The impact of demographic dynamics on food consumption and its environmental outcomes:Evidence from China

With increasing population and changing demographics,food consumption has experienced a significant transition in quantity and quality.However,a dearth of knowledge remains regarding its environmental impacts and how it responds to demographic dynamics,particularly in emerging economies like China.Using the two-stage Quadratic Almost Demand System(QUAIDS)model,this study empirically examines the impact of demographic dynamics on food consumption and its environmental outcomes based on the provincial data from 2000 to 2020 in China.Under various scenarios,according to changes in demographics,we extend our analysis to project the long-term trend of food consumption and its environmental impacts,including greenhouse gas(GHG)emissions,water footprint(WF),and land appropriation(LA).The results reveal that an increase in the proportion of senior people significantly decreases the consumption of grain and livestock meat and increases the consumption of poultry,egg,and aquatic products,particularly for urban residents.Moreover,an increase in the proportion of males in the population leads to higher consumption of poultry and aquatic products.Correspondingly,in the current scenario of an increased aging population and sex ratio,it is anticipated that GHG emissions,WF,and LA are likely to decrease by 1.37,2.52,and 3.56%,respectively.More importantly,in the scenario adhering to the standards of nutritional intake according to the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents in 2022,GHG emissions,WF,and LA in urban areas would increase by 12.78,20.94,and 18.32%,respectively.Our findings suggest that changing demographics should be considered when designing policies to mitigate the diet-environment-health trilemma and achieve sustainable food consumption.

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.

Assessing environmental impact:Micro-energy network optimization in a Chinese industrial park

Micro-energy systems contribute significantly to environmental improvement by reducing dependence on power grids through the utilization of multiple renewable energy sources.This study quantified the environmental impact of a micro-energy network system in an industrial park through a life cycle assessment using the operation of the micro-energy network over a year as the functional unit and“cradle-to-gate”as the system boundary.Based on the baseline scenario,a natural gas generator set was added to replace central heating,and the light pipes were expanded to constitute the optimized scenario.The results showed that the key impact categories for both scenarios were global warming,fine particulate matter formation,human carcinogenic toxicity,and human non-carcinogenic toxicity.The overall environmental impact of the optimized scenario was reduced by 68%compared to the baseline scenario.A sensitivity analysis of the key factors showed that electricity from the power grid was the key impact factor in both scenarios,followed by central heating and natural gas.Therefore,to reduce the environmental impact of network systems,it is necessary to further optimize the grid power structure.The research approach can be used to optimize micro-energy networks and evaluate the environmental impact of different energy systems.

Opportunities to Improve the Quality of Environmental Reports and the Effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment: A Case of Electric Power Transmission Systems in Brazil

A good quality Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is key for the effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes and consequently to the acceptability of projects subject to EIA. The international literature has contributed to the understanding of the essential aspects to be verified regarding the quality of EIS, offering a wide spectrum of good practice examples related to the content of the studies. Even so, there is a need for empirical studies that allow the identification of specific aspects related to the context of application of the EIS, which could lead to the identification of opportunities to improve both the quality of the reports and also the effectiveness of EIA. Therefore, the present paper is focused on the quality review of a number of EIS submitted to the Brazilian Federal Environmental Agency (Ibama) to instruct the assessment of electric power transmission systems. Based on the application of the EIS quality review package as proposed by Lee and Colley (1992), the outcomes reveal opportunities for improving the scope of EIA, analysis of alternatives, prediction of magnitude and the assessment of impact significance. Finally, the development and/or adaptation of a similar tool for the systematic review of the quality of EIA reports is recommended.

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.

Groundwater and environmental challenges in Asia

Asia stands out as the most populous and geographically diverse region globally.The pressing issues of water resource development and the resulting ecological impacts are exacerbated by the region's rapid population growth and economic expansion.Groundwater,a vital source of water in Asia,faces significant disparities in distribution and suffers from unsustainable exploitation practices.This study applies groundwater system theory and categorizes Asia into 11 primary groundwater systems and 36 secondary ones,based on intercontinental geological structures,climate,terrain,and hydrogeological characteristics.As of the end of 2010,Asia's assessed groundwater resources totalled 4.677×10^(9) m^(3)/a,with exploitable resources amounting to 3.274×10^(9) m^(3)/a.By considering the geological environmental impacts of groundwater development and the distinctive characteristics of terrain and landforms,six categories of effect zones with varying distribution patterns are identified.The current research on Asia's groundwater resources,environmental dynamics,and human impacts aims to provide a theoretical foundation for sustainable groundwater management and environmental conservation in the region.

