFD builds on, and requires compliance with, then-existing and subsequently enacted directives including those on Bathing Water (2006/7),
Drinking Water (80/778, as amended by 98/83), Urban Wastewater Treatment (91/271), Nitrates (91/676), Integrated Pollution Prevention & Control (96/61, codified as Directive 2008/1/EC), and Sewage Sludge (86/278). All these directives are intended to protect water resources, either directly or indirectly.

Under the WFD, it is the status of the water bodies, rather than just their quality, that is assessed. River Basin Districts within each Member State are identified and then each water body is classified for ecological status — applying biological quality elements, hydromorphological elements and physico-chemical elements — and for chemical status — applied to over 30 priority substances. Based on the assessments, most water bodies are classified as High, Good, Moderate, Poor or Bad; groundwater is classified as either Good or Poor. The category “High” represents conditions associated with no or very low human pressure and the other categories represent deviations from this “reference condition.”

Under Article 4(1), the WFD sets the goal of achieving a “good status” for all of Europe's surface waters and groundwater by 2015. The deadline of 2015 can be extended for certain water bodies if achieving the standard of “good status” by 2015 would be “disproportionately expensive.”

In assessing the condition of water bodies, the Member States consider not the entire river, lake, or transitional or coastal water but sections of it. Thus, different sections of a water body can, and often do, have different classifications.

The WFD requires a ‘one out-all out' approach for classification where the status of a site is determined by the lowest value of the quality elements used. If any one of the tests results in poor status, then the overall
classification of the body will be poor. For example, if one monitoring site in a waterbody fails to meet the required standard for morphology due to dredging or any other parameter in the classification system, then the entire waterbody is designated as not achieving good status. “This approach is based on the precautionary principle in that the most sensitive element to what may potentially be a wide range of pressures impacting on water quality is used to define the final status.” Water Quality in Ireland, 2007-2009, Appendix 3.1

Some water bodies have been heavily modified over decades, or longer, usually to support economic activities, such transport of goods, flood control, and dams, as seen in the Rhine River Basin. Under Article 4(3) of the Directive, and tests established by WFD, the Member State can classify a water body as heavily modified or artificial and such bodies are subject to less demanding standards. They have to meet a “good ecological potential” rather than “good ecological status,” however, they still need to achieve the same low level of chemical contamination as other water bodies. A number of states classified over 40% of their water bodies as modified or artificial, and the Netherlands had 90%, while Ireland had only 2% heavily modified or artificial.

While the assessment of water bodies in the Member States builds on existing programs in each Member for monitoring chemical and biological conditions, the Directive added new requirements for assessing the ecosystems and human impacts on hydromorphology, the physical shape of river systems (e.g., impacts from dams and water extraction). Monitoring is required for long-term surveillance, for operations, and for investigations (e.g., when accidents occur). Each Member State chooses its own methods of monitoring but a project that developed intercalibration between the States ensures that the different national systems achieve comparable results.

For surface waters the Directive limits the concentration of specific pollutants of EU relevance, known as priority substances. To date, thirty-three priority substances have been identified. A new Directive, published in December 2008, establishes limits, known as Environmental Quality Standards (EQS), for these thirty-three substances and for an additional eight substances regulated under previous legislation. Within the group of thirty-three priority substances, twenty have been identified as “priority hazardous substances” because they are persistent in the environment, bioaccumulate, and are especially toxic. These substances are to be phased out over twenty years.

The WFD is the first piece of EU water legislation to explicitly integrate economics into its measures through two key economic principles. The WFD requires Member States to use economic analysis in the management of their water resources and to assess both the cost-effectiveness and overall costs of alternatives when making key decisions. The directive also calls for water users, including industries, farmers and households, to pay for the full costs of the water services they receive — the full costs include costs for operations, maintenance, infrastructure investment, and environmental damages to ecosystems. With increasing incidences of water scarcity across the EU, likely to increase even more with climate change impacts, pricing water usage is an important policy within the EU community. While these economic principles have been incorporated into the WFD, the directive’s preamble makes it clear that “water is not a commercial product like any other but, rather, a heritage which must be protected, defended and treated as such”.

The WFD requires that the public be informed about and involved in the preparation of the river basin management plans. These public participation components derive from the Aarhus Convention much of which has been incorporated into EU law through several directives. That is fortunate since Ireland has not ratified the Convention.

The expected impacts on water resources from global climate change include hotter, drier summers in southern EU, with water scarcity affecting agriculture, tourism, and less water for cooling coal and nuclear power plants, and increased risk of eutrophication. In contrast, northern EU is expected to experience increased rains and flooding. Both parts of the EU will face more and more intense extreme weather events. In light of these impacts, the WFD will become more critical in the future as the six-year review of river basin plans can be used to protect water resources through adaptation measures, such as improved land-use planning, improved agricultural practices and policies, flood controls, and repairs to water infrastructure to reduce leaks.

Some further ideas to explore on Water Framework Directive:

Identify the River Basin District (RBD) closest to you, and the surface water body within that RBD that is nearest to you.

Evaluate the sampling data available in the EPA Water Quality Report, including in the Appendices, to determine the status of that surface water body.

Using the EPA Water Quality Report, and any other source available to you, identify any source of pollution that is impacting the surface water body nearest to you.

Determine what, if any, action is being taken by the EPA or Local Authority to identify and to stop any source of pollution impacting the surface water body nearest to you.

Sources:

Water Framework Directive, Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:02000L0060-20090625:EN:NOT

European Commission, “Introduction to the New EU Water Framework Directive” http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/info/intro_en.htm

See “Ireland’s Water Quality: Groundwater OK, Surface Waters 50% Good, 50% Not So Good,” in the Reports section of irish environment (May 2011).

Irish Environmental Protection Agency, WATER QUALITY IN IRELAND 2007-2009, Edited by Martin McGarrigle, John Lucey and Micheál O’Cinnéide (2011) [see especially Appendix 3.1 which is not available on EPA’s website] http://www.epa.ie/downloads/pubs/water/waterqua/name,30640,en.html

RADIATION

Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:33:57 -0400

In its simplest terms, radiation is defined as the emission and propagation of energy in the form of rays or waves. There are two classes of radiation, non-ionizing and ionizing. Examples of non-ionizing radiation include infrared, microwave, radio or television waves, or visible light. Examples of ionizing radiation, which presents more dangers, include alpha, beta, gamma, and x-ray.

Because of its association with nuclear bombs and weapons, radiation carries a stigma not attached to any other form of energy. Yet we are exposed to radiation from a variety of “natural” sources wholly unrelated to nuclear facilities or weapons. We get exposed to radiation from the atmosphere through charged particles and gamma rays, much of which is filtered before it reaches us. Radiation in the ground, also known as radon, is common in many places, including on the island of Ireland. Radon gas comes from uranium found naturally in some rock formations. If a house sits above a heavy source of radon it can present dangers, which are easily eliminated by constructing a barrier against the radon infiltrating the house. And of course we get low doses of radiation from medical tests, such as x-rays and CAT scans, that keep us healthy.

Certainly the most worrisome radiation exposure is from nuclear bombs, as in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in the Second World War, or from disasters at nuclear power plants such as Windscale (1957), Three Mile Island (1979), and Chernobyl (1986), and the recent disaster in Fukushima Japan. In such circumstances the levels of radiation are magnitudes higher than what we receive from natural sources or medical tests.

Some further ideas to explore on Radiation:

What levels of radiation are you exposed to? Is there a calculator applicable to radiation exposure for the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland that will give you an estimate of the level of exposure typically found.

What is a safe level of radiation exposure? For adults? For children?

What levels of radiation were the children of Chernobyl exposed to? How about the children of Fukushima? How do those levels of radiation exposure compare to what you receive from “natural” sources?

Sources:

Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, “Radon and your environment,”
http://www.rpii.ie/Your-Environment/Radon-and-your-environment.aspx

Health Protection Agency, “Radon in Dwellings in Northern Ireland: Atlas and 1999 Review,”
http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1195733748468?p=1158934607718

US EPA, “Calculate your radiation dose,” http://epa.gov/radiation/understand/calculate.html

Robert Emmet Hernan, This Borrowed Earth: Lessons From The 15 Worst Environmental Disasters Around The World (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).

EUTROPHICATION

Tue, 1 Mar 2011 09:11:34 -0500

When a lake or surface water body or groundwater gets too many nutrients added to it, then certain organisms in the water grow rapidly and cause damage to the water. Common nutrients include phosphates and nitrates, which occur naturally but also are added to the environment by human activities. When the phosphates and nitrates enter the water system in excessive amounts, they promote the growth of algae that absorbs the oxygen and deprives fish and other organisms of the oxygen they need to survive. This depletion of oxygen in the water is called hypoxia. A symptom of the condition is the presence of algae blooms, and it can reduce the biodiversity of the ecosystem where it occurs.

Eutrophication can occur naturally but it is more commonly the result of human activities. Activities that promote eutrophication include fertilisers from farming, lawns and gardens, sewage from treatment plants or faulty septic systems, stormwater runoff from developed land, and even washing with soap in or near the water course.

