Valoración económica de la reducción del ruido por tráfico vehicular: una aplicación para Medellín (Colombia)

El objetivo de este trabajo es la determinación de los beneficios económicos que obtendrían los hogares de zonas residenciales en la ciudad de Medellín (Colombia) por la reducción del ruido por tráfico vehicular. Para tal propósito se utilizó el método de valoración contingente en combinación con información de percepción de calidad acústica de los hogares. Este enfoque permitió estimar la disponibilidad a pagar esperada por la reducción de un decibel en los niveles de ruido a los cuales están expuestos los hogares. Los resultados demuestran que si  se aplica para la ciudad un programa, política o proyecto que logre una reducción generalizada de 5 decibeles en el ruido por tráfico vehicular los beneficios económicos agregados ascienden a 397 millones de pesos colombianos al año. El estudio concluye que estos resultados generan conocimiento importante para hacer más efectiva la toma de decisiones en el marco de políticas regionales con respecto a la gestión de la reducción del ruido por tráfico vehicular. 

Desenvolvimento de metodologia de análise de indicadores de sustentabilidade como ferramenta para tomada de decisão utilizando lógica fuzzy

Dissertação (Mestrado em Tecnologia Nuclear)

Ökonomische Bildung für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung. Eine phänomenographische Untersuchung in der Lehrerinnenbildung

[Es] wurden folgende Forschungsfragen entwickelt: (1) Welche Modelle aus den Bezugsdisziplinen der Umweltökonomie und Ökologischen Ökonomie haben hohe Bedeutung in den Fachwissenschaften und sind zugleich anschlussfähig an relevante erziehungswissenschaftliche Forschung sowie curriculare Vorgaben? Was sind Bestandteile dieser fachwissenschaftlichen Schlüsselmodelle, die für eine ökonomische Allgemeinbildung bedeutsam sind? (2) Welche unterschiedlichen Präkonzepte nutzen Studierende der ökonomischen Bildung, wenn sie mit typischen, allgemein verständlich formulierten Problemen aus der Fachwissenschaft konfrontiert werden? (3) Wie können die Erkenntnisse über die fachlichen Modelle und Präkonzepte zur Planung von Seminaren genutzt werden? … Der erste Teil der Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Auswahl und Aufarbeitung bedeutsamer Modelle aus den Wirtschaftswissenschaften … Dafür wird einleitend das der Arbeit zugrunde liegende Verständnis ökonomischer Bildung entwickelt … Anschließend werden erziehungswissenschaftliche Forschung sowie curriculare Vorgaben aufgearbeitet und zentrale Forschungsgebiete der Ökologischen Ökonomie und Umweltökonomie identifiziert. Auf dieser Grundlage werden zwei Schlüsselmodelle der relevanten Bezugsdisziplinen bestimmt, nämlich die ökonomische Bewertung und das Management von Ökosystemdienstleistungen (ÖSD) und umweltpolitische Instrumente. … In den Kapiteln 3 und 4 werden die beiden identifizierten Modelle inhaltlich entsprechend der Anforderungen des Literacy-Ansatzes detailliert aufgearbeitet. … Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit werden Präkonzepte, d. h. Vorstellungen, die bei Lernenden vor einem Bildungsprozess bestehen, zu Phänomenen erforscht, die anhand der beiden ausgewählten fachlichen Modelle (ökonomische Bewertung von ÖSD und umweltpolitische Instrumente) bearbeitet werden können. … Nach einer Beschreibung des phänomenographischen Forschungsansatzes werden die Untersuchungsgruppe, die Datenerhebung und -analyse beschrieben. … In den beiden anschließenden Kapiteln werden Lernendenvorstellungen analysiert, die in Beziehung zu den fachlichen Modellen stehen. In Kapitel 6 werden Vorstellungen der Lernenden zum Phänomen des Umgangs mit Ökosystemen, die auf unterschiedliche Weise genutzt werden können, beschrieben. Im Kapitel 7 geht es um das Phänomen der umweltpolitischen Maßnahmen und ihrer Bewertung. … Im Kapitel 8 werden Ergebnisse aus den vorherigen Kapiteln zusammengeführt und Vorschläge für die Gestaltung von Seminaren mit Studierenden der ökonomischen Bildung gemacht. Schließlich wird ein kurzer Ausblick auf weitere Forschungsmöglichkeiten gegeben. (DIPF/Orig.)

Kwantyfikacja wybranych świadczeń ekosystemów na poziomie lokalnym. Przykład gminy Krajenka

Wydział Nauk Geograficznych i Geologicznych

Caracterização de crime ambiental de poluição por meio de abordagem multiparamétrica e incorporando incerteza de amostragem

Tese (Doutorado em Tecnologia Nuclear)

Coastal Heritage

The South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium publishes Coastal Heritage, a quarterly publication that covers environmental policy, science, history, and culture.

Comunidades tradicionais em áreas protegidas: convergências e lacunas da Política Urbana e Ambiental na Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Estadual Ponta do Tubarão/RN

This work presents a reflection on possibilities and boundaries of consolidation and expansion of human settlements characterized as traditional communities that are located within protected areas, using as study reference the State Sustainable Development Reserve Ponta do Tubarão, at Rio Grande do Norte state. The main topics highlight the conflict between the right to housing and the prevalence of fundamental rights of traditional populations, opposed to the diffuse right to environment, according to the regulatory framework of the Brazilian Urban and Environmental Policies. At the same time that these settlements, historically built, are substantiated by the principles of recognition of rights to traditional populations, they are in a condition of complexity to the resolution of conflicts in its urban dimension and lead to an impairment of natural sites. This work questions how the instruments of land use and occupation are defined and relate to environmental planning, especially considering that the settlements are located in Permanent Preservation Areas (APP). It aims to further the discussion of the urban dimension in settlements, characterizing its formation and growth process, to identify the gaps and convergences between the Urban and Environmental Policy, under the foundations of a socio-environmental approach. The results spotlights the conflicts between occupation and natural areas, inferring that the definition of Urban Policies instruments and its integration with Environmental Policies instruments account for essential and priority actions to the achievement to the rights to a sustainable city, as determined in the Cities Statute and environmental protection goals, defined for the Conservation Units

