Eco-efficiency and dairy processing

The dairy industry is a global industry that provides significant nutritional benefit to many cultures. in australia the industry is especially important economically, being a large export earner, as well as a vital domestic sector. in recent years the sector has come under increased competitive pressure and has restructured to cope with the changes. the industry recently undertook an eco-efficiency project to investigate where business and environmental improvements might be found. the project involved collecting and collating previous project data and surveying 38 companies in different dairy operations, from market milk to dried products. after the survey, 10 sites in two states were visited to discuss eco-efficiency issues in detail with key players. From the surveys, visits and data compilation, a comprehensive manual was prepared to help interested companies find relevant eco-efficiency data easily and assist them in the implementation process. ten fact sheets were also produced covering the topics of water management, water recycling and re-use, refrigeration optimisation, boiler optimisation, biogas, the use of treated wastewater, yield optimisation and product recovery, optimisation of ciP systems, chemical use and membranes the project highlighted the large amount of technical and engineering expertise within the sector that could result in eco-efficiency outcomes and also identified the opportunities that exist for changes to occur in some operations to save energy, input raw materials and water.

Stand density management in rainforest plantations

Trees in plantations established for timber production are usually grown at a sufficiently high density that canopy closure occurs within a relatively short time after planting. The trees then shade and outcompete most herbs, shrubs or grasses growing at the site. The closer the spacing (i.e. the greater the density) the faster this will occur. Subsequently, as the trees grow larger, this between-species competition is replaced by within-species competition. If unmanaged, this competition can reduce the commercial productivity of the plantation. Thus, there are two management dilemmas. One is knowing the best initial planting density. The second is knowing how to management the subsequent between-tree competition in order to optimize overall plantation timber productivity. In this chapter we consider initial spacing and thinning for high value timber trees grown in single and mixed species plantations. From growth studies in stands of different ages recommendations are proposed for managing both types of plantations where the primary objective is timber production. It seems that many rainforest species will require more space to achieve optimal growth than most eucalypts and conifers. On the other hand many rainforest species do not have strong apical dominance. Care will be needed to balance these two attributes.