A Review of the Eco-Environmental Impacts of the South-to-North Water Diversion:Implications for Interbasin Water Transfers

Interbasin water-transfer schemes provide an engineering solution for reconciling the conflict between water demand and availability.In the context of climate change,which brings great uncertainties to water resource distribution,interbasin water transfer plays an increasingly important role in the global water–food–energy nexus.However,the transfer of water resources simultaneously changes the hydrological regime and the characteristics of local water bodies,affecting biotic communities accordingly.Compared with high economic and technical inputs water-transfer projects require,the environmental and ecological implications of water-transfer schemes have been inadequately addressed.This work selects the largest water-transfer project in China,the South-to-North Water Diversion(SNWD)Project,to critically review its eco-environmental impacts on donor and recipient basins,as well as on regions along the diversion route.The two operated routes of the SNWD Project represent two typical water diversion approaches:The Middle Route uses an excavated canal,while the East Route connects existent river channels.An overview of the eco-environmental implications of these two routes is valuable for the design and optimization of future water-transfer megaprojects.

Maintenance Optimization for EMU Trains Considering Environmental Impacts and Correlations

The complexity of the actual operating environment of EMU trains and the interaction between the reliability of system components have become a huge challenge for the maintenance scheduling of EMU trains. In response to these problems, the evolution of reliability and failure rate under the influence of environmental factors, failure correlations and economy correlations is analyzed. We assume bogie systems form the EMU train in series. The failure correlation matrix of the bogie systems is modeled. With the lowest total maintenance cost as the optimization objective, a decision-making model for EMU train maintenance is established. A dynamic maintenance strategy is proposed for the model, which can improve maintenance plans efficiently. Artificial bee colony algorithm is applied to further iteratively optimize the threshold parameters in the strategy. The results are calculated and verified by a numerical example. The results show the effectiveness of the maintenance decision model. The dynamic maintenance strategy in this paper is compared with the traditional opportunistic maintenance strategy. The proposed maintenance strategy outperforms the traditional opportunistic maintenance strategy in the numerical example.

Importance of Public Engagement in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and the Benefits of Stakeholder Involvement in Project Design, Environmental Soundness, and Social Acceptability

The paper discusses the importance of public engagement in environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and the benefits of stakeholder involvement in project design, environmental soundness, and social acceptability. It highlights the negative repercussions of mining activities in Ghana, including health consequences such as skin conditions, fever, coughs, diarrhea, malaria, and catarrh, as well as HIV/AIDS infection among those engaged in or connected to prostitution in mining towns. The environmental effects of mining in Ghana include noise pollution from heavy trucks, contamination of water bodies with chemicals from mineral refining, pollution of agricultural soils leading to reduced food productivity, and wildlife depletion from deforestation. The activities of small-scale miners, particularly those engaged in illicit mining, have a negative impact on water quality and increase the cost of water treatment for public consumption. Mining operations have detrimental effects on the social, cultural, and natural ecosystems in Ghana, affecting the quality of life of local communities. The study takes into consideration the impact of mining activities on the environment and natural resources in Ghana, as these are vital to the livelihoods of Ghanaian communities. Stakeholders in Tarkwa claim that mining operations have distorted the natural path of the river, leading to excessive pollution and making the water unfit for consumption. Ghana’s economy depends heavily on mining, which also contributes significantly to GDP and generates jobs for a large number of people. But mining also has a lot of negative repercussions, the effects of mining extend beyond the mineralized zone initially explored, highlighting the need to consider the environmental impact at every phase of the mining process.

Environmental complaint insights through text mining based on the driver,pressure,state,impact,and response(DPSIR)framework:Evidence from an Italian environmental agency