As fertilizers used in farming, often in excessive applications, and discharge of raw sewage are the most frequent causes, laws and regulations controlling these sources have been effective in reducing the impacts. The construction and improvement of wastewater treatment plants to reduce or eliminate raw sewage are expensive but necessary and effective. The European Union Nitrates Directive is intended to reduce the negative impacts from the use of fertilisers in farming but it has met with opposition from the farming community.

Some further ideas to explore on Eutrophication:

Identify a lake or river or stream or other water body near you and research its current condition. Determine if it is subject to eutrophication, currently or periodically or in the past. Or find the nearest water body that is suffering from some degree of eutrophication.

Determine the cause and the sources of any human activities that are negatively impacting the condition of the water.

Is there anything you can do to help stop whatever is harming the water?

Sources:

UK Water Pollution Guide, “Eutrophication,”
http://www.water-pollution.org.uk/eutrophication.html

European Environment Agency, “Eutrophication,”
http://glossary.eea.europa.eu/terminology/concept_html?term=eutrophication

United States Geological Survey, “Eutrophication,” http://toxics.usgs.gov/definitions/eutrophication.html

Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland), Eutrophication from Agricultural Sources - Integrated Report ERTDI Report 81 (Carton et al.)
http://www.epa.ie/downloads/pubs/research/water/name,24431,en.html

See Northern Ireland State of the Seas in the Reports section of the current (March) issue of irish environment

RAINWATER HARVESTING

Tue, 1 Feb 2011 12:49:29 -0500

The term encompasses a variety of systems and facilities for collecting and storing rainwater for use in homes or businesses. Perhaps the simplest form is the traditional rain barrel that collects water off the roof. The collected water sometimes can be used for drinking but that depends on the condition and construction of the roof, and drains, and how much dirt or foreign substances collect off the roof along with the water, e.g. dust, mosses, twigs, bird droppings, pesticides and other pollutants, especially in urban areas. If dirty or contaminated, there are filters that might solve the problem. Otherwise the collected rainwater can be used to flush toilets, take baths, wash clothes and dishes and cars, and water gardens.

Even if you rely on private wells or other non-public water sources or do not pay for your water, harvesting rainwater can be very valuable in times of drought. During this past summer of 2010 many parts of the island of Ireland experienced a drought and water shortages. With climate change, such droughts may well increase in frequency and duration. In Donegal we were able to survive for three weeks without a water source (natural spring) by using the water from two rain barrels, one collecting the water from a barn and one from the house, for toilet, baths, and washing dishes. While there were short light showers during the three weeks that did not replenish the groundwater, the showers provided enough rain to re-fill the rain barrels.

More elaborate systems typically include a series of pipes and large containers, often of concrete or plastic, and pumps. The storage containers can be constructed on the roof or on the ground, or more typically underground.

In urban areas, collecting rainwater off roofs also has the benefit of reducing runoff water from entering stormwater systems and, if there is a combined sewer system, from overloading the system and discharging sewage back into homes or into surface water bodies during storm events.

Some further ideas to explore on Rainwater Harvesting:

Research the typical or average amount of rainfall for your area/school/community and find resources to help you calculate how much rainfall can be collected and stored.

Calculate how much water your school, family, group, or community uses for non-drinking purposes.

Then determine how you can collect the rainfall and what storage facilities you need to collect the water.

Estimate how much a rainwater harvesting system would cost to install and compare that cost to water service charges for public water supplies that are used for non-drinking purposes.

Sources:

European Environment Agency, “Ecovillage,” on the ecovillage at Cloughjordan, County Tipperary, including its rainwater harvesting system (September 2010).
http://www.eea.europa.eu/atlas/eea/ecovillage/story/ecovillage

Tony Cain, “Harvesting rain for more sustainable water use,” The Engineers Journal (Vol. 64: Issue 5, June 2010). http://www.engineersjournal.ie/issues/june-2010/articles/rainwaterharvesting/

Calling Time on Waste: A publican’s handbook to a leaner, greener cost base (May 2009) (including use of rainwater harvesting).
http://www.epa.ie/downloads/pubs/waste/wastepreventionprojectoutputs/name,28073,en.html

HarvestH2O: the online rainwater harvesting community http://www.harvesth2o.com/

US Environmental Protection Agency, Managing Wet Weather with Green Infrastructure: Municipal Handbook, with a chapter on Rainwater Harvesting Policies http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/greeninfrastructure/munichandbook.cfm

ECOSYSTEMS

Mon, 3 Jan 2011 19:49:55 -0500

The term is most often used in speaking of biodiversity or nature. A simple and effective definition is, “A community of organisms that depend on each other and the environment they inhabit.” NALA. The Convention for Biological Diversity offers a more technical definition for "ecosystem" as “a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit.” Since countries ratifying the Convention, including Ireland and the United Kingdom, are required to protect ecosystems, it becomes necessary to identify and understand ecosystems.

An example of environmental protection directed toward an ecosystem would be when a particular watershed is identified as an ecosystem and all pollution sources and habitat conditions in the watershed, and all organisms living within that watershed, are considered when devising any investigation and remediation of the ecosystem.

Some further ideas to explore on Ecosystems:

What is the nearest ecosystem to your school, house or community?

How would you distinguish between an ecosystem and a habitat?

What has your country done to identify and protect ecosystems? What has your city, town, village or county done? What have you done?

Sources:

National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA), From Air Quality to Zero Emissions: A plain English guide to common environmental terms (2009).
http://www.nala.ie/catalog/plain-english-guide-environmental-terms

See entry for “Biodiversity” in the iePEDIA section of irish environment.

Text of the Convention on Biological Diversity (a/k/a Biodiversity).
http://www.cbd.int/convention/text/
See Article 2, Use of Terms. http://www.cbd.int/convention/articles/?a=cbd-02

“Coastal Ecosystems”, in the 10 Messages for 2010 series from the European Environment Agency. http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/10-messages-for-2010-coastal-ecosystems

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT

Wed, 1 Dec 2010 13:31:57 -0500

The term “life cycle assessment” (LCA) refers to a way of measuring the environmental impact of the production of things and services. It allows us to assess how we get the raw materials to make things or provide services, how we make or provide them, how we use them, and how we recycle or dispose of them, including what and how much energy we use and what emissions we generate at each step of the process, or the “life cycle” of the thing or service. An important use is for assessing carbon emissions that contribute to global climate change.

The key elements to a LCA are to identify and quantify the energy and raw materials consumed, the emissions and wastes generated, and other environmental loadings; to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of these loads; and to assess the options available for reducing these environmental impacts. The typical life cycle consists of a series of stages running from extraction of raw materials, through design and formulation, processing, manufacturing, packaging, distribution (including transportation), use, re-use, recycling and, ultimately, waste disposal. It covers everything from the cradle to the grave.

The LCA is a tool that is designed to reduce environmental impacts and to save money for those who use it. For others, LCA is a way of thinking about the interrelationship between products, production and the environment, and is another way to achieve sustainable development. The interest in LCA derives from the Earth Summit in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro and Agenda 21 that was developed at that Summit.

Getting the data to undertake a LCA can be daunting and expensive for larger organizations. Public agencies are putting together data and assessments to assist individuals and organizations to undertake a LCA. For instance, in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) a carbon management tool has been developed to help businesses measure and reduce carbon emissions. The Waste Management Strategy for Northern Ireland is based on a life cycle assessment that considers how waste can be minimised and recovered at every stage in a production process from use of virgin materials, through product manufacture and supply, to consumption and eventual recovery or disposal.

Some further ideas to explore on Life Cycle Assessment:

Select a product that you, your class or group uses frequently and see if you can produce a life cycle assessment for it.

Identify what gaps in data exist to do such a LCA and how those gaps can be filled and by whom.

See if you can do a LCA for a service that you, your class or group depend on, e.g. transportation, janitorial.

Sources:

“Life cycle assessment” Glossary, European Environment Agency. http://glossary.eea.europa.eu/terminology/concept_html?term=life%20cycle%20assessment

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) - A guide to approaches, experiences and information sources Environmental issue report No 6 (EEA, 21 Apr 1998).
http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/GH-07-97-595-EN-C

Environmental Protection Agency RoI, Carbon Management Tool.
http://cmt.epa.ie/en/carbonmanagementtool/

Towards Resource Management: The Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy 2006 – 2020, Vol. 2, Waste Stream Summaries. NI Department of the Environment. The document includes a Life Cycle Assessment for each main waste stream, e.g., municipal, commercial, agricultural, hazardous, as well as for the major wastes, e.g. tyres, packaging.
http://www.ni-environment.gov.uk/waste-home/strategyni.htm

NATURAL WEALTH ACCOUNTS

Mon, 1 Nov 2010 10:32:57 -0400

The term is used in the field of biodiversity to refer to the economic value of all biodiversity services and assets in a particular geographic area, e.g. a country or section of a country. While proponents of protecting biodiversity have articulated the contributions made by various species and ecosystems, e.g., the rainforests and medicine, calculating the actual value of the species and/or ecosystem, in Euros/dollars/pounds, to the wider economy provides an added argument for the protection. Such an argument is especially critical during tough economic times, as at the present, when funding to protect biodiversity has to compete with funding for basic services, for instance health and unemployment benefits.

