New Model for Environmental Impact Assessment of Tunneling Projects

Designers of infrastructure are aware that the government, owners and users become more and more concerned about negative environmental impacts of tunnels, so environmental assessment of tunnels are becoming an issue in the process of tunnel design. In this study, to assess tunnels in construction and operation phases, the matrix method, through which the “Impacting Factors” and “Environmental Components” are determined, is also outlined. The affected environment was divided into thirteen components, such as Ecology, Surface water, Air quality, etc. In this paper, matrix method was applied to evaluate the impact of tunneling in three typical tunnels and compare them with standard diagrams of Environmental Components that were derived and introduced. These tunnels were: Urban Utility tunnel in Tehran, Eurasia tunnel in Istanbul and Tsuen Wan drainage tunnel in Hong Kong. Based on the acquired results, the present paper finally concluded that among three cases, Tsuen Wan drainage tunnel affects the environment in construction phase more than others, while Eurasia tunnel effects on air quality are more significant in operation phase.

Development of an Indicator Scheme for the Environment Impact Assessment in the Federal District, Mexico

In this work is developed a proposal of environment indicators needed for the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) process in Mexico’s Federal District (FD);through which are authorized the construction and realization of different work actions and activities. The methodology is based on the combination of cabinet and field work, performed in three stages. In the first, a documental review was carried out within the topic of Environment Impact (EI), the EIA and the study area, with a subsequent analysis of the environment indicators at an international, national and regional scale. In the second, the systematization of information was performed for the sixteen study cases at a local scale and the organization and analysis of a data base with the allotted information. And in the last stage, a field work was realized with participative observations in three verification sites and interview applications to the principal actors of the EIA process. These results allowed: to determine the main limitations within the EIA process (methodological, technical and operational), to propose an indicators scheme, and to formulate recommendations focused on the improvement of this Environment Public Policy instrument.

Empirical Assessment of Coastal Environmental Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise

Sea level rise (SLR) could critically endanger the environment along all the world’s sea coasts. Although sudden SLRs of meters-high waves that might have apocalyptic results would generally be limited to specific areas, on-going SLR of dozens of cms over decades is likely to have adverse impact on coastal environments throughout the world. This study’s objective is to assess relative regional vulnerability of global sea coasts to SLR. The study focuses upon key natural and anthropogenic parameters that might either cause or enhance SLR and thus significantly influence regional coastal environments. Careful assessment can enable reasonable estimates of relative vulnerability of such environments. An initial step involves specifying key parameters and assigning their weightings and ratings. To demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, six seacoast regions from various parts of the world have been considered in this paper, assessing their natural and anthropogenic parameters vis-à-vis general global data. The results emphasize the relative vulnerability of these areas’ environments to SLR. Recommendations are then made for improving global SLR modeling and monitoring.

Determination of Significance of Environmental Impacts of Development Projects: A Case Study of Environmental Impact Assessment of Indrawati-3 Hydropower Project in Nepal

The environmental impacts are commonly quantified in the EIA studies by rating, ranking and scaling. The National EIA Guidelines, 1993, Nepal provides a guideline to score the impacts in terms of magnitude, extent, and duration. This step is commonly known as impact prediction in the EIA process. The predicted scores are multiplied by the weightage value of the resource;likely to be affected. The application of the weightage transforms the predicted values of the impacts into their “significance”—a concept used in the environmental decision making. In other words the significance value entails assignment of relative judgment values to the impacts. The impacts, thus, can ranked based on their significance. The impact ranking is more useful in evaluating the socio-economic impacts. Unlike air, water and noise quality, which can be assessed against established standards;the socio-economic impacts do not have standard scale and are difficult to rank. Importance weighting of socio-economic impacts are commonly determined by the consensus obtained from the interaction with the local people, agencies, NGOs and experts. The impact ranking in the EIA process is unavoidable, firstly to prioritize the urgent environmental issues and design mitigation measures accordingly and also provide coherent linkages among the issues, and plan monitoring and auditing linkage with the proposed mitigation measures. Furthermore, it also provide strong basis of decision making, and thus facilitate the decision makers. The process of impact prediction, determination of significance and ranking were applied in the EIA of Indrwati-3 Hydroelectric Project, which is one of the successful cases of EIA in Nepal. The authors believe that the impacts predicted and quantified through this method are being focussed to more on the local concerns, since it seeks an active involvement of the local people who are likely to be affected.

