Regional trade-offs between mine water and energy use : a water treatment case study

The mining industry faces concurrent pressures of reducing water use, energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in coming years. However, the interactions between water and energy use, as well as GHG e missions have largely been neglected in modelling studies to date. In addition, investigations tend to focus on the unit operation scale, with little consideration of whole-of-site or regional scale effects. This paper presents an application of a hierarchical systems model (HSM) developed to represent water, energy and GHG emissions fluxes at scales ranging from the unit operation, to the site level, to the regional level. The model allows for the linkages between water use, energy use and GHG emissions to be examined in a fl exible and intuitive way, so that mine sites can predict energy and emissions impacts of water use reduction schemes and vice versa. This paper examines whether this approach can also be applied to the regional scale with multiple mine sites. The model is used to conduct a case study of several coal mines in the Bowen Basin, Australia, to compare the utility of centralised and decentralised mine water treatment schemes. The case study takes into account geographical factors (such as water pumping distances and elevations), economic factors (such as capital and operating cost curves for desalination treatment plants) and regional factors (such as regionally varying climates and associated variance in mine water volumes and quality). The case study results indicate that treatment of saline mine water incurs a trade-off between water and energy use in all cases. However, significant cost differences between centralised and decentralised schemes can be observed in a simple economic analysis. Further research will examine the possibility for deriving model up-scaling algorithms to reduce computational requirements.

Optimal Irrigation and N-fertilizer Management for Sustainable Winter Wheat Production in Khorezm, Uzbekistan

The efficiency of the nitrogen (N) application rates 0, 120, 180 and 240 kg N ha−1 in combination with low or medium water levels in the cultivation of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cv. Kupava was studied for the 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 growing seasons in the Khorezm region of Uzbekistan. The results show an impact of the initial soil Nmin (NO3-N + NH4-N) levels measured at wheat seeding on the N fertilizer rates applied. When the Nmin content in the 0–50 cm soil layer was lower than 10 mg kg−1 during wheat seeding in 2005, the N rate of 180 kg ha−1 was found to be the most effective for achieving high grain yields of high quality. With a higher Nmin content of about 30 mg kg−1 as was the case in the 2006 season, 120 kg N ha−1 was determined as being the technical and economical optimum. The temporal course of N2O emissions of winter wheat cultivation for the two water-level studies shows that emissions were strongly influenced by irrigation and N-fertilization. Extremely high emissions were measured immediately after fertilizer application events that were combined with irrigation events. Given the high impact of N-fertilizer and irrigation-water management on N2O emissions, it can be concluded that present N-management practices should be modified to mitigate emissions of N2O and to achieve higher fertilizer use efficiency.

Greenhouse gas emissions in livestock production systems

Agriculture is responsible for a significant proportion of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (perhaps 18% globally), and therefore has the potential to contribute to efforts to reduce emissions as a means of minimising the risk of dangerous climate change. The largest contributions to emissions are attributed to ruminant methane production and nitrous oxide from animal waste and fertilised soils. Further, livestock, including ruminants, are an important component of global and Australian food production and there is a growing demand for animal protein sources. At the same time as governments and the community strengthen objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there are growing concerns about global food security. This paper provides an overview of a number of options for reducing methane and nitrous oxide emissions from ruminant production systems in Australia, while maintaining productivity to contribute to both objectives. Options include strategies for feed modification, animal breeding and herd management, rumen manipulation and animal waste and fertiliser management. Using currently available strategies, some reductions in emissions can be achieved, but practical commercially available techniques for significant reductions in methane emissions, particularly from extensive livestock production systems, will require greater time and resource investment. Decreases in the levels of emissions from these ruminant systems (i.e., the amount of emissions per unit of product such as meat) have already been achieved. However, the technology has not yet been developed for eliminating production of methane from the rumen of cattle and sheep digesting the cellulose and lignin-rich grasses that make up a large part of the diet of animals grazing natural pastures, particularly in arid and semi-arid grazing lands. Nevertheless, the abatement that can be achieved will contribute significantly towards reaching greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and research will achieve further advances.

Climate variability, climate change and land degradation

Effective response by government and individuals to the risk of land degradation requires an understanding of regional climate variations and the impacts of climate and management on condition and productivity of land and vegetation resources. Analysis of past land degradation and climate variability provides some understanding of vulnerability to current and future climate changes and the information needs for more sustainable management. We describe experience in providing climate risk assessment information for managing for the risk of land degradation in north-eastern Australian arid and semi-arid regions used for extensive grazing. However, we note that information based on historical climate variability, which has been relied on in the past, will now also have to factor in the influence of human-induced climate change. Examples illustrate trends in climate for Australia over the past decade and the impacts on indicators of resource condition. The analysis highlights the benefits of insights into past trends and variability in rainfall and other climate variables based on extended historic databases. This understanding in turn supports more reliable regional climate projections and decision support information for governments and land managers to better manage the risk of land degradation now and in the future.