As the leader of a recent study (TEEB, see below) on valuing biodiversity has said: “Modern society's predominant focus on market-delivered components of well-being, and our almost total dependence on market prices to indicate value, means that we generally do not measure or manage economic values exchanged other than through markets. This is especially true of the public goods and services that comprise a large part of the benefits that nature provides humanity.” If we do not appreciate the concrete value of a resource, we will not notice when someone uses it up, at our collective expense.

Not all natural resources are as easily valued as others. Here is one example of how natural resources can be valued in actual money terms. The value of conserving wetlands for flood protection in one city has been estimated at just under US$ 5 million, based on the value of flood damages avoided.

Some further ideas to explore on Natural Wealth Accounts:

Select a species or ecosystem near your school, in your neighborhood or in your area and see if you can calculate, in euros or pounds, what value it has to your community.

Compare the value of this natural resource with some other resource in the area. For example, is a nearby road of more value to your community than, say, a wetland.

Sources:

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB): Mainstreaming the Economics of Nature: A synthesis of the approach, conclusions and recommendations of TEEB A synthesis of various reports issued as part of the TEEB project and intended to show how economic concepts and tools can help equip society with the means to incorporate the values of nature into decision making at all levels.
http://www.teebweb.org/TEEBFinalReport/tabid/29410/Default.aspx

Dr. Cathy Maguire, Biodiversity and Ecosystems – Ireland’s Undervalued Economic Assets in the “Articles” section of the November 2010 issue of irish environment

John A. Dixon and Kirk Hamilton, Expanding the Measure of Wealth, “Finance & Development,” International Monetary Fund, December 1996.
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/1996/12/

Richard Conniff, “What Are Species Worth? Putting a Price on Biodiversity” Yale Environment 360 http://e360.yale.edu/feature/what_are_species_worth_putting_a_price_on_biodiversity/2322/

“India set to be first country to publish 'natural wealth' accounts” See link to article in “News” section of irish environment for Wednesday, October 20, 2010 (Archive for October).

MECHANICAL BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT

Mon, 4 Oct 2010 15:22:36 -0400

The term, abbreviated as MBT, refers to a process for handling waste that serves as an alternative to landfilling or incineration, or a process that reduces substantially what waste has to be landfilled or incinerated. In MBT, certain constituents of a waste stream, and it is most often applied to household or municipal waste, are separated by mechanical means and certain constituents are biologically treated. The intent is to re-use, recycle or treat the waste in part to reduce the organic content before the residue is landfilled.

The mechanical treatment includes sorting out different kinds of metals, shredding or reducing the size of materials and other forms of screening materials. The process separates out metals, glass and what is called a high heat value fraction also known as Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) used to generate energy.

The amount of waste remaining can be subjected to a biological treatment that includes aerobic decomposition and anaerobic digestion that reduces the volume and organic content of the remaining waste. Anaerobic digestion breaks down the biodegradable component of the waste to produce biogas and soil improver. The biogas can be used to generate electricity and heat. Some of this material can be used for landfill cover. Biological treatment can also refer to a composting stage. Here the organic component is treated with aerobic microorganisms. They break down the waste into carbon dioxide and compost.

Some of the waste still has to be landfilled, or incinerated, but this waste is generally inert and it reduces the waste volume to be deposited to at least a half thus extending the lifetime of the landfill.

Some further ideas to explore on Mechanical Biological Treatment:

Identify the constituents of municipal waste that can be subjected to MBT and which process (mechanical or biological) is applicable.

For each constituent identified above, what waste remains after treatment and how is that waste disposed?

Can we eliminate incineration by adopting MBT?

Sources:

Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Guide to the Regulation of Outputs from the Composting and Mechanical Biological Treatment of Waste, January 2009.

Guinan, B. Kristiansen, T. Milton, D. "Critical Analysis of the Potential of Mechanical Biological Treatment for Irish waste Management". Associated datasets and digital information objects connected to this resource are available at: Secure Archive For Environmental Research Data (SAFER) managed by Environmental Protection Agency Ireland http://erc.epa.ie/safer/resource?id=d22d6f8a-217b-102c-b381-901ddd016b14

European Environment Agency, Diverting waste from landfill: Effectiveness of wastemanagement policies in the European Union (Report No 7/2009).

CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE

Wed, 1 Sep 2010 14:45:40 -0400

The term “carbon capture and storage,” or CCS, refers to the process by which carbon dioxide (CO2) gases are separated from other material in emissions from fossil-fuel (coal and gas) power plants, industrial processes, and other stationary sources of CO2 and converted to forms that allow the CO2 to be transported to a site where it is stored without being able to be released into the atmosphere, often a subsurface geologic formation. The purpose is to reduce the amount of CO2 being released into the atmosphere as CO2 emissions are one of the major contributors to global climate change. The process is key to efforts to reduce or eliminate the emissions attributable to coal-fired power plants in particular as coal remains an abundantly available and inexpensive source of energy in a number of countries, including the United States and China. Coal is also one of the most carbon-intensive, or dirtiest, sources of energy.

The CO2 is most often captured after the fossil fuel is burned but can be removed before combustion. One major problem with CCS is that the capture of the CO2 requires a lot of energy, is therefore expensive and unless that energy source is low-carbon the process merely exacerbates the global climate change risk.

After capture, the gases can be compressed or turned into liquids in order to transport the CO2, usually by a pipeline, to wherever it is going to be stored. While storage in the ocean has been considered, many believe this option presents too many risks as the concentrations of CO2 can kill ocean organisms and increase the acidity of the ocean. More typically, the CO2 can be stored in geologic formations, such as deep saline formations, oil and gas reservoirs, and unmineable coal seams. For years it has been the practice of oil companies to inject CO2 into oil fields that are declining as a means of enhancing production. One problem with storing CO2 in oil fields or coal seams is that more oil is produced or methane escapes from the coal seams, and so any benefit from storing the CO2 from one source simply creates more greenhouse gases from the storage process.

Some further ideas to explore on Carbon Capture and Storage:

Identify existing CCS projects and evaluate whether they are successful.

What government policies, if any, are necessary to support the development and expansion of CCS.

Identify the environmental and health risks, if any, associated with CCS.

Sources:

European Enviornmental Agency, “Capturing Carbon: A new front in the fight against climate change,” http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/climate/multimedia/capturing-carbon-a-new-front-in-the-fight-against-climate-change/view

US Environmental Protection Agency, Report of the Interagency Task Force on Carbon Capture and Storage (August 2010) http://www.epa.gov/climate/climatechange/policy/ccs_task_force.html

Green Facts, “Scientific Facts on CO2 Capture and Storage”
http://www.greenfacts.org/en/co2-capture-storage/

HYDRAULIC FRACTURING

Wed, 4 Aug 2010 08:38:13 -0400

Using pressurized fluids to crack rocks to extract natural fossil fuels is called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The process is used to extract oil or gas from impermeable or tight geologic formations, such as shale rock formations and tight sands. The pressurized fluids, including water and chemical additives, open or enlarge fractures in the rock. Sand or other material is then pumped into the fractures to keep the fractures open. The water and chemical additives are returned to the surface and gas flows from pores and fractures in the rock into an existing well for extraction.

While the process has been used since the 1940s in the US to increase production from oil wells, it is now increasingly being used to extract gas from shale formations. Concerns are rising about the threats to groundwater and public health from the chemicals in the fluids. In the United States, there have been reported instances of groundwater contamination and illnesses from the fracking and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently carry out a research project to determine the nature and scope of any risks associated with fracturing.

Some further ideas to explore on Hydraulic Fracturing:

See if you can find any data or information on what chemicals are used by the gas extraction industry in fracking and what risks there are from those chemicals.

If you cannot find information or data, what issues does that create for assessing the impacts from fracking?

Sources:

“Hydraulic Fracturing,” US EPA at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/uic/wells_hydrofrac.html

Mark Zoback Saya Kitasei Brad Copithorne, Addressing the Environmental Risks from Shale Gas Development, Worldwatch Institute, July 2010 http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6421

“Philadelphia seeks ban on hydraulic fracturing,” Reuters/ENN News, March 26, 2010 http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/41147

Update: 27 Feb 2011

“Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers,” The New York Times, 27 February 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/us/27gas.html?_r=1&ref=us

Update: 1 Nov 2011

Osborn, SG, A Vengosh, NR Warner, RB Jackson, “Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas‐well drilling and hydraulic fracturing.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (May 17, 2011). http://www.pnas.org/content/108/20/8172

Robert B. Jackson, Brooks Rainey Pearson, Stephen G. Osborn,
Nathaniel R. Warner, Avner Vengosh, Research and Policy Recommendations for Hydraulic Fracturing and Shale-Gas Extraction (Duke University)
http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/research-and-policy-recommendations-for-hydraulic-fracturing-and-shale-gas

ONE-OFF HOUSING

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 06:24:18 -0400

The term sounds innocuous enough but it can raise strong emotions. In Ireland, it most often refers to the practice of building single homes, often quite large in comparison with nearby traditional farmhouses or cottages, outside urban areas. Such houses are built along the roads with their own sewage system (septic tank) and their own water from a well or private water scheme.