Individuals,local communities,environmental associations,private organizations,and public representatives and bodies may all be aggrieved by environmental problems concerning poor air quality,illegal waste disposal,water contamination,and general pollution.Environmental complaints represent the expressions of dissatisfaction with these issues.As the timeconsuming of managing a large number of complaints,text mining may be useful for automatically extracting information on stakeholder priorities and concerns.The paper used text mining and semantic network analysis to crawl relevant keywords about environmental complaints from two online complaint submission systems:online claim submission system of Regional Agency for Prevention,Environment and Energy(Arpae)(“Contact Arpae”);and Arpae's internal platform for environmental pollution(“Environmental incident reporting portal”)in the Emilia-Romagna Region,Italy.We evaluated the total of 2477 records and classified this information based on the claim topic(air pollution,water pollution,noise pollution,waste,odor,soil,weather-climate,sea-coast,and electromagnetic radiation)and geographical distribution.Then,this paper used natural language processing to extract keywords from the dataset,and classified keywords ranking higher in Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency(TF-IDF)based on the driver,pressure,state,impact,and response(DPSIR)framework.This study provided a systemic approach to understanding the interaction between people and environment in different geographical contexts and builds sustainable and healthy communities.The results showed that most complaints are from the public and associated with air pollution and odor.Factories(particularly foundries and ceramic industries)and farms are identified as the drivers of environmental issues.Citizen believed that environmental issues mainly affect human well-being.Moreover,the keywords of“odor”,“report”,“request”,“presence”,“municipality”,and“hours”were the most influential and meaningful concepts,as demonstrated by their high degree and betweenness centrality values.Keywords connecting odor(classified as impacts)and air pollution(classified as state)were the most important(such as“odor-burnt plastic”and“odor-acrid”).Complainants perceived odor annoyance as a primary environmental concern,possibly related to two main drivers:“odor-factory”and“odorsfarms”.The proposed approach has several theoretical and practical implications:text mining may quickly and efficiently address citizen needs,providing the basis toward automating(even partially)the complaint process;and the DPSIR framework might support the planning and organization of information and the identification of stakeholder concerns and priorities,as well as metrics and indicators for their assessment.Therefore,integration of the DPSIR framework with the text mining of environmental complaints might generate a comprehensive environmental knowledge base as a prerequisite for a wider exploitation of analysis to support decision-making processes and environmental management activities.

Assessing the impact of manufacturing agglomeration on environmental pollution in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region using spatial panel data model

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is the vanguard of economic development in northern China.Its manufacturing industry is more and more developed,but environmental pollution is also more serious.Based on the data of 13 cities in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from 2017 to 2021,the paper verifies the impact of manufacturing agglomeration on environmental pollution.Both manufacturing agglomeration and environmental pollution are dependent on spatial distribution.Therefore,the paper selects spatial econometric model to study.First,the spatial lag model and spatial error model are constructed,and then the spatial lag model is selected through the results of OLS regression,LM Test and Hausman test,and the empirical process is carried out.Finally,the empirical results are analyzed and the conclusion is drawn.

Prediction of the environmental fate and aquatic ecological impact of nitrobenzene in the Songhua River using the modified AQUATOX model

An accidental discharge of nitrobenzene happened in November 2005 in the Songhua River,China.The AQUATOX model was modified and adapted to simulate the time-dependent nitrobenzene distribution in this multimedia aquatic system and its potential ecological impacts.Nitrobenzene concentrations in flowing water,sediment,and biota were predicted.Based on the initial concentrations of nitrobenzene observed in the field during the accidental discharge,that is,0.167-1.47 mg/L at different river segments, the predic...

Methods for Integrating Energy Consumption and Environmental Impact Considerations into the Production Operation of Machining Processes

Energy consumption and environmental impact considerations of machining processes are viewed as important issues for the global trends towards sustainable manufacturing. The existing research of reducing energy consumption and environmental impacts of machining processes greatly focuses on design and planning activities, but is reasonably sparse for production operation activities. This paper explores a systematic methodology that incorporates energy consumption and environmental impact considerations into the production operation of machining processes. Firstly, the framework of the methodology is proposed to establish the generic procedures for integrating the above considerations in production operation activities. As the two key issues of the framework, the profile index value matrix is determined by valuing the individual quantity of energy consumption and environmental impacts of machining each job on each machine, and the multi-criteria models are constructed by the operational methods. Furthermore, with the guideline of the framework, the specific formulations are modeled by two sub-models for the parallel machine scheduling problem, in which makespan and energy consumption are the optimizing objectives as well as the constraints of environmental impact considerations. The specific formulations provide a practical method to integrate energy consumption and environmental impact considerations into the scheduling activity, and also can serve as a reference to other activities in the production operation. The case study for a batch of jobs, including seven kinds of gears in the machining shop floor, is presented to demonstrate the application of the specific formulations of the methodology. The proposed methodology provides potential opportunities for reducing energy consumption and environmental impacts in machining processes, and helps production managers in decision-making on the issues of energy consumption and environmental impacts in the production operation.

