Practice report: the role of environmental factors in industrial site selection activities: a case of limestone quarry expansion in Barbados, West Indies

Site selection is a key activity for quarry expansion to support cement production, and is governed by factors such as resource availability, logistics, costs, and socio-environmental factors. Adequate consideration of all factors facilitates both industrial productivity and sustainable economic growth. This study illustrates the site selection process that was undertaken for the expansion of limestone quarry operations to support cement production in Barbados. First, alternate sites with adequate resources to support a 25-year development horizon were identified. Second, socio-environmental conditions were described and potential impacts identified. Third, a comparative matrix was constructed to evaluate relative site characteristics with respect to physical, ecological, socio-cultural and economic factors. The study shows that environmental factors were essential to the final site recommendation.

The role of environmental factors in industrial site selection activities:a case of limestone quarry expansion in Barbados, West Indies

Site selection is a key activity for quarry expansion to support cement production, and is governed by factors such as resource availability, logistics, costs, and socio-environmental factors. Adequate consideration of all factors facilitates both industrial productivity and sustainable economic growth. This study illustrates the site selection process that was undertaken for the expansion of limestone quarry operations to support cement production in Barbados. First, alternate sites with adequate resources to support a 25-year development horizon were identified. Second, socio-environmental conditions were described and potential impacts identified. Third, a comparative matrix was constructed to evaluate relative site characteristics with respect to physical, ecological, socio-cultural and economic factors. The study shows that environmental factors were essential to the final site recommendation.

Uncertainty propagation in the model web:a case study with e-Habitat

eHabitat is a Web Processing Service (WPS) designed to compute the likelihood of finding ecosystems with equal properties. Inputs to the WPS, typically thematic geospatial "layers", can be discovered using standardised catalogues, and the outputs tailored to specific end user needs. Because these layers can range from geophysical data captured through remote sensing to socio-economical indicators, eHabitat is exposed to a broad range of different types and levels of uncertainties. Potentially chained to other services to perform ecological forecasting, for example, eHabitat would be an additional component further propagating uncertainties from a potentially long chain of model services. This integration of complex resources increases the challenges in dealing with uncertainty. For such a system, as envisaged by initiatives such as the "Model Web" from the Group on Earth Observations, to be used for policy or decision making, users must be provided with information on the quality of the outputs since all system components will be subject to uncertainty. UncertWeb will create the Uncertainty-Enabled Model Web by promoting interoperability between data and models with quantified uncertainty, building on existing open, international standards. It is the objective of this paper to illustrate a few key ideas behind UncertWeb using eHabitat to discuss the main types of uncertainties the WPS has to deal with and to present the benefits of the use of the UncertWeb framework.

Economic and socio-economic evaluation of bioenergy schemes fueled with energy crops in Greece

The main aim of this thesis is to evaluate the economic and socio-economic viability of energy crops as raw material for bioenergy schemes at the local level. The case examined is Greece, a southern Mediterranean country. Based on the current state, on foreseen trends and on the information presented in the literature review (conducted at the beginning of the study), the main goal was defined as follows: To examine the evidence supporting a strong role for dedicated energy crops local bioenergy developments in Greece, a sector that is forecasted to be increasingly important in the short to medium term.' Two perennial energy crops, cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L.) and giant reed (Arundo donax L.) were evaluated. The thesis analysed their possible introduction in the agricultural system of Rhodope, northern Greece, as alternative land use, through comparative financial appraisal with the main conventional crops. Based on the output of this comparative analysis, the breakeven for the two selected energy crops was defined along with a sensitivity analysis for the risk of the potential implementation. Following, the author performed an economic and socio-economic evaluation of a district heating system fuelled with energy crops in the selected region. Finally, the author, acknowledging that bioenergy deployment should be studied in the context of innovations proceeded in examining the different perceptions of the key groups involved, farmers and potential end users. Results indicated that biomass exploitation for energy purposes is more likely to be accepted when it is seen clearly as one strand in a national energy, environmental and agricultural policy which embraces several sources of renewable energy, and which also encourages energy efficiency and conservation.

The influence of the socio-educational reading environment in an Arab University upon English reading performance

Research into FL/EFL macro-reading (the effect of the broader context of reading) has been little explored in spite of its importance in the FL/EFL reading programmes. This study was designed to build on previous work by explaining in more depth the influence of the socio-educational reading environment in an Arab university (Al-Fateh University in Tripoli, Libya) - as reported by students, upon these students' reading ability in English and Arabic (particularly the former). Certain aspects of the lecturers' reading habits and attitudes and classroom operation were also investigated. Written cloze tests in English and Arabic and self-administered questionnaires were given to 125 preliminary-year undergraduates in three faculties of Al-Fateh University on the basis of their use of English as a medium of instruction (one representing the Arts' stream and two representing the Science stream). Twenty two lecturers were interviewed and observed by an inventory technique along with twenty other preliminary-year students. Factor analysis and standard multiple regression technique were among the statistical methods used to analyse the main data. The findings demonstrate a significant relationship between reading ability in English and the reading individual and environmental variables - as defined in the study. A combination of common and different series of such predictors were found accountable for the variation (43% for the first year English specialist; 48% for the combined Medicine student sample) in the English reading tests. Also found was a significant, though not very large, relationship between reading ability in Arabic and the reading environment. Non-statistical but objective analyses, based on the present data, also revealed an overall association between English reading performance and an important number of reading environmental variables - where many `poor' users of the reading environment (particularly the academic one) obtained low scores in the English cloze tests. Accepting the limitations of a single study, it is nevertheless clear that the reading environment at the University is in need of improvement and that students' use of it also requires better guidance and training in how to use it effectively. Suggestions are made for appropriate educational changes.