Scalar considerations in carrying capacity assessment : an Australian example

Regional resource self-sufficiency has been proposed as a way to improve food security by lessening the demand on long-distance transport. An online tool, the Carrying Capacity Dashboard, was developed for Australian conditions in order to gauge self-sufficiency at three different scales: regional, state and national. It allows users to test a variety of societal behaviours such as diet, biofuel production, farming systems and ecological protection practices. Analysis developed from the Dashboard tests the effects of various resource consumption patterns on land carrying capacity. Findings reveal that Australia’s current carrying capacity is estimated to be over 40 million, but if calculated on a regional basis, this is reduced by almost half.

The work of Media Arts in the age of digital production

This chapter uses as a beginning point Walter Benjamin’s famous essay ‘The work of art in the age of technological reproducibility’(1935/2008) to discuss Media Arts education. It locates ‘Media Arts’ at the intersection of three key ideas: 1) media arts products as objects for popular and everyday consumption and intervention by individuals and broader audiences; 2) materiality and how individuals use their bodies and technologies to produce, combine and share digital materials and; 3) the construction of aesthetic knowledge and how this relates to critical and conceptual thinking. These ideas are discussed in the context of the development of curriculum for students at all ages of schooling, with specific attention given to the knowledge and skills students might develop within Media Arts education in primary schools. Examples from a Media Arts project in a primary school in Australia – where a new Media Arts national curriculum has been developed –are provided to illustrate the key ideas discussed in the chapter.

Biodiesel production from non-edible beauty leaf (Calophyllum Inophyllum) oil : process optimization using response surface methodology (RSM)

In recent years, the beauty leaf plant (Calophyllum Inophyllum) is being considered as a potential 2nd generation biodiesel source due to high seed oil content, high fruit production rate, simple cultivation and ability to grow in a wide range of climate conditions. However, however, due to the high free fatty acid (FFA) content in this oil, the potential of this biodiesel feedstock is still unrealized, and little research has been undertaken on it. In this study, transesterification of beauty leaf oil to produce biodiesel has been investigated. A two-step biodiesel conversion method consisting of acid catalysed pre-esterification and alkali catalysed transesterification has been utilized. The three main factors that drive the biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester (FAME)) conversion from vegetable oil (triglycerides) were studied using response surface methodology (RSM) based on a Box-Behnken experimental design. The factors considered in this study were catalyst concentration, methanol to oil molar ratio and reaction temperature. Linear and full quadratic regression models were developed to predict FFA and FAME concentration and to optimize the reaction conditions. The significance of these factors and their interaction in both stages was determined using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The reaction conditions for the largest reduction in FFA concentration for acid catalysed pre-esterification was 30:1 methanol to oil molar ratio, 10% (w/w) sulfuric acid catalyst loading and 75 °C reaction temperature. In the alkali catalysed transesterification process 7.5:1 methanol to oil molar ratio, 1% (w/w) sodium methoxide catalyst loading and 55 °C reaction temperature were found to result in the highest FAME conversion. The good agreement between model outputs and experimental results demonstrated that this methodology may be useful for industrial process optimization for biodiesel production from beauty leaf oil and possibly other industrial processes as well.

The road we're on

The creative development and direction of THE ROAD WE'RE ON (Book by Stephen Carleton, Music by Scott Saunders), commissioned by the Queensland Music Festival and the Murweh Shire Council. The was a site-specific, community-driven music theatre production produced and performed in Charleville and involved over 100 local artists and the communities of western Queensland.

Surveying the Wide Bay Burnett : changing lifestyles and the implications for regional transport planning

Significant lifestyle and demographic changes in Queensland are beginning to alter the landscape of regional transport planning. In 2006, Queensland Transport undertook a study to understand the implications of these changes on the transport planning task in regional Queensland. The study focused on the current travel characteristics of three Local Government Areas in the Wide Bay Burnett Region. Hervey Bay City represented the ‘sea change’ phenomenon; Wondai Shire represented the growing ‘tree change’ lifestyle; and Monto Shire represented communities which were either experiencing limited change or a decrease in population. The results of this research will be used to inform long term integrated regional transport planning in the region.