Discussion about Environmental Impact Assessment of Shale Gas Development

China is the third country to develop and utilize shale gas after the United States and Canada. However,shale gas development has significant environmental problems,such as huge consumption of both land and water resources,water pollution risk of hydraulic fracturing,leakage risk of shale gas and so on. At present,environmental impact assessment of shale gas development in China has been conducted based on the Technical Guideline for Environmental Impact Assessment——Constructional Project of Petroleum and Natural Gas Development on Land which lacks clear guidance on selection and quantitative analysis of pollution factors. In this paper,based on the experience of shale gas development in America,special environmental problems that need to be noticed for shale gas development were summarized,and the supplement to the technical guideline for environmental impact assessment of shale gas development was discussed to improve the environmental impact assessment system.

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) in Automotive Applications: Environmental Relevance of the Manufacturing Stage

This study presents a state of the art of several studies dealing with the environmental impact assessment of fuel cell (FC) vehicles and the comparison with their conventional fossil-fuelled counterparts, by means of the Life Cycle As-sessment (LCA) methodology. Results declare that, depending on the systems characteristics, there are numerous envi-ronmental advantages, but also some disadvantages can be expected. In addition, the significance of the manufac-turing process of the FC, more specifically the Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) type, in terms of environmental impact is presented. Finally, CIEMAT’s role in HYCHAIN European project, consisting of supporting early adopters for hydrogen FCs in the transport sector, is

Investment Environment Assessment and Strategic Policy for Subjects of Federation in Russia

Russia is the largest neighboring country of China. Between the two countries, the resources and industry are complemented, the political mutual trust is at a high level, and trade cooperation has a broad prospect. Choosing the best regions and the best industries to strengthen investment in Russia has a major strategic significance in promoting ‘the Belt and Road Initiative’ and China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor Construction. However, the related researches are extremely limited. The investment environment is unclear, and the investment risk is unknown, which seriously restrict the investment in Russia and the trade cooperation with Russia. Our research team carried out scientific expedition, government visits and scientific research cooperation in Russia for several years, and obtained a great number of first-hand valuable data. According to the analysis on the data and Russian regional policies, this study constructed an investment environment evaluation model(ESI-PRA model), scientific assessed the investment environment for 83 subjects of federation in Russia, in terms of economic, social, infrastructure, policy, resource and accessibility, classified 4 types of investment regions, chose 3 investment priority regions, revealed the investment priority industries, demonstrated the main investment risks, and proposed the strategic policies. The research results provide direct scientific and technological support for strategic decisions, such as investment in Russia, bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and overseas layout of Chinese-funded enterprises. Moreover, it has an important practical and strategic significance for improving overseas geo-strategic interests of China and ensuring the construction of China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor.

Evaluation of the Environmental Impacts Assessment (EIA) System in Lao PDR

This study explores and seeks to explain the EIA procedures practice gap in Lao PDR. It reviews the literature and studies EIA legislation, administrative procedures, guidelines, and relevant documents by using a model proposed by Leu et al. (1996) and applying criteria proposed by Wood (1995) to evaluate the performance of EIA systems. Key EIA legislation in Lao PDR has many strengths, but also major weaknesses: Inadequate planning procedures, no secondary regulations, few trained and skilled personnel, inadequate public consultation, lack of environmental data, weak follow-up and monitoring, and no enforcement machinery. Additionally, the EIA approval procedure is very bureaucratic and easily derailed by political and economic pressures. In addition, coordination among EIA proponents, consultants, concerned ministries, local authorities, planners, and decision-makers is generally weak. This delays decision-making and hinders implementation of environmental regulations. Thus, procedures and evaluation are not always performed well. EIAs are more a project justification tool than a project planning tool for sustainable development. We conclude with recommendations to strengthen the system, such as improving capacity building, implementing an EIA consultants’ accreditation system, ensuring effective public participation and access to EIA reports, applying systematic EIAs, reviewing criteria, and promoting environmental awareness.