A Model for Environmental Impact Assessment of Land Reclamation

Land reclamation is a complex marine environmental engineering and has a huge impact on social, economic, and physical environment. Reclamation environmental impact assessment （REIA） is also a complicated project, including the assessment of social economic background, ocean engineering, coastal geomorphology, sediment transportation, marine hydrodynamics and marine ecosystem and so on. Nowadays, a large number of land reclaimed projects have been carried out or in the process of construction along the coastal zone, thus, it is necessary to build up a fnmlework on REIA to evaluate and quantify the environmental changes, to contribute to reclamation program, to reduce marine environmental disasters, and to sustain development of coastal zone. This article focuses on the research of REIA framework theory and puts forward a REIA model on land reclaimed evaluation, at the same time, applies this assessment system in Shenzhen City, which is a highly developed coastal city with an expectation of land reclamation. By use of the Remote Sensing （RS） and Geographic Information System （GIS） techniques, along with the topographic map and in situ survey in recla- mation area, it concludes that the area of 2680 hectares in total has been reclaimed in Shenzhen city by the end of the year 2000. Thus, reclamation is usually applied to meet the needs for infrastructure, such as harbors, industries and highways in Shenzhen City. However, some serious negative impacts have been created to the coastal environment shown clearly in the following aspects. Firstly, it caused the dramatic changes of tidal flat and channels along the western coast, made this area more unstable, which is threatening the function of the harbor in this area. Secondly, Tidal prism has decreased rapidly. During the 20 years of reclamation, the tidal prism has been reduced by 20% - 30% along the western coast in the Lingdingyang Estuary, and 15.6% in the Shenzhen Bay. As a result, the velocity of the tidal current has also declined, and the direction of the tidal current has changed, which is harmfid to the dilution and diffusion process of the contaminants. Thirdly, it has threatened the eco-environment finally. More than 147 hectares of mangrove area along the coast of Shenzhen Bay, accounting for 48.8% of the total mangrove reserve area in this region, has been reclaimed only during the short period from 1988 to 2000. Thus, the biodiversity is decreasing, and more and more plants and animals are disappearing. Based on the above analyses of the environmental impacts, strategies and suggestions for the future reclamation in this area have been put forward in order to support the sustainable development of the coastal zone.

Impact of Electronic Wastes Recycling on Environmental Quality

Objective To evaluate the environmental quality of Guiyu, Guangdong impacted by the electronic waste recycling industry. Methods The surface water, ground water and sediment samples taken separately from two sites that recycle E-wastes and other rubbish relevant to the E-waste recycling, and an agricultural area, were analyzed, and the data were used to evaluate the impact of E-waste recycling on the environmental quality of Guiyu based on environmental quality standards in China. Results The concentrations of lead and iron in the surface water samples significantly different in the three locations. The maximum value of lead in the first site was 8 times higher than the threshold of environmental quality standards for surface water. The concentration of iron in polluted sample was 22 times that of the background sample. Manganese and iron also showed a significant difference in ground water samples between the three sites. The amount of iron was 22 times that of the threshold of the quality standard for ground water, and 120 times that of the background sample. Moreover, the results of all the eight heavy metals showed significant differences among the sediment samples. The concentrations of copper, cadmium, nickel, and lead in the polluted samples were above the median benchmarks of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration （NOAA）. The copper concentration of 2670 mg/kg was 10 times that of the median benchmark. Conclusion E-waste recycling has led to the severe pollution Guiyu.

Environmental impact of aquaculture-sedimentation and nutrient loadings from shrimp culture of the southeast coastal region of the Bay of Bengal

Nutrient loadings were measured for surface seawater and bottom sediments of semi intensive and improved extensive shrimp culture pond, adjacent estuary, and fallow land in the south east coastal region of Bangladesh during August, 2000—January, 2001 to evaluate the impact of shrimp culture. The mean levels of nutrients found in the pond surface water were 108 780 mg/L for CaCO 3, 0 526 mg/L for NH + 4 N, 3 075 wt% for organic carbon, 7 00 mg/L for PO 4 P, 5 57 mg/L for NO 3 N, and 7 33 mg/L for chlorophyll a. The maximum mean value of H 2S(0 232 mg/L) was found in estuarine water. Nutrients loading were found to be decreased with distance from the shrimp farm discharge unit in estuarine water. The mean level of organic matter, total nitrogen, and organic carbon were found in higher concentrations in sediments of cultured pond compared to bottom soil of adjacent fallow land at the same elevation. Extractable Ca values were found in higher concentration(550 33 ppt) in adjacent fallow land, as the shrimps for molting in shrimp ponds use extractable Ca. The relation between seawater H 2S value and sediment pH ( r= -0 94); sediment organic carbon and sediment pH values ( r= -0 76), sediment total nitrogen and sediment pH ( r= - 0 74) were found to be highly negatively correlated. Whereas the relation between seawater H 2S value and sediment total nitrogen ( r= 0 92), water NH + 4 N and sediment pH ( r= 0 66) were found to be positively correlated. The results revealed that load of nutrients at eutrophic level in estuarine water, and decrease of soil pH; leading to acid sulphate soil formation indicates a negative impact of shrimp culture.