The concerns raised about such housing is that it tends to spread across the countryside impinging on what otherwise is clean, undeveloped open countryside much admired by tourists and others. Some go so far as to describe this development as a blight on the landscape. Others object because the houses are built outside of, or in spite of local, regional, or national planning policies. Others object to such housing as it is unsustainable, i.e., it is heavily dependent on cars, generating more greenhouse gas emissions than denser residences in urban areas with public transport, and it costs government substantially more to service such housing. Such housing is similar to what is called, critically, ribbon development in the United States. Tight planning laws and regulations, and enforcement of same, in the UK, not including Northern Ireland, have prevented one-off housing from proliferating across that countryside.

People in the countryside argue that they are entitled to build homes for their family members, or others, on their land.

Some further ideas to explore on One-Off Housing:

Can you identify a one-off house? What does it look like?

Take a survey and identify the one-off housing in your area and determine what advantages such houses offer and what disadvantages.

In considering the advantages and disadvantages, don’t forget to include the impact on public interests, not just the impact on the owners of the property.

Sources:

An Taisce National Trust for Ireland http://www.antaisce.org/Policies/PoliciesonRuralBuiltEnvironment/tabid/186/language/en-US/Default.aspx

http://www.irishplanninginstitute.ie/ipi/news-article/ipi-plan-awards-2010-press-release/

Frank McDonald and James Nix, Chaos at the Crossroads (Kinsale, Ireland: Gandon Books, 2005).

See Interview with Ian Lumley, An Taisce The National Trust for Ireland, on planning issues, including one-off hopusing, in “Podcasts” section of irish environment

See the iePEDIA entries for “Sustainable Growth” and “Urban Sprawl” in irish environment

SMART METERING

Wed, 2 Jun 2010 09:25:51 -0400

You are familiar with electric meters located outside your house or apartment that measures the amount of electricity you use, measured in kilowatts per hour (Kwh). You pay the utility company a certain amount for each Kwh used. These traditional meters show just the total amount of energy consumed and generally are read only by the utility company, which has to come to your residence to read it and to determine what you owe.

Smart meters are an advanced device that measures how much is being consumed and when. The meter feeds that information not only to the consumer inside their home, so they can see what and when they’re consuming, but also to the utility company so it can determine usage behavior of customers and when most energy is being used and can read your meter at their offices. More energy is used in morning and especially the evening after school and work, less during the day and at night. With the information provided by the smart meters, utilities can study this different usage at different times and charge accordingly, higher rates for peak periods, much as phone companies often do. It’s classic feedback to the consumer and utility company.

With a smart meter, you can actually see the effect of using appliances and equipment as you use them — real-time or near-time information — and calculate how much that usage is costing you. With this information, consumers can adjust their behavior and hopefully save money and contribute to less energy being used, with savings in greenhouse gas emissions.

Smart meters are most often used to measure electricity usage but they can also measure gas usage and a version may be used for assessing water charges. Some meters allow for determining the amount of energy exported from a home to the national grid,at times when a wind turbine or solar panels may provide more energy than the household needs,so-called microgeneration.

Some further ideas to explore on Smart Metering:

Using your existing meter, presumably a dumb meter, try figuring out how much electricity you use each hour of the day.

Then try to figure out what appliances or particular usages account for the different rates of usage through the day.

Try this at your school, if you can get cooperation from teachers and managers.

Resources:

RoI Department of Communication, Energy and Natural Resources http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/Press+Releases/Important+Milestone+in+National+Smart+Metering+Plan.htm

RoI Commission for Energy Regulation, responsible for testing use of smart meters in Republic of Ireland at http://www.cer.ie/

UK Department of Energy and Climate Change http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/consumers/smart_meters/smart_meters.aspx

http://www.smartmetering.eu/

RISK ASSESSMENT

Wed, 5 May 2010 08:58:05 -0400

The meaning of “risk assessment” can be elusive as many people and professions use the term in different ways and for different purposes. So it is always useful to understand the context in which the term is being used.

Here we refer to the concept in the field of environmental risk assessment. In its Code of Practice: Environmental Risk Assessment For Unregulated Waste Disposal Sites, the Republic of Ireland (RoI) EPA defines risk assessment as a means of considering “the likelihood of occurrence and the consequences of the occurrence of an event. It represents a systematic means of determining and evaluating the nature, effect and extent of exposure a vulnerable receptor may experience in relation to a particular hazard.” In such approaches, the focus is on identifying the source(s) of contaminants and their toxicity, the pathway by which the contaminants can reach a “receptor,” i.e., people, animals, the environment. Pathways typically are air, surface or ground water, sediments in water, and contact with solid materials, including soils.

A chemical can be hazardous, or dangerous, because it has toxic properties, for example dioxin. But if the dioxin sits in a safe container in a lab and does not come into contact with any living thing, then it presents no actual risk. If the dioxin is released into the air, say from an industrial explosion, then a risk assessment would evaluate the toxicity of the dioxin, the level of dioxin released, whether any person or animals or the environment were exposed to the dioxin and to what extent.

The environmental risk assessment is used by government agencies, and others, to determine what risks exist at a particular site or facility or as a result of some event, such as an explosion and it serves as the basis for decision-making on how to eliminate or reduce the risks.

Some further ideas to explore on Risk Assessment:

See if can identify some chemical or contaminant to which people in your home, school, or community are exposed.

Learn as much as you can about the chemical or contaminant, especially its dangers.
See if you can measure or estimate the level of exposure to which anyone was exposed and how the chemical or contaminant got to the people.

Now try to assess the extent or level of risk presented.

Finally, what can you do to eliminate or substantially reduce the risk.

Resources:

For an example of a risk assessment applied to genetically modified micro-organisms, see http://www.epa.ie/whatwedo/licensing/gmo/contained/risk/

EU, Environmental Risk Assessment - Approaches, Experiences and Information Sources (Environmental issue report No 4, 24 Mar 1998) http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/GH-07-97-595-EN-i2/chapter1h.html

US EPA http://www.epa.gov/riskassessment/

LANDSCAPE CHARACTER ASSESSMENT

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 10:44:40 -0400

Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) is a tool for identifying the features that give a locality its particular 'sense of place' and can be used to categorize the landscape into areas of similar character. The LCA grew out of the European Landscape Convention (ELC), the first international convention to focus on the protection, management and planning of all landscapes in Europe. The UK and Ireland ratified the convention and it became binding on 1 March 2007. LCA is another tool in aid of sustainable development and biodiversity protection and is important for planning efforts.

The Irish Planning and Development Act, 2000, introduced requirements for preservation of the character of the landscape and made statutory provision for areas of special amenity and landscape conservation areas. The Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government (DoEHLG) issued draft Landscape and Landscape Assessment Guidelines, also in 2000, with the aims of heightening awareness of landscape issues, guiding planners, and indicating specific requirements for development planning and control. The Guidelines set out concepts of landscape character, value and sensitivity and how these should be assessed, and suggested that the landscape character areas should be the principal spatial framework for landscape policy.

In Northern Ireland, the current legislative basis for protecting landscapes is the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands Order (NI) 1985 (NCALO) under which landscape areas can be designated as either Areas of
Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) or National Parks. When so designated, the Department of the Environment may take steps to manage them for the purposes of both conservation and recreation.

In Northern Ireland, a Landscape Character Assessment 2000 identified 130 distinct landscape character areas as fragile landscapes which are at risk from new development pressures. Following the 2000 Assessment, the government adopted Shared Horizons: Statement of Policy on Protected Landscapes in Northern Ireland (February 2003). The “shared” nature of the policy recognizes that much of the designated land is in private ownership and subject to management responsibilities with numerous agencies and local authorities.

Some further ideas to explore on Landscape Character Assessment:

Review the Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) for your area, if there is one, and determine who prepared it and by what method. Evaluate the assessment and decide if it accurately portrays your landscape. If not, offer revisions of the LCA to the agency or authority that prepared it.

If there is no LCA for your area, prepare one and offer it to the appropriate agency or authority.

If a character assessment can be done for landscape, take the same principles and see if you can do a character assessment for a streetscape in your neighborhood or in the nearest town or village.

Resources:

Northern Ireland Landscape Character Assessment http://www.ni-environment.gov.uk/landscape/country_landscape.htm

Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) in Ireland: Baseline Audit and Evaluation, prepared by Julie Martin Associates in Association with Alison Farmer Associates, for the An Chomhairle Oidhreachta /The Heritage Council (2007). Irish Heritage Council http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/planning/heritage-council-initiatives/national-evaluation-of-landscape-character-assessment-in-ireland/

Council of Europe, European Landscape Convention http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/html/176.htm

Landscape Alliance Ireland at http://www.landscape-forum-ireland.com/landscape-f-i-noticeboard.html

Natural England http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/landscape/default.aspx

Landscape Character Network at http://www.landscapecharacter.org.uk/

COMMON FISHERIES POLICY (EU)

Mon, 1 Mar 2010 13:09:14 -0500

The European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the way the EU manages fisheries and aquaculture throughout the EU. At the beginning of the common market, the focus was on assuring that fishermen from member states had equal access to the waters of all member states. When the right to fishing resources for each member state was extended from 12 to 200 miles from coastlines, and as technology drove industry to bigger and more efficient ships, the fishing rights became very valuable and very contentious. The formal EU-wide CFP was initially adopted in 1983 and reformed in 2003.