Assessment of the Radiological Impact on the Environment near a Storage Site of Coal Ashes in a Thermal Power Plant

The radiological impact of coal ashes, with enhanced natural radioactivity in the storage site, is due to the presence of naturally occurring radionuclides. Some of these radionuclides have a radioactive period of several million years and will, therefore, have time to migrate to the soil, atmospheric air, surface water, and groundwater. This impact depends mainly on the activity of these coal ashes, the duration of exposure to such waste, transfers to the air, and the leaching phenomenon by rainwater. In this study, and so as to assess the radiological impact of coal ashes of the storage site of the JLEC-Morocco thermal power plant on environment, some analyses are performed by alpha dosimetry and a digital dosimeter on samples of coal ashes, soil, atmospheric air, surface water and groundwater belonging to a perimeter of 10 km around that site. The obtained results show that, within the studied area, the radiological impact on the soil of the coal ashes of the storage site is insignificant even though the concentrations of radon in the near vicinity (1 to 2 km) are moderately important, and remain below 200 Bq/m3. In the atmospheric air, this impact remains medium for the neighborhoods of the storage site (2 to 3 km) with radon activities superior to 10 Bq/m3. These results also show that there may be a water contamination of wells located at the storage site without any transfer of radioactivity into the groundwater of the area studied where the concentrations of radon are less than 11.1 Bq/l.

Exergy Efficiency and Environmental Impact of Electricity of a 620 MW-Natural Gas Combined Cycle

In the first part of this investigation, a Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) producing 620 MW of electricity was simulated using the commercial software Aspen Hysys V9.0 and the Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) equation of state. The aim of this second part is to use exergy-based analyses in order to calculate its exergy efficiency and evaluate its environmental impact under standard conditions. For the exergy efficiency, the performance index under investigation is the exergy destruction ratio (yD). The results of the study show that the combustor is the main contributor to the total exergy destruction of the power plant (yD = 24.35%) and has the lowest exergy efficiency of 75.65%. On the other hand, the Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) has the lowest contribution to the exergy destruction (yD = 5.63%) of the power plant and the highest exergy efficiency of 94.37%. For the overall power plant, the exergy efficiency is equal to 53.28%. For the environmental impact of the power plant, the relative difference of exergy-related environmental impacts (rb) is utilized as the performance index for each equipment of the plant and the environmental impact of a kWh of electricity (EIE) is used to represent the performance index of the overall power plant. In agreement with the exergy analysis, the results indicate that the combustor and the HRSG have respectively the highest (rb = 32.19%) and the lowest (rb = 5.96%) contribution to the environmental impact. The environmental impact of a kWh of electricity of the power plant is 34.26 mPts/kWh (exergy destruction only), and 34.42 mPts/kWh (both exergy destruction and exergy loss).

Environmental Impact Assessment of Onshore Wind Farms in the Region of Central Greece Using a Modified RIAM Method

Wind energy is one of the most basic forms of renewable energy,which shows an increasing rate of development worldwide and also at the European level.However,this rapid deployment of wind farms makes the need for an impact assessment of this type of projects on the natural and man-made environment imperative.The present paper aims to identify and assess the environmental impacts of wind farm projects in the Region of Central Greece.A modified Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix(RIAM)method is used for this purpose.The methodology includes the identification of the existing onshore wind farm projects in the study area,the appropriate modifications of the RIAM method to respond to the characteristics of the projects and the study area,the qualitative assessment of their potential impacts during construction and operational phases and the computation of the Environmental Performance Grade(EPG)of projects based on the pro-posed modified RIAM method.The results reveal that although there are some slight negative impacts on the natural environment of the study area,the examined wind farms contribute positively both to the atmosphere and to the socio-economic environment of the study.This study extends the potential for using RIAM as a tool in environmental impact assessment studies of renewable energy projects.

HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENTS A Tool for Designing Climate Change Resilience into Green Building and Planning Projects

INTRODUCTION Historical records have documented considerable changes to the global climate,with significant health,economic,and environmental consequences.Climate projections predict more intense hurricanes;increased sea level rise;and more frequent and more intense natural disasters such as heat waves,heavy rainfall,and drought in the future(1;2).The coast along the Gulf of Mexico is particularly vulnerable to many of these environmental hazards and at particular risk when several strike simultaneously-such as a hurricane disrupting electricity transmission during a heat wave.

A Study on the Theory and Approach of Environmental Impact Assessment in General Land Use Planning

In this paper,the theory and approach of environmental impact assessment in general land use planning are studied from different aspects.First,starting from the content and concept of general land use planning,the necessity of environmental impact assessment in general land use planning is illustrated.On the basis of its evaluation theories and methodologies,it attempts to establish index system of environmental impact assessment in general land use planning,and point outs that current general land use planning requires public participation.