Impacts of Migration on Urban Environmental Pollutant Emissions in China: A Comparative Perspective

In recent years,researchers have devoted considerable attention to identifying the causes of urban environmental pollution.To determine whether migrant populations significantly affect urban environments,we examined the relationship between urban environmental pollutant emissions and migrant populations at the prefectural level using data obtained for 90 Chinese cities evidencing net in-migration.By dividing the permanent populations of these cities into natives and migrants in relation to the population structure,we constructed an improved Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population,Affluence and Technology model(STIRPAT)that included not only environmental pollutant emission variables but also variables on the cities’attributes.We subsequently conducted detailed analyses of the results of the models to assess the impacts of natives and migrants on environmental pollutant emissions.The main findings of our study were as follows:1)Migrant populations have significant impacts on environmental emissions both in terms of their size and concentration.Specifically,migrant populations have negative impacts on Air Quality Index(AQI)as well as PM2.5 emissions and positive impacts on emissions of NO2 and CO2.2)The impacts of migrant populations on urban environmental pollutant emissions were 8 to 30 times weaker than that of local populations.3)Urban environmental pollutant emissions in different cities differ significantly according to variations in the industrial structures,public transportation facilities,and population densities.

Practice and Thinking on Current Planning Environmental Impact Assessment of Transmission and Transformation Power Grid in Jiangsu Province

The planning environmental impact assessment （EIA） of transmission and transformation power grid at levels of 500 and 220 kV had been finished completely in the 13 municipalities of Jiangsu Province by the end of 2012, which played important roles in guiding and planning the following transmission and transformation projects in environmental protection. In this paper, through the detail analysis on the objective and significance of the planning EIA of transmission and transformation power grid, legal basis and planning EIA practices, some suggestions and thinking about the planning EIA of transmission and transformation power grid were put forward.

Life cycle environmental impact assessment of biochar-based bioenergy production and utilization in Northwestern Ontario,Canada

Biochar-based bioenergy production and sub- sequent land application of biochar can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by fixing atmospheric carbon into the soil for a long period of time. A thorough life cycle assessment of biochar-based bioenergy production and biochar land application in Northwestern Ontario is conducted using SimaPro Ver. 8.1. The results of energy consumption and potential environmental impact of biochar-based bioenergy production system are compared with those of conventional coal-based system. Results show that biocbar land application consumes 4847.61 MJ per tonne dry feedstock more energy than conventional system, but reduces the GHG emissions by 68.19 kg CO2e per tonne of dry feed- stock in its life cycle. Biochar land application improves ecosystem quality by 18 %, reduces climate change by 15 %, and resource use by 13 % but may adversely impact on human health by increasing disability adjusted life years by 1.7 % if biomass availability is low to medium. Replacing fossil fuel with woody biomass has a positiveimpact on the environment, as one tonne of dry biomass feedstock when converted to biochar reduces up to 38 kg CO2e with biochar land application despite using more energy. These results will help understand a comprehensive picture of the new interventions in forestry businesses, which are promoting biochar-based bioenergy production.

Analysis of hydrogeolgical characteristics and water environmental impact pathway of typical shale gas exploration and development zones in Sichuan Basin, China

Studying the influence of shale gas exploration and development on groundwater environment is the basis of guiding water environment protection in the process of shale gas exploration and development.Groundwater environmental pollution is concealed,complex and persistent.Once it is difficult to control the pollution,the current commercial shale gas development zones in Sichuan Basin that are mostly located in karst areas and highly sensitive to groundwater will be vulnerable to the impact of shale gas exploration and development.Based on the hydrogeological conditions of shale gas exploration and development area and combined with engineering analysis of exploration and development,various risk pathways that may affect the groundwater environment during process of shale gas exploration,mining well construction,mining operations and other stages were identified in this paper.Some existing risk pathways were proved by verification of typical areas and should not be ignored.Based on the actual situation of typical areas,the countermeasures of groundwater environmental protection in the process of shale gas exploration and development in karst areas were discussed.It is believed that the groundwater environment can be better protected by strengthening administration,research and application of new technologies,precise design,hydrogeological conditions,and research and feedback of groundwater environmental protection.