Geospatial data quality indicators

Indicators which summarise the characteristics of spatiotemporal data coverages significantly simplify quality evaluation, decision making and justification processes by providing a number of quality cues that are easy to manage and avoiding information overflow. Criteria which are commonly prioritised in evaluating spatial data quality and assessing a dataset’s fitness for use include lineage, completeness, logical consistency, positional accuracy, temporal and attribute accuracy. However, user requirements may go far beyond these broadlyaccepted spatial quality metrics, to incorporate specific and complex factors which are less easily measured. This paper discusses the results of a study of high level user requirements in geospatial data selection and data quality evaluation. It reports on the geospatial data quality indicators which were identified as user priorities, and which can potentially be standardised to enable intercomparison of datasets against user requirements. We briefly describe the implications for tools and standards to support the communication and intercomparison of data quality, and the ways in which these can contribute to the generation of a GEO label.

How green is green? A framework for environmental performance assessment in operations

This paper presents a framework based upon a relationship between environmental benefits and the investments and costs needed to implement and run company operations. As the results of environmental management become more evident it is proposed that the benefits rather than the environmental impacts are measured in the analysis of environmental performance. Four categories, or stages, are defined in this paper: “creative-green”, “expensive-green”, “inefficient-green or beginner”, and finally, the “complacent” stage. The paper describes the characteristics of each category and provides examples of indicators that could be used to measure environmental benefits. Qualitative and quantitative methods are necessary to classify companies according to the framework. It is believed that this paper can assist companies and public organisations to assess operations and projects considering their level of sustainability. The proposed framework can impact FDI and environmental policies in the public arena, and foster innovation on environmental practices within the private sector.

Corporate environmental responsibility and accountability:what chance in vulnerable Bangladesh?

Bangladesh has recently been enjoying significant economic growth mainly arising from an export led development strategy. However, in that process its natural environment has been degraded and become more vulnerable in geophysical terms (e.g. environmental pollution). Much of the Bangladeshi population are also vulnerable in socio-economic terms due primarily to widespread poverty. In this context we ask, albeit sceptically, whether there is any chance of holding corporations to account for their environmental responsibilities. Using the notions of vulnerability and ecological rifts we answer this question by providing evidence from published sources and a series of 32 semi-structured interviews with Bangladeshi stakeholder groups. Key findings include, inter alia, corporate reluctance to take responsibility for the environmental impact of their activities. Our interviewees discuss the possibility of a role for mandatory corporate reporting in enhancing corporate accountability and we argue that this is essential if the contradictions and irrationalities of the globalized capitalist system are to be made visible. Achieving such accountability, however, will not be easy due to a lack of political will and the prohibitive costs involved. Incurring such costs could raise the dangerous prospect of Bangladesh losing business to other, less regulated, economies.

Modelling sustainability performance to achieve absolute reductions in socio-ecological systems

As the world’s natural resources dwindle and critical levels of environmental pollution are approached, sustainability becomes a key issue for governments, organisations and individuals. With the consequences of such an issue in mind, this paper introduces a unifying approach to measure the sustainability performance of socio-economic systems based on the interplay between two key variables: essentiality of consumption and environmental impact. This measure attributes to every system a ‘fitness’ value i.e. a quantity that reflects its ability to remain resilient/healthy by avoiding ecological, social and economic collapse as it consumes the available resources. This new measure is tested on a system where there is a limited supply of resources and four basic consumption types. The analysis has theoretical implications as well as practical importance as it can help countries, organisations or even individuals, in finding better ways to measure sustainability performance.

Building environmental assessment scheme for residential building in Brunei

Building's construction activities, operation and demolition are increasingly recognised as a major source of environmental impact. One strategy for reducing such impacts is most widely known by the term Building Environmental Assessment (BEA). The research is an attempt to develop a new BEA scheme for residential buildings in Brunei which focussing on identifying BEA indicators that best suit for Brunei environment, social and economy. Studies show that Brunei residential sector needs urgent attention to transform its current consumption rate in more sustainable way. Recent launch of Brunei Green Building Council, mandatory energy efficiency guidelines and declaration of ambitious energy intensity reduction target, a new BEA scheme will help contribute sustainability target in residential sector. However the issues of developing a new BEA schemes using existing methods may face constraints in their effectiveness. In this regard, a consensus-forming technique-Delphi method-helps improve greater communication and gain consensus from experts in the construction industry through series of questionnaires. As a result, the final framework is produced comprises of 7 key categories and 37 applicable criteria that achieved high degree of consensus and importance.