Life Cycle Assessment of CCA-Treated Wood Highway Guard Rail Posts in the US with Comparisons to Galvanized Steel Guard Rail Posts

A cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment is done to identify the environmental impacts of chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated timber used for highway guard rail posts, to understand the processes that contribute to the total impacts, and to determine how the impacts compare to the primary alternative product, galvanized steel posts. Guard rail posts are the supporting structures for highway guard rails. Transportation engineers, as well as public and regulatory interests, have increasing need to understand the environmental implications of guard rail post selection, in addition to factors such as costs and service performance. This study uses a life cycle inventory (LCI) to catalogue the input and output data from guard rail post manufacture, service life, and disposition, and a life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) to assess anthropogenic and net greenhouse gas (GHG), acidification, smog, ecotoxicity, and eutrophication potentially resulting from life cycle air emissions. Other indicators of interest also are tracked, such as fossil fuel and water use. Comparisons of guard rail post products are made at a functional unit of one post per year of service. This life cycle assessment (LCA) finds that the manufacture, use, and disposition of CCA-treated wood guard rails offers lower fossil fuel use and lower anthropogenic and net GHG emissions, acidification, smog potential, and ecotoxicity environmental impacts than impact indicator values for galvanized steel posts. Water use and eutrophication impact indicator values for CCA-treated guard rail posts are greater than impact indicator values for galvanized steel guard rail posts.

Wind Turbine Power Output Assessment in Built Environment

In future planning of the city, it is very important to consider the proper intelligent integration of renewable energy sources into the built environment for developing smart cities. Analysis of the wind velocity profile in the built environment is very important for finding out the energy content in the wind and also to analyze the performance of wind turbines in the built environment. In this study, building topologies of smart city are investigated for finding out the wind velocity profile and the wind turbine power output in the built environment. The wind velocity distribution across buildings is numerically simulated by using commercial CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software CFD-ACE+. Wind turbine power output is estimated by using the power curve of real commercial wind turbine and wind velocity distribution simulated by CFD software. It has been observed that the wind is accelerated in the intervening space between the buildings irrespective of distance between the walls of adjacent buildings under the condition, which are investigated in this study. The wind is accelerated across buildings, and is reduced rapidly after blowing through buildings, and recovered gradually. Since the wind is accelerated in the intervening space between buildings and reduced in the area at the back of buildings, a wind turbine should be installed at the area at the back of the buildings and located on center between the buildings. In this work, it is observed that size dimensions and layout of the building are effective in realizing a smart city for utilizing renewable energy such as wind turbine in the built environment.

Assessment of the Environmental Impact of Road Infrastructure in Countries: A Study of the Namibia Scenario

The assessment of the impact of road infrastructure in the developing countries using the Namibian case scenario was done based on the contemporary challenges of road use. This study employed a qualitative technique using a sample size of thirty (30) selected by the simple random sampling technique. The use of charts, tables and frequencies were done to explain certain trends in the study. A well-structured, valid and reliable questionnaire instrument was designed for the study based on the following research questions;what are the impacts of road transport on the Namibian environment and what are the possible measures that may be used to reduce environmental impact of road transport on the Namibian environment? Twenty five respondents (83%) agreed that road transfer has drastically improved development and 26 (87%) respondents also accepted that it can improve Namibian economy. Similarly, it has also improved communication and technology greatly according to 27 (90%) respondents. To add more credence to the impact of road transport on the economy, all the 30 (100%) of the respondents agreed that road transport aids mobility within Namibia while 27 (90%) respondents supported the opinion that road transport aids in job search, 3 (10%) disagreed. The result shows that car owners service are potential threats which can affect pollution levels as was supported by 97% to cause environmental pollution as well as 100% when combined with energy consumption. Similarly, all the respondents indicated the potential of increased accident rate from poor road safety. Felling of trees poses great danger (97% response) due to the degradation of the environment. Most respondents (77% and 83%) agreed that road transport can lead to land encroachment and loss of aesthetic and farming. This research has shown that eventually death rate may increase from mere ill-health to from the degraded ecosystem, 24 respondents (80%). So many policies to protect the environment but the practical measures are to encourage impact assessment studies for road projects, land use control and human safety precautions on road use.