Two key components of the CFP are Total Allowable Catches (TACs) which are fixed maximum quantities of fish that can be caught from a specific stock over a given period of time, and Species Quota, a limit on the number of any particular species of fish that can be caught.

The changes in the CFP over the years have been designed to insure a sustainable development of fishing activities and to balance the competing interests of environmental, economic and social groups. The CFP costs only 0.75% of the EU budget, a pale comparison with the 48% of the EU budget devoted to implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy. However, fishing jobs tend to concentrate in remote regions of the EU and the CFP is one way of contributing to the development or viability of these regions.

In 2008, the EU Commission initiated a review of the CFP. It seems far to say that nobody is very happy with how the CFP has evolved or is being implemented. By and large, commercial fishing businesses believe that the livelihood of its members are threatened by the CFP, and environmental organizations believe that the fishing resources of the planet are threatened by overfishing. Everybody seems to agree that if fishing stocks are destroyed, everybody suffers.

The status of fishing resources within the EU has become critically at risk. The present situation is that 30% of the stocks, for which information exists, are outside safe biological levels and 80% of EU stocks are fished above maximum sustainable yield. This compares to the global average of 25% stocks fished above maximum sustainable yield.

The EU published a Green Paper on the CFP and invited all stakeholders that have an interest in the CFP to make submissions offering criticisms and ways of developing a sustainable fishing industry that protects fishing resources for future generations.

Note: See the “Articles” Section of irish environment for several article on overfishing and EU CFP.

Some further ideas to explore on Common Fisheries Policy (EU):

Have different people in a group assume the role of: a representative of commercial fishing business; a recreational fisher person; an owner of a shop that sells fish; a national government agency staff person who has responsibility for setting national fishing rights policies; and a representative of an environmental organisation.

Let each person argue for a particular position on the EU Common Fisheries Policy, or one particular aspect of that Policy, based on the role they are playing;

Let everybody else play the role of a public organization that has to decide on what policy to adopt, and let them offer analysis and criticism of each argument;

Let everybody decide on what policy for the public organization to adopt.

Identify the interests in common between commercial fishing businesses and environmentalists.

Resources:

EU Common Fisheries Policy ttp://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp_en.htm

“EU Factsheets”, a web-based resource and teaching aide on the European union by Civitas, The Institute for the Study of Civil Society. http://www.civitas.org.uk/eufacts/FSPOL/AG5.htm

EU Commission Working Document on Common Fisheries Policy http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/publications/factsheets/legal_texts/reflection_cfp_08_en.pdf

“Common Fisheries Policy”, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Fisheries_Policy

GREEN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

Mon, 1 Feb 2010 16:46:23 -0500

The European Union Commission states that “Green public procurement means that public purchasers take account of environmental factors when buying products, services or works". The concept is also called Green Buying of environmentally sustainable or friendly (green) products and services. Sometimes these products and services can have higher upfront costs but generally are more cost-effective over the long term, accounting for energy savings. Such practices have the additional value of often reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions since most environmentally sustainable products do use less fossil fuels and emit lower levels of GHGs or are even carbon free. The movement toward green procurement grew out of Agenda 21, the comprehensive blueprint of action adopted by the UN at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June1992.

Implementing a Green Public Procurement (GPP) policy can be as simple as buying recycled paper and more efficient light bulbs, recycling waste or reducing water usage and thus saving on waste and water service charges. It can also get much more complicated when addressing purchases of transportation, energy and buildings.

Public agencies are often one of the largest purchasers of goods and services and so they often drive the market for the kinds of products and services private businesses are willing and able to supply. In Europe, public authorities spend some 16% of the European Union’s gross domestic product. By using their purchasing power to opt for goods and services that also respect the environment, they can make an important contribution towards sustainable development.

An important side-effect is the development of a supply chain for environmentally sustainable products and services that can then cost-effectively feed private purchases. If the government demands an efficient product, someone will develop it and then look for sales of the same product in the private market.

Identifying what is and what is not an environmentally friendly or sustainable product or service is not always easy as there is a lot of misleading labeling in the market place (Note: see entry on “Green Washing” in the “iePEDIA”section of irish environment). A concerted and wide-spread green public procurement operation also can serve as leverage for suppliers to adopt a reasonable and transparent certification process to insure the products and services are truly environmentally sustainable, or face a government-imposed standard.

Some further ideas to explore on Green Public Procurement:

Assume the role of purchasing agent for your school, local government or regional authority, and devise a plan for going green in your procurement practices.

Pick a product and assess how that product could be more sustainable, and then determine how you can convince the manufacturer to make that product in a more sustainable way.

Pick a service and assess how that service could be more sustainable, and then determine how you can convince the provider to offer that service in a more sustainable way.

Resources:

EU Green Public Procurement at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/index_en.htm

For a study of EU GPP implementation in several countries see:
http://www.thevalueofgreen.com/information

UN on Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development at http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/

US EPA “Green Procurement” at
http://www.epa.gov/region02/sustainability/greencommunities/procurement.html

SMART GROWTH

Mon, 4 Jan 2010 13:14:48 -0500

The concept is another term that encompasses many of the same principles as “sustainable development.” While “sustainable development” grew out of a concern for unbridled economic development, where natural resources were neglected or obliterated, the concept of “smart growth” was formulated by some in the architecture and planning fields as an antidote to the specific problem of “urban sprawl” where planning decisions lead to heavy car-reliance and residential properties spread widely across the landscape with little sense of a community life. See entries for “sustainable development” and “urban sprawl” in iePEDIA on this website.

In one sense, sustainable development stresses the protection of natural resources in the face of pressures from economic development and smart growth seeks to apply those principles in an urban planning context. As a result, smart growth concentrates on planning and transportation issues and promotes growth in the center of a city combined with public transport, and use of bicycles, reliance on local schools and mixed-use developments where work and living are not separated by great distances, and land-use decisions that support these principles. Enhancing a sense of community is an important corollary to these environmental protection efforts.

The term is more widely used in the US but a comparable term used within the EU context is “eco-efficiency” which is a “strategy enabling sufficient de-linking of the use of nature from economic activity, needed to meet human needs (welfare), to keep it within carrying capacities; and to allow equitable access to, and use of the environment, by current and future generations.” It would appear that eco-efficiency has been replaced, by and large by the term “sustainable development,” whereas in the US “smart growth” remains in wide use along with “sustainable development.”

Some further ideas to explore on Smart Growth:

Develop a definition of “dumb growth.”

How can you use environmental protection actions to promote a sense of community?

Where can you walk in your neighborhood? How can you expand the areas in your neighborhood where people can walk safely?

Resources:

Dorothy Stewart, “Smart Growth in Ireland: From Rhetoric to Reality,” Progress in Irish Urban Studies, Vol. 1, Issue 2, 2005, pp.21-30
www.fius.ie/Documents/Dstewart_PIUS_Vol1_Issue2.pdf

http://reports.eea.europa.eu/eea_report_2006_10/en/eea_report_10_2006.pdf

http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/about_sg.htm

http://www.smartgrowth.org/about/default.asp

“Making sustainability accountable: Eco-efficiency, resource productivity and innovation’ EEA Topic report No 11/1999 http://glossary.eea.europa.eu/terminology/sitesearch?term=smart+growth

BIODIVERSITY

Mon, 4 Jan 2010 13:06:50 -0500

In its simplest meaning, “biodiversity” is a shortened form of the phrase “biological diversity.” Biodiversity means the diversity of life in all its forms — the diversity of species, of genetic variations within species, and of ecosystems. Biodiversity includes the whole variety of life on Earth, from coral reefs to the Arctic ice. Biodiversity is, in a sense, what we used to call "nature."

Biodiversity provides us with a wide range of beneﬁts, such as important goods (like timber and medicinal products) and essential services (like carbon cycling and storage, clean water, climate mitigation, mitigation of natural hazards, and pollination). The ﬁnancial value of the goods and services provided by ecosystems and species — by life on earth — has been estimated at EUR 26 trillion per year — more than half the value of what humans produce each year.

Many species and ecosystems are at risk from a variety of causes, including loss of food supplies, poisoning from pesticides, mechanisation in large-scale commercial farming practices, and land-use changes especially for residential and commercial developments. Climate change impacts on species and ecosystems threaten to eliminate substantial number of species and destroy entire ecosystems.

To address these problems, and preserve our biodiversity, the UN sponsored the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which was opened for signatures at the famous Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and entered into force on December 29, 1993. Ireland and the UK, as well as other EU members, have signed the CBD. On the 10th anniversary of the CBD, the parties committed themselves “to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on earth.”