Drinking games participation among female students at a regional Australian university

Participation in drinking games (DGs) by university students is often associated with heavy drinking and negative social and health impacts. Although research in Australia indicates that university students tend to drink at risky levels, there is paucity of literature on DGs among students, especially those residing at regional universities. This research examined drinking among female college students of white background. Eighteen female students participated in face-to-face in-depth interviews to describe their DG experiences. Most women played DGs for social and monetary reasons, with many drinking high volumes of alcohol during the game. Excessive drinking was linked with the type of beverage consumed. Despite knowing the health risks associated with DGs, there was a strong social imperative for these young women to play these games. Research and public health initiatives to better understand and address problematic drinking activities in rural and regional Australia have tended to ignore women and the dominant white populations whose heavy drinking has been largely restricted to private spheres.

Micropolitical insights into Assistant Regional Directors’ leadership in Queensland Education

The position of Assistant Regional Directors, School Performance (ARD-SP) was established by the Department of Education and Training (DET), the government provider of public education in Queensland, in 2010, to improve student learning across Queensland by providing close supervision of principals. Based on interviews with 18 ARDs-SP and two of their immediate supervisors, this paper explores their views about this relatively new position and their understandings of the role. Following Blase and Anderson (1995), it uses micropolitical leadership theory to analyse comments made by the participants. A key finding was a view of leadership based on a differentiated supervision model whereby ARDs-SP worked with principals to ensure they met the corporate agenda. Participants’ comments favoured a leadership approach that was both adversarial (drawing upon power over and power through) and facilitative (drawing upon power through and power over) and for those principals deemed under-performing, an authoritarian leadership approach was apparent.

Global outsourcing, production and logistics

Supply chains are the core of most industrial networks in which your business operates. They provide the pipeline through which the products and services flow from supplier to customer across each element within the business activity system. Global supply chain relationships have become the basis for many industries with an international network of firms engaged in the supply of goods and services that must be produced to quality standards in one country and delivered just-in-time for assembly or integration into further production processes in another country, frequently many thousands of miles apart. This topic examines the nature of supply chain management and their role in strategic networking. The previous learning tasks have focused on having the correct internal mechanism to effectively manage the inputs and outputs of the organisation by implementing an effective and transparent management system. This learning task takes a look at how management intent strategy and innovation are used to measure the external factors that influence the overall performance of the organisation and develop new strategies by understanding the business cycle and the people within your market environment.

The role of autogenic halide gas in the production of metal borides

Synthesis of metal borides is typically undertaken at high temperature using direct combinations of elemental starting materials[1]. Techniques include carbothermal reduction using elemental carbon, metals, metal oxides and B2O3[2] or reaction between metal chlorides and boron sources[3]. These reactions generally require temperatures greater than 1200oC and are not readily suitable for an industrial setting nor scalable to bulk production.

20 Years of pacifying responses to environmental management

Using a state, pressure, response framework, we provide an evidence-based reflection on environmental outcomes in Australia and New Zealand across the domains of climate change, biodiversity, freshwater and marine management, emphasising the role of Indigenous and business perspectives. Significant developments have occurred in the past 20 years through affirmation of Indigenous rights and responsibilities. Responses to climate change have tended to emphasise passive risk management with unclear outcomes. Despite meeting biodiversity protection targets, outcomes are worsening, suggesting a need to challenge the dualistic preservation/production land categorisations. In freshwater and marine management, a mix of collaborative and market-based responses has emerged, although their efficacy remains untested. A reliance on voluntary approaches by business makes critical assessment of progress difficult. Thus, despite strong progress in some areas, the adaptiveness of environmental management remains limited, and many indicators suggest continuing decline in environmental condition. Our responses have been largely pacifying in nature, leading to perverse outcomes and failure to acknowledge alternatives that might address deteriorating environmental conditions. A shift is needed towards deliberative policy experimentation that truly values the application of novel and diversified approaches and facilitates integrated learning across environmental domains.

A comparative analysis of relevant crop carbon footprint calculators, with reference to cotton production in Australia

An increasing concern over the sustainability credentials of food and fiber crops require that farmers and their supply chain partners have access to appropriate and industry-friendly tools to be able to measure and improve the outcomes. This article focuses on one of the sustainability indicators, namely, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and nine internationally accredited carbon footprint calculators were identified and compared on an outcomes basis against the same cropping data from a case study cotton farm. The purpose of this article is to identify the most “appropriate” methodology to be applied by cotton suppliers in this regard. From the analysis of the results, we subsequently propose a new integrated model as the basis for an internationally accredited carbon footprint tool for cotton and show how the model can be applied to evaluate the emission outcomes of different farming practices.