Using strong sustainability to optimize electricity generation fuel mixes

This work represents a contribution to the field of sustainable electricity system design by using an optimization tool to specify the final mix composition, subject to the constraints of: emissions that are within the biocapacity of the region; a diverse and robust electricity supply system; and supply that at least meets current demand. The 25-country European Union (EU-25) is used as a case study. All the goals, save diversity, can be met by re-structuring the current fuel mix, thus maintaining current consumption levels. The diversity target is only met when consumption is reduced by 10-15% and the constraint on maximum material throughput is relaxed. Re-structuring the mix and reducing consumption is insufficient to achieve a sustainable EU carbon footprint. However, the solution proposed singlehandedly allows the EU to meet its Kyoto emissions target as well as its 2007 policy of a reduction of 20% in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantifying the limits of HANPP and carbon emissions which prolong total species well-being

Anthropogenic climate and land-use change are leading to irreversible losses of global biodiversity, upon which ecosystem functioning depends. Since total species' well-being depends on ecosystem goods and services, man must determine how much net primary productivity (NPP) may be appropriated and carbon emitted so as to not adversely impact this and future generations. In 2005, man ought to have only appropriated 9.72 Pg C of NPP, representing a factor 2.50, or 59.93%, reduction in human-appropriated NPP in that year. Concurrently, the carbon cycle would have been balanced with a factor 1.26, or 20.84%, reduction from 7.60 Gt C/year to 5.70 Gt C/year, representing a return to the 1986 levels. This limit is in keeping with the category III stabilization scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change. Projecting population growth to 2030 and its associated basic food requirements, the maximum HANPP remains at 9.74 ± 0.02 Pg C/year. This time-invariant HANPP may only provide for the current global population of 6.51 billion equitably at the current average consumption of 1.49 t C per capita, calling into question the sustainability of developing countries striving for high-consuming country levels of 5.85 t C per capita and its impacts on equitable resource distribution. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.

Linking energy policy, electricity generation and transmission using strong sustainability and co-optimization

The design of a sustainable electricity generation and transmission system is based on the established science of anthropogenic climate change and the realization that depending on imported fossil-fuels is becoming a measure of energy insecurity of supply. A model is proposed which integrates generation fuel mix composition, assignment of plants and optimized power flow, using Portugal as a case study. The result of this co-optimized approach is an overall set of generator types/fuels which increases the diversity of Portuguese electricity supply, lowers its dependency on imported fuels by 14.62% and moves the country towards meeting its regional and international obligations of 31% energy from renewables by 2020 and a 27% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2012, respectively. The quantity and composition of power generation at each bus is specified, with particular focus on quantifying the amount of distributed generation. Based on other works, the resultant, overall distributed capacity penetration of 19.02% of total installed generation is expected to yield positive network benefits. Thus, the model demonstrates that national energy policy and technical deployment can be linked through sustainability and, moreover, that the respective goals may be mutually achieved via holistic, integrated design. ©2009 IEEE.

A guide to monitoring reef fish in the National Park Service's South Florida/Caribbean Network

Reef fishes are conspicuous and essential components of coral reef ecosystems and economies of southern Florida and the United States Virgin Islands (USVI). Throughout Florida and the USVI, reef fish are under threat from a variety of anthropogenic and natural stressors including overfishing, habitat loss, and environmental changes. The South Florida/Caribbean Network (SFCN), a unit of the National Park Service (NPS), is charged with monitoring reef fishes, among other natural and cultural resources, within six parks in the South Florida - Caribbean region (Biscayne National Park, BISC; Buck Island Reef National Monument, BUIS; Dry Tortugas National Park, DRTO; Everglades National Park, EVER; Salt River Bay National Historic Park and Ecological Preserve, SARI; Virgin Islands National Park, VIIS). Monitoring data is intended for park managers who are and will continue to be asked to make decisions to balance environmental protection, fishery sustainability and park use by visitors. The range and complexity of the issues outlined above, and the need for NPS to invest in a strategy of monitoring, modeling, and management to ensure the sustainability of its precious assets, will require strategic investment in long-term, high-precision, multispecies reef fish data that increases inherent system knowledge and reduces uncertainty. The goal of this guide is to provide the framework for park managers and researchers to create or enhance a reef fish monitoring program within areas monitored by the SFCN. The framework is expected to be applicable to other areas as well, including the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument. The favored approach is characterized by an iterative process of data collection, dataset integration, sampling design analysis, and population and community assessment that evaluates resource risks associated with management policies. Using this model, a monitoring program can adapt its survey methods to increase accuracy and precision of survey estimates as new information becomes available, and adapt to the evolving needs and broadening responsibilities of park management.