Some further ideas to explore on Biodiversity:

Can you identify all the forms of biodiversity in your immediate surrounding, whether a home and yard, an apartment, a caravan?

Identify what your governments are doing to reach the goal set out to reduce biodiversity loss by 2010? How successful are they?

Which species and ecosystems in your area are most at risk? And what can you, your school, your community do to reduce the risks?

How does one calculate the value, in economic terms, of a part of the biodiversity or of all biodiversity? Is economics the most useful form of valuation of biodiversity?

Resources:

RoI EPA “Glossary of Terms.” http://www.epa.ie/glossary/

For programs in the RoI, see the National Biodiversity Data Centre at http://www.biodiversityireland.ie/

For the NI Environment Agency programs on biodiversity, see http://www.ni-environment.gov.uk/biodiversity.htm

For background on EU programs, see http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/biodiversity

GEOENGINEERING

Tue, 1 Dec 2009 15:50:44 -0500

Climate change risks can be addressed by individual action, by community initiatives, and by national and international policies and agreements. Another weapon in the arsenal to fight climate change is geoengineering that provides large scale technical fixes.

Climate change could be modified if the sun is blocked or heat is sent back out into the stratosphere. To accomplish this, geoengineering projects have considered loading the stratosphere with millions of tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) that react with oxygen, water and other substances forming sulfate droplets. These droplets help to block the sun and reduce warming. The process mimics the effect of volcanoes that discharge SO2 blocking the sun and cooling the earth. Such large-scale engineered actions are largely untested and many questions remain about their efficacy — how much SO2 would be necessary, how would it be delivered, at what cost. Other proposals include spraying seawater into the air to whiten and increase clouds to reflect sun rays away from the earth.

Before you dismiss such ideas as more Star Wars than science, be advised that the US Congressional Committee on Science and Technology scheduled hearings on geoengineering in November 2009, the UK parliament has already held hearings on geoengineering, and research funds are beginning to be directed to testing such proposals.

Some propose considering, and testing, such geoengineering projects as temporary fixes while global agreements are reached and policies and practices can be implemented to reduce greenhouse gases and communities can drastically reduce or eliminate carbon-based energy and fuel systems. Others fear that such hard-engineering projects will offer the possibly false hope of a quick fix and undermine the very hard policy choices that are blocking international agreements. The danger exists that a quick engineered solution might offer the seductive choice of continuing profligate consumption.

Some further ideas to explore on Geoengineering:

Identify a geoengineering approach to climate change and determine its realistic possibilities and its enviromental and economic costs and benefits.

How would you convince a political body to adopt this geoengineering approach?

Would you consider carbon sequestration a geoengineering project? If so, why? If not, why?

Does the RoI or NI, individually or jointly, have the resources to develop or implement any geoengineering projects?

Sources:

Robert Kunzig, “Geoengineering: How to Cool Earth--At a Price,” Scientific American (November 2008).
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=geoengineering-how-to-cool-earth

Diana Bronson, “Geoengineering: Plan B for when Copenhagen fails? eek!” (November 4, 2009) http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2009/11/04/geoengineering-plan-b-for-when-copenhagen-fails/

Bjørnar Egede-Nissen and Henry David Venema, “Desperate Times, Desperate Measures: Advancing the geoengineering debate at the Arctic Council,” International Institute for Sustainable Development (August 2009)

GREENWASHING

Tue, 1 Dec 2009 15:47:15 -0500

Greenwashing is a play on the term “whitewash” which means to “gloss over or cover up, or to exonerate by means of a perfunctory investigation or through biased presentation of data.” Merriman-Webster Dictionary. Presumably this negative meaning of whitewash derives from the use of whitewash (water and lime) to brighten up a cottage at almost no cost. To greenwash is to give a product or activity a positive environmental glow without actually providing any concrete or real environmental benefit from the product or action. It is a use of words and images to deceive.

“Greenwash is an environmental claim which is unsubstantiated (a fib) or irrelevant (a distraction). Found in advertising, PR or on packaging, and made about people, organisations and products. Greenwash is an old concept,
wrapped in a very modern incarnation.”

An antidote to greenwashing is eco-certification which is a process through which an independent agency — either a government entity, a non-governmental organization (NGO), or an industry consortium —verifies that a certain more sustainable practice has been followed in the production of a given good or service. The EU administers an organic standard in Europe, sometimes called “biological” agriculture that is a form of eco-certification.

Some further ideas to explore on Greenwashing:

Identify several instances of greenwashing of a product, a service, a political ad or campaign, and analyze how it creates the greenwash effect.

Then write to the persons, companies or organizations responsible, explain how their words, images or actions constitute greenwashing and are deceptive, and demand they stop.

Does the act of whitewashing a cottage with lime and water have a negative meaning? If not, then how did the term “whitewash” develop such a negative meaning?

Resources:

http://www.greenwashing.net/ a website that keeps track of and reports on companies, politicians, and others that attempt to greenwash

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whitewash

the greenwash guide, futerra sustainability communications

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 09:46:30 -0500

There is no standard understanding of Green Infrastructure (GI), but there are a number of common strands. GI refers to natural, semi-natural and managed green areas in both urban and rural settings that promote the connection of open green areas at all levels. In urban areas, GI is about putting the environment at the centre of the planning process and producing a network of spaces with benefits for people and wildlife. In rural areas, GI is often viewed at a larger scale, encompassing large country or regional parks, extensive habitats, major landscape features and the identification of wide green corridors and ecological networks.

Ongoing developments and land-use changes, such as the development of transport routes, energy generation, agricultural intensification and urban sprawl, are contributing to fragmentation that poses one of the most significant threats to ecosystem survival. Green infrastructure re-connects habitats that had been separated by development creating physical space for natural processes to take place. Linking fragmented habitats and landscape features is more beneficial than designating isolated patches and creating new spaces for wildlife. It allows the dispersal and migration of individual species and whole habitats, which will become increasingly important with climate change.

An example of the application of GI can be found in ways of addressing the need for water supplies. It is predicted that Dublin will need a new source of water by 2016. Collecting and using rainwater, rather than letting it run off into streets and sewers and water bodies, called “harvesting rainwater,” can minimise costly water abstraction and transport systems and help reduce flooding. Rainwater harvesting also avoids wasting energy and generating emissions in cleaning water for use. The harvested rainwater can be used within buildings, urban gardens, parks and other green spaces.

Flooding and extreme wet weather will be a major challenge in the future. To date it has been the most economically damaging aspect of climate change. One of the best ways to mitigate the impact of flood risk is by restoring flood plains, another instance of GI. These spaces also can be used for recreation and wildlife habitats. GI also can provide space to grow healthy, organically and locally produced food contributing to healthy diets for local communities. This can be through supplying allotments, community gardens or orchards from derelict plots.

Green infrastructure enhances the amount and quality of biodiversity in an area. However, it also provides social and economic benefits for people such as a healthier environment, a place for recreation and education and a more attractive place for people to live, work and invest in.

Green infrastructure is essential for the protection and enhancement of ecosystem goods and services underpinning our quality of life. GI is as critical as traditional infrastructure, such as transport and energy networks.

Niamh Kirwan, Policy Analyst, Comhar Sustainable Development Council,
This text is derived from web materials developed by Comhar SDC. You can access the full article with references on www.comharsdc.ie

Some further ideas to explore on Green Infrastructure:

How is green infrastructure more beneficial than unconnected green spaces?

Identify cases when it is better to provide separate spaces for wildlife and humans and when it is beneficial to provide mixed-use spaces?

Design an urban green space that provides benefits for both humans and wildlife. How would you obtain the funds to make that plan happen?

Resources:

UCD Urban Institute Ireland, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council & Fingal County Council (2008) Green City Guidelines: Advice for the protection and enhancement of biodiversity in medium to high-density urban developments, Available on http://www.uep.ie/news/greencity.htm

CABE (2009) Open Space Strategies, Available on http://www.cabe.org.uk/publications/open-space-strategies

Green Space Scotland (2009) Making the Links, Available on http://www.greenspacescotland.org.uk/default.asp?page=506

Milton Keynes and South Midlands Environment and Quality of Life Sub Group (2005) Planning Sustainable Communities, Available on http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/pdf/GeAN0305BIWY-e-e.pdf

Natural England (2009) Green Infrastructure Guidance, Available on http://naturalengland.etraderstores.com/NaturalEnglandShop/NE176

NECF (2005) Green Infrastructure Planning Guide Version 1.1, North East Community Forests, Available on http://www.greeninfrastructure.eu/images/GREEN_INFRASTRUCTURE_PLANNING_GUIDE.pdf

North West Green Infrastructure Think Tank (2008) North West Green Infrastructure Guide, Available on http://www.greeninfrastructurenw.co.uk/resources/GIguide.pdf

Town and Country Planning Association, Communities and Local Government and Natural England (2008) The Essential Role of Green Infrastructure, Available on http://www.tcpa.org.uk/pages/green-infrastructure.html

Agriculture, Nature and Food Policy (2005) Ecological networks experiences in the Netherlands, Available on http://www.minlnv.nl/portal/page?_pageid=116,1640321&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&p_file_id=14783

The US EPA uses the term GI to refer to the use of natural systems to manage wastewater or other ecological problems, in contrast to using traditional “grey infrastructure,” such as constructed impoundments and large scale piping systems. See, Managing Wet Weather with Green Infrastructure, http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=298

GREEN NEW DEAL

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 09:41:40 -0500

The term “Green New Deal” is derived from the term “New Deal” coined by the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who became President of the United States in 1933 during the Depression. At that time in the US, the banks were closed, unemployment was 25%, and higher in places, farming prices had fallen steeply, and tens of thousands of mortgages were being foreclosed. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” included a set of programs designed to lift the US economy out of the depression. In light of the severe and widespread economic recession in the RoI, NI, the UK, EU, US and elsewhere, governments are looking for examples of how others recovered from economic tough times, and Roosevelt’s New Deal seems appropriate since it was successful.