Groundwater impact of open cut coal mine and an assessment methodology:A case study in NSW

Large scale open cut coal mining operations have significant impacts to groundwater in surrounding areas in both active and post-mining phases. The prediction of water inflows into a surface mine excavation is one of the many components involved in mine design phase. Groundwater performance also reacts to mining activities from the operational, economic and safety implications perspective. Under NSW planning legislation, as part of the comprehensive risk assessment, a groundwater impact assessment has to be conducted for a coal project to predict and mitigate the impacts in consideration of the government requirements. In this paper, the groundwater assessment modelling of mine pits was discussed in predicting of groundwater inflows and reviewing analytical and numerical approaches. A methodology of groundwater impact assessment for an open cut mine in NSW with a three-dimensional groundwater flow model Modflow Surfact demonstrated its functions in simulating the project's impacts on the groundwater regime. The key findings with mitigations are discussed and recommended in the paper to reduce impacts on groundwater and fulfil regulation requirements in NSW.

Cloud Data and Computing Services Allow Regional Environmental Assessment:A Case Study of Macquarie-Castlereagh Basin, Australia

Large amounts of data at various temporal and spatial scales require terabyte(TB) level storage and computation, both of which are not easy for researchers to access. Cloud data and computing services provide another solution to store, process, share and explore environmental data with low costs, stronger computation capacity and easy access. The purpose of this paper is to examine the benefits and challenges of using freely available satellite data products from Australian Geoscience DataCube and Google Earth Engine(GEE) online data with time series for integrative environmental analysis of the Macquarie-Castlereagh Basin in the last 15 years as a case study. Results revealed that the cloud platform simplifies the procedure of traditional catalog data processing and analysis. The integrated analysis based on the cloud computing and traditional methods represents a great potential as a low-cost, efficient and user-friendly method for global and regional environmental study. The user can save considerable time and cost on data integration. The research shows that there is an excellent promise in performing regional environmental analysis by using a cloud platform. The incoming challenge of the cloud platform is that not all kinds of data are available on the cloud platform. How data are integrated into a single platform while protecting or recognizing the data property, or how one portal can be used to explore data archived on different platforms represent considerable challenges.

A multi-level evaluation model for the recognition and assessment of impact factors associated with intercontinental power interconnection projects

The construction of intercontinental power grid interconnection projects is key to realizing the vision of Global Energy Interconnection,which is to solve global energy problems in a clean and sustainable manner.These projects may be influenced by a few factors that are neither technological nor economic,such as political,social,and international factors.This paper thus presents a multi-level model for recognizing which factor from a compiled list of 14 would impact a particular intercontinental interconnection project and for assessing the degree of the factor’s influence.In the first part of the model,the Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP)method is used to recognize the project’s most significant impact factors.Using the recognition results,the second part of the model can assess the degree of the factor’s influence on the project based on ratings provided by experts.A comprehensive evaluation can thus be provided.As a case study,the proposed Saudi Arabia-Ethiopia power grid interconnection project connecting Asia and Africa was analyzed.Derived from a combination of multiple opinions from experts,evaluations from the model will be of direct benefit to decision-makers,investors,project implementers,and engineers,providing them with a deeper insight into the project.

Environmental Impact Assessment Follow-Up of Seismic Survey Offshore Activities in Brazil

Follow-up of environmental impacts is an integral part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, closely related to the effectiveness of the instrument. EIA follow-up has been receiving a lot of interest from scientists and practitioners, though it is recognized as one of the weakest points of EIA systems globally. Also, EIA follow-up is influenced by the context, mainly in terms of the types of projects or activities and their related impacts on the environment. Therefore, the present paper is focused on the investigation of the follow-up stage applied to the activity of seismic survey coupled with offshore oil & gas exploitation in Brazil. Research was based on a qualitative approach that included document analysis and semi-structured interviews with analysts involved in EIA processes, and sought to generate evidence of effectiveness of the EIA follow-up as conducted by the Federal Environment Agency (Ibama) in order to situate the practice of follow-up in the broader context of international best practice principles. Based on the findings, it was concluded that, due to the peculiarities of offshore seismic survey, it is necessary to promote adaptations in the procedures for monitoring impacts in order to ensure proper alignment with the principles and conceptual foundations that guide EIA practice. Specifically, the timing of the execution of the activity imposes challenges for its integration into the “conventional” cycle that has guided the monitoring of the impacts in the EIA of projects.