Literature review for a resource characterization of Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge

Through research aimed at understanding the coastal environment, surveys designed to help manage the resource, and national programs to monitor environmental condition, we see a picture of a dynamic ecosystem that is Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge (CRNWR). Currently, there are efforts underway to protect threatened species; monitor fish populations; and quantify the biological, physical, and chemical characteristics of this environment. The potential impacts to this system are just now being understood as ecological responses to human modification are observed and explained. As a starting point, this document compiles existing information about Cape Romain NWR in five topic areas and addresses the potential impacts to the Refuge. This review is intended to serve as a stepping stone to developing a research agenda in support of management of the Refuge. There are various sources of information on which to build a framework for monitoring conditions and detecting change to this environment. For instance, information on basic ecological function in estuarine environments has evolved over several decades. Long-term surveys of Southeast fisheries exist, as well as shellfish and sediment contaminants data from estuaries. Environmental monitoring and biological surveys at the Refuge continue. Recently, studies that examine the impacts to similar coastal habitats have been undertaken. This document puts past studies and ongoing work in context for Refuge managers and researchers. This report recommends that the next phase of this resource characterization focus on: • compiling relevant tabular and spatial data, as identified here, into a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework • assessing the abundance and diversity of fisheries utilizing CRNWR • delineating additional data layers, such as intertidal habitats and subtidal clam beds, from low-level aerial photography, hard copy maps, and other sources • continued inventories of plant and animal species dependent on the Refuge • monitoring physical and chemical environmental parameters using the methodology employed at National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) and other coastal sites, where appropriate • further definition of the potential risks to the Refuge and preparing responses to likely impacts.

The Southeast Bering Sea Ecosystem: implications for marine resource management (Final Report: Southeast Bering Sea Carrying Capacity).

Southeast Bering Sea Carrying Capacity (SEBSCC, 1996–2002) was a NOAA Coastal Ocean Program project that investigated the marine ecosystem of the southeastern Bering Sea. SEBSCC was co-managed by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, and NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. Project goals were to understand the changing physical environment and its relationship to the biota of the region, to relate that understanding to natural variations in year-class strength of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), and to improve the flow of ecosystem information to fishery managers. In addition to SEBSCC, the Inner Front study (1997–2000), supported by the National Science Foundation (Prolonged Production and Trophic Transfer to Predators: Processes at the Inner Front of the S.E. Bering Sea), was active in the southeastern Bering Sea from 1997 to 1999. The SEBSCC and Inner Front studies were complementary. SEBSCC focused on the middle and outer shelf. Inner Front worked the middle and inner shelf. Collaboration between investigators in the two programs was strong, and the joint results yielded a substantially increased understanding of the regional ecosystem. SEBSCC focused on four central scientific issues: (1) How does climate variability influence the marine ecosystem of the Bering Sea? (2) What determines the timing, amount, and fate of primary and secondary production? (3) How do oceanographic conditions on the shelf influence distributions of fish and other species? (4) What limits the growth of fish populations on the eastern Bering Sea shelf? Underlying these broad questions was a narrower focus on walleye pollock, particularly a desire to understand ecological factors that affect year-class strength and the ability to predict the potential of a year class at the earliest possible time. The Inner Front program focused on the role of the structural front between the well-mixed waters of the coastal domain and the two-layer system of the middle domain. Of special interest was the potential for prolonged post-spring-bloom production at the front and its role in supporting upper trophic level organisms such as juvenile pollock and seabirds. Of concern to both programs was the role of interannual and longer-term variability in marine climates and their effects on the function of sub-arctic marine ecosystems and their ability to support upper trophic level organisms.

Economic valuation of natural resources: a handbook for coastal resource policymakers

Professionals who are responsible for coastal environmental and natural resource planning and management have a need to become conversant with new concepts designed to provide quantitative measures of the environmental benefits of natural resources. These amenities range from beaches to wetlands to clean water and other assets that normally are not bought and sold in everyday markets. At all levels of government — from federal agencies to townships and counties — decisionmakers are being asked to account for the costs and benefits of proposed actions. To non-specialists, the tools of professional economists are often poorly understood and sometimes inappropriate for the problem at hand. This handbook is intended to bridge this gap. The most widely used organizing tool for dealing with natural and environmental resource choices is benefit-cost analysis — it offers a convenient way to carefully identify and array, quantitatively if possible, the major costs, benefits, and consequences of a proposed policy or regulation. The major strength of benefit-cost analysis is not necessarily the predicted outcome, which depends upon assumptions and techniques, but the process itself, which forces an approach to decision-making that is based largely on rigorous and quantitative reasoning. However, a major shortfall of benefit-cost analysis has been the difficulty of quantifying both benefits and costs of actions that impact environmental assets not normally, nor even regularly, bought and