The Green New Deal (GND) is not just an economic recovery plan, however, as it also requires that any action taken to rebuild the economy be based on environmentally sustainable development principles. For many, this element of a sustainable development is necessary because the recession resulted, in part, from practices and policies and lifestyles that were not sustainable. They were fueled by a frenzy to acquire and consume without any sense of the limits to the natural resources on which development depends.

Many governments and NGOs have adopted some form of a Green New Deal and the particular components depend largely on the socioeconomic underpinnings to the organization. Central to most such programs is the recognition that any economic recovery must also address the looming crisis of global climate change and the related strain on energy production. In particular, an economy with an energy system dependent on fossil fuels must be replaced with a low carbon economy dependent on locally produced and distributed renewable energy sources, most importantly wind, solar, and wave. Some GNDs promote fundamental reform of the financing and banking institutions, while others incorporate principles of social justice,

Some further ideas to explore on Green New Deal:

What organizations are supporting a Green New Deal where you live? Is there anyone or any organization opposing a Green New Deal?

How would your job or plans for a career be affected by any Green New Deal if it were adopted? Would you benefit or be at a disadvantage?

Often a Green New Deal talks about creating “green jobs.” What is a “green job” and how do you recognize one? Is a person who picks up your trash engaged in a green job? How about someone who works in a nuclear power plant? Or someone who works in a garden center?

Resources:

“New Deal” at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal

“Sustainable Development” in iePEDIA at www.irishenvironment.com

“Towards a Green New Deal for Ireland,” Comhar Sustainable Development Council, at http://www.comharsdc.ie/

The UK Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) published their version of a ‘Sustainable New Deal’ for the United Kingdom in April 2009. http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications.php?id=928

“A Green New Deal: Joined-up policies to solve the triple crunch of the credit crisis, climate change and high oil prices,” The Green New Deal Group, UK at http://www.greennewdealgroup.org/ This form of GND pushes for fundamental reforms of the UK, and even global, financing and banking institutions. It also offers a clear and useful discussion of the financing and banking practices.

PARTICULATE MATTER

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:32:49 -0400

“Particulate matter,” or PM, can refer to matter found in sea spray and dust but it is most often used to refer to the complex mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets that constituent the pollution associated with the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and peat and emissions from road traffic, in particular diesel engines. PM that is less than ten micrometres in size (PM10) and smaller, such as PM 2.5 and what is called Fine Particulates, penetrate deep into the respiratory system increasing the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular disorders. Particle pollution is made up of a number of components, including acids (such as nitrates and sulfates), organic chemicals, metals, and soil or dust particles.” PM can be emitted directly from burning of fossil fuels (primary PM) and it can form by reactions of gases such as sulphur dioxide and ammonia (secondary PM).

Until about several years ago, air pollution from burning of fossil fuels was measured as “black smoke.” EU Directive 1999/30/EC (CEC, 1999) replaced black smoke as a measure of air pollution and adopted PM as the new measure. The EU established limit values for PM10 mass concentration levels. The PM10 daily mean limit of 50 ug/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter) should not be exceeded more than 35 times per calendar year. The annual mean PM10 limit value is 40 ug/m3.

When weather conditions trap air on the surface, especially in urban areas, the PM can be especially dangerous. The London Fog of December 1952, through a combined weather inversion and heavy use of coal for domestic fireplaces, trapped black smoke, or PM, for several days killing from 4,000 to 12,000 people.

Some further ideas to explore on PM:

Can you identify all the sources of PM within 300 meters of your home, school, church, or other location.

Where is the nearest location of any measuring device that samples for PM. How does it measure for PM and how frequently?

How can we control the levels of PM in the air we breathe, especially PM emissions from road traffic?

Resources:

See resources cited in footnotes above, and:

European Community emission inventory report 1990-2007 under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP), Technical report No 8/2009
at http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/lrtap-emission-inventory-report-1990-2007

Particulate matter – air quality http://www.epa.ie/environment/air/quality/pm/

http://glossary.eea.europa.eu/terminology/concept_html?term=particulate%20matter

http://www.epa.gov/air/particlepollution/

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:31:45 -0400

The concept of a "sustainable development” arose in the early 1980s, following a decade of activism in support of environmental protection. It was generally recognized that there were potential conflicts between economic development and environmental protection and that these sometimes competing interests needed to be reconciled. The phrase "sustainable development' was meant to reflect a commitment to economic development that did not destroy the natural resources on which it relied to make money, but left the resources to be available for future generations. The United Nations Brundtland Commission, in its report Our Common Future (1987), offered an often-quoted definition that sustainable development was development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The Chairman of that Commission, Norway Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, added: "... the "environment" is where we live; and "development" is what we all do in attempting to improve our lot within that abode. The two are inseparable."[1]

Another definition was offered by the United Kingdom Department of the Environment in its White Paper on This Common Inheritance (1990) where it is stated that "sustainable development means living on the earth's income rather than eroding its capital" and that such development required "keeping the consumption of renewable natural resources within the limits of their replenishment."[2]

            Sustainable development is sometimes more an aspiration than a concrete set of principles to be followed. It can serve, however, as the foundation for a viewpoint, even a political position, based on the understanding that our natural environment sets limits on economic development, in which view environmental protection trumps economic development. In contrast, the term can also be abused by those whose only interest is in making money but who use the term as a marketing device to deflect any criticism of a project that likely would destroy the very environment it pretends to sustain. The term’s usefulness depends on the interests being served by those using the term.

Some further ideas to explore on Sustainable Development:

            Can you come up with a better definition of “Sustainable Development”?

            Identify recent “economic” projects in your area and decide whether they are sustainable. What natural resources are they using? What will happen to those resources as a result of the project? Is there a different way of accomplishing the same economic ends with les damage to the environment? How do you calculate the environmental harm that will result from the development and the benefits, including jobs and taxes. What benefit to the public will result from the development, if any?

            Try and use the term to serve the interests of a real estate developer trying to get approval for a project that will diminish natural resources in the area, and use it to serve the interests of an environmental organization opposing the same development.

Resources:

Robert W. Kates, Thomas M. Parris, and Anthony A. Leiserowitz, "What Is
Sustainable Development? Goals, Indicators, Values, and Practice," Environment:
Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, Volume 47, Number 3, pages 8-21. Available on the internet at http://sustsci.harvard.edu/ists/docs/whatisSD_env_kates_0504.pdf

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development website at: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/review.htm

United Kingdom Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) website at: http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk

Northern Ireland Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), the government’s independent advisory body on sustainable development at http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/northern_ireland.php

Republic of Ireland, Comhar – Sustainable Development Council with 25 members drawn from the state sector, economic sectors, environmental NGOs, social/community NGOs, and the professional/academic sector at http://www.comharsdc.ie/index.aspx

Frank McDonald and James Nix, Chaos at the Crossroads (Kinsale, Ireland: Gandon Books, 2005).

[1] Quoted in Robert W. Kates, Thomas M. Parris, and Anthony A. Leiserowitz, "What Is
Sustainable Development? Goals, Indicators, Values, and Practice," Environment:
Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, Volume 47, Number 3, pages 8-21.
[2] Quoted in John Houghton, Global Warming: The Complete Briefing (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1997 2nd edition, at page 163.

Northern Ireland Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), the government’s independent advisory body on sustainable development at http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/northern_ireland.php

Republic of Ireland, Comhar – Sustainable Development Council with 25 members drawn from the state sector, economic sectors, environmental NGOs, social/community NGOs, and the professional/academic sector at http://www.comharsdc.ie/index.aspx

Frank McDonald and James Nix, Chaos at the Crossroads (Kinsale, Ireland: Gandon Books, 2005).

[1] Quoted in Robert W. Kates, Thomas M. Parris, and Anthony A. Leiserowitz, "What Is
Sustainable Development? Goals, Indicators, Values, and Practice," Environment:
Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, Volume 47, Number 3, pages 8-21.
[2] Quoted in John Houghton, Global Warming: The Complete Briefing (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1997 2nd edition, at page 163.