Incidencia presupuestal de los requerimientos medioambientales en un proceso constructivo

La legislación medioambiental vigente en Colombia, particularmente aplicada en el sector de la construcción, ha impactado de manera significativa los costos de ejecución de los proyectos inmobiliarios, debido a la gran cantidad de condiciones, regulaciones y nuevas prácticas que deben implementarse para su adecuado cumplimiento -- Esta investigación busca encontrar los costos relacionados con la actividad de gestión medioambiental en un proyecto de construcción, y establecer cuáles de estos son controlables y no controlables, con el fin de determinar indicadores que sirvan de herramienta para costear de manera efectiva presupuestos de proyectos en momento de pre factibilidad, e indicadores de control que permitan hacer seguimiento a la actividad durante su proceso de ejecución

Undermined climate policies : a study on the impact of regulatory and financial discrimination across heterogeneous firms in China

Firms in China within the same industry but with different ownership and size have very different production functions and can face very different emission regulations and financial conditions. This fact has largely been ignored in most of the existing literature on climate change. Using a newly augmented Chinese input–output table in which information about firm size and ownership are explicitly reported, this paper employs a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to analyze the impact of alternative climate policy designs with respect to regulation and financial conditions on heterogeneous firms. The simulation results indicate that with a business-as-usual regulatory structure, the effectiveness and economic efficiency of climate policies is significantly undermined. Expanding regulation to cover additional firms has a first-order effect of improving efficiency. However, over-investment in energy technologies in certain firms may decrease the overall efficiency of investments and dampen long-term economic growth by competing with other fixed-capital investments for financial resources. Therefore, a market-oriented arrangement for sharing emission reduction burden and a mechanism for allocating green investment is crucial for China to achieve a more ambitious emission target in the long run.

WRITING A COMMUNITY GUIDEBOOK FOR EVALUATING LOW-GRADE GEOTHERMAL ENERGY FROM FLOODED UNDERGROUND MINES FOR HEATING AND COOLING BUILDINGS

When underground mines close they often fill with water from ground and surface sources; each mine can contain millions to billions of gallons of water. This water, heated by the Earth’s geothermal energy, reaches temperatures ideal for heat pumps. The sheer scale of these flooded underground mines presents a unique opportunity for large scale geothermal heat pump setups which would not be as economically, socially, and environmentally feasible anywhere else. A literature search revealed approximately 30 instances of flooded underground mines being used to heat and cool buildings worldwide. With thousands of closed/abandoned underground mines in the U.S. and a million estimated globally, why hasn’t this opportunity been more widely adopted? This project has found perception and lack of knowledge about the feasibility to be key barriers. To address these issues, this project drafted a guidebook for former mining communities titled A Community Guide to Mine Water Geothermal Heating and Cooling.

Quincy and Torch Lake Railroad engine house facility management and interpretive plan

The “Quincy & Torch Lake Railroad Engine House Facility Management and Interpretive Plan" was designed to serve as a guide to aid the Quincy Mine Hoist Association in their efforts to restore and interpret historic railroad resources under their stewardship. Early searches for existing management and interpretive plans demonstrated that similar plans were primarily produced by the National Park Service and were intended to guide large scale heritage sites that consist of a variety of cultural resources. This project adapts concepts found in those large scale management and interpretive site plans, to guide small scale site management, restoration, and interpretive projects. The document presents a three stage, second phase restoration process. Each stage of development is guided by a series of management and interpretive goals and objectives which were set for the engine house facility.

Climate Adaptation Finance Mechanisms: New Frontiers For Familiar Tools

Demands for mechanisms to pay for adaptation to climate risks have multiplied rapidly as concern has shifted from greenhouse gas mitigation alone to also coping with the now-inevitable impacts. A number of viable approaches to how to pay for those adjustments to roads, drainage systems, lifeline utilities and other basic infrastructure are emerging, though untested at the scale required across the nation, which already has a trillion-dollar deferred maintenance and replacement problem. There are growing efforts to find new ways to harness private financial resources via new market arrangements to meet needs that clearly outstrip public resources alone, as well as to utilize and combine public resources more effectively. To date, mechanisms are often seen through a specific lens of scale, time, and method, for example national versus local and public versus market-based means. The purpose here is to integrate a number of those perspectives and also to highlight the following in particular. Current experience with seemingly more pedestrian needs like stormwater management funding is in fact a learning step towards new approaches for broader adaptation needs, using re-purposed but existing fiscal tools. The resources raised from new large-scale market approaches for using catastrophe- and resiliency-bond-derived funds will have their use embodied and operationalized in many separate local and state projects. The invention and packaging of innovative projects—the pre-development phase—will be pivotal to better using fiscal resources of many types. Those efforts can be greatly aided or hindered by larger national and especially state government policy, regulatory and capital market arrangements. Understanding the path to integration of effort across these scales deserves much more attention. Examples are given of how federal, state and local roles are each dimensions of that frontier, how existing tools can apply in new ways and how smart project creation plays a role.

Compass e-newsletter

The “Compass E-Newsletter” is published quarterly by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and is compiled by the Office of Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling to provide environmental information from the agency.

Compass e-newsletter

The “Compass E-Newsletter” is published quarterly by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and is compiled by the Office of Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling to provide environmental information from the agency.