URBAN SPRAWL

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:30:45 -0400

The negative connotations of the term derive from the word, “sprawl,” which means to spread out in an ungainly or untidy, disorganized way. It refers to development that occurs outside the city center or beyond the edges of the city into the countryside. One representative definition is:

The physical pattern of low-density expansion of large urban areas under market conditions into the surrounding agricultural areas. Sprawl … implies little planning control of land subdivision. Development is patchy, scattered and strung out, with a tendency to discontinuity because it leap-frogs over some areas, leaving agricultural enclaves.

The low-density pattern is based on the reliance on single-family houses where there exists more square meter of space per person in the household than is typically found in living spaces in cities. The urban sprawl community also relies more heavily on cars for getting to work, shopping, play, and schools than in cities, partly because there is little or no public transportation in these communities. The longer commute to jobs in the cities also eats into the time that entire families have to spend together. The communities often lack public water or sewer infrastructure, or they increase sharply the stress on existing infrastructure that was originally constructed for a much smaller population. For these reasons, environmentalists are often very critical of urban sprawl.

As communities develop outside the urban center, or even the city boundaries, the retail market follows and the center of the city loses much of its shopping trade to malls. There is a counter-development lately where people are moving from these urban sprawl communities back to the city to avoid the long commute and to make use of the cultural, economic and social values of a city environment.

While much of urban planning and environmental criticism roundly condemns the trend toward urban sprawl, and its often monotonous aesthetics, one critic has argued that sprawl is simply the middle class doing what rich people always did earlier in the century and before — moving further out to get more room and, usually, cleaner air and less congestion. See, Bruegmann, below.

Some further ideas to explore on Urban Sprawl:

What do you think of the argument from Robert Bruegmann that urban sprawl is just the middle class trying to moving up in society. Are there differences in people moving out to bigger spaces with bigger cars from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries and in the early 21st century?

Do you live in an area that is urban sprawl or city? What are the advantages and disadvantages of your particular urban environment?

What is the difference between an urban sprawl community and a rural community?

Can you identify where the city environment ends and urban sprawl begins in your community or a nearby community.

Is it possible to measure how much land in your area or the country as a whole can be classified as “urban Sprawl”?

Resources:

http://glossary.eea.europa.eu

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_sprawl

Robert Bruegmann, Sprawl: a compact history (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2005).

Richard Ingersoll, Sprawltown: Looking for the City on Its Edges (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006).

Frank McDonald and James Nix, Chaos at the Crossroads (Kinsale, Ireland: Gandon Books, 2005)

See related topics in ie/encyclopedia on: Sustainable Development and Smart Growth.

WASTE from ELECTRONIC AND ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT (WEEE)

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:36:31 -0400

Computers, MP3 players, cell phones, TVs, blackberries, video games: they all end up as waste, sooner or later. The issue of how they end their life (end-of-life or EOL) is the subject of the field of waste from electronic and electrical equipment (EEE), abbreviated as WEEE). [1] While WEEE represents only 2 - 4% of all municipal solid waste (MSW), the volume of such waste is growing very fast with all the new electronic devices available to a wider and wider consumer public.[2] In 1998, an Italian agency estimated that there would be a 3 to 5% annual growth in WEEE in the EU.[3] In NI, about 30,000 tonnes of WEEE are thrown way each year.[4] Not only is the volume on the rise, some of the components of the EEE are particularly harmful to the environment and dangerous to people.

Commercial WEEE includes printed circuit boards, cathode ray tubes, wires and cables, mercury switches, batteries, light generators, capacitors and resistors, and sensors and connectors; domestic WEEE includes some of these items as well as computers and related devices (printers, scanners, copiers), TVs, cell phones, MP3 players, and new products regularly introduced on the market. Some of this waste stream contains hazardous materials, including heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium, and arsenic, as well as other persistent and dangerous chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Rather than dispose of this material in landfills, the effort now is to recycle as much as possible.

            There are two EU Directives on WEEE. One promotes the collection and recycling of WEEE,[5] while the other restricts the use of hazardous substances in EEE.[6]   The Directives implement the principle of “extended producer responsibility.” Under this principle — a derivative of the polluter pays principle — producers are required to take responsibility for the environmental impact of their products, especially when they become waste.   The Directives were transposed into RoI, UK, and Northern Ireland law.[7]

            Generally, Directive No. 96 imposes obligations on companies that produce or manufacture EEE and companies that distribute EEE, i.e. retailers , to establish and pay for collection schemes where consumers can return used EEE free of charge. Each producer and retailer can set up its own scheme, but most use a separate company that acts on behalf of the producers and retailers to collect and recycle or dispose of the WEEE. [8] Even “distance sellers,” that sell to consumers in RoI and NI on the internet, for instance, have obligations under the Directive for managing WEEE.

The legal scheme for dealing with the environmental problems created by disposing of WEEE is complicated. First, there are the two EU Directives, and amendments, that set the basic terms of how the waste is to be treated, and who is responsible for what. Then the Member States, here the RoI and the UK, passed laws transposing, or bringing into force, the EU law into national RoI and UK law.   Already existing laws, such as the RoI Waste Management law, had to be modified to accommodate this new form of waste control. Then the NI DOE had to adopt the UK regulations into NI law. Then the RoI and the NI environmental departments or agencies had to get together and figure out how to deal with the responsibilities of businesses that sell EEE to customers in one jurisdiction who take and use the equipment in another jurisdiction.[9]

Some companies describe their services as recycling EEE but in fact they simply sell the used EEE to developing countries that extract any materials of value and dump the rest, including many of the dangerous substances, across the countryside, putting people at risk.[10]

Under the WEEE Directive, the RoI and Greece were granted the right to seek extensions of certain deadlines. Despite the RoI’s past history of non-compliance with a number of environmental obligations over the years, it has been a leader in implementing the WEEE Directive.[11]

Some further ideas to explore on eWaste:

How many devices/appliances do you own that will end up as WEEE? Identify
each.
            Count how many devices others in your group (household, class, club, church, pub) own and then calculate the amount of WEEE that will be generated collectively by your group within one year, and five years.
            Identify the chemicals and metals in the WEEE generated by your group, and assess the environmental and health risks from this WEEE to your area and to your family and friends.
            Where does your own or your group’s WEEE end up. Trace the path of your or your group’s devices after they are turned in for recycling or disposal. Is this even possible? See the article by EEA in footnote 10.
            Organize a special community collection program for WEEE in your area, working with local authorities and private recycling companies.

Resources:

See resources cited in footnotes above, and:

http://www.doeni.gov.uk

http://www.epa.ie/whatwedo/resource/weee/ This RoI EPA site contains a full
coverage of the issue with a number of helpful links, including the complicated
regulations governing WEEE.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/environment/waste-management-and-
recycling/waste_from_electric_and_electronic_equipment?#startcontent.

http://www.eea.eurspa.eu [Glossary]

[1] EEE is technically defined in Article 3 of Directive 2002/96/EC (27th January2003) to exclude larger commercial, industrial equipment and categories of EEE are set forth in Annexes to the Directive.
[2] Irish Environmental Protection Agency and Clean Technology Centre, “Waste from Electrical & Electronic Equipment,” Report [ISBN No.:1-84095-066-8] (May 2001); US Environmental Protection Agency, “Electronic Waste Management in the United States,” http://www.epa.gov/e-Cycling/manage.htm (6 August 2008).
[3] Irish Environmental Protection Agency and Clean Technology Centre, “Waste from Electrical & Electronic Equipment,” Report [ISBN No.:1-84095-066-8] (May 2001), at page 5.
[4] http://www.ni-environment.gov.uk/elec-weee.pdf
[5] Directive 2002/96/EC (27th January2003, as amended by Directive 2003/108/EC (8th December 2003).
[6] Directive 2002/95/EC (27th January 2003).
[7] The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations (UK) (2006 No. 3289); Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Waste Management Licensing) Regulations (Northern Ireland) (2006 No. 519); Waste Management (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulations, 2005 (S.I. No. 340 of 2005).[8] In the RoI, two companies exist for this purpose: WEEE Ireland, www.weeeireland.ie, and European Recycling Platform (ERP), http://www.erp-recycling.org/contact_ireland_eng0.0.html Each website provides a full discussion of the obligations of producers and distributors/retailers under the schemes. In the UK/NI Valpak operates a distributor take-back scheme: https://www.valpak.co.uk/nav/page1557.aspx
[9] Northern Ireland Department of the Environment, “Protocol: North/South retail Activity in resp[ect of Electrical and Eloectronic Equipment,” 1 July 2007 http://www.doeni.gov.uk/index/protect_the_environment/waste/waste_electrical_electronic_equipment.htm
[10] Ben Elgin and Brian Grow“E-Waste: The Dirty Secret of Recycling Electronics,” Business Week, 15 October 2008; EEA, “Not in my back yard – international shipments of waste and the environment.” http://www.eea.europa.eu/articles/international-shipments-of-waste-and-the-environment   23 Feb 2009
[11] The Producer Responsibility Principle of the WEEE Directive: Final Report (August 19, 2007), EU DG ENV Study Contract No. 07010401/2006/449269/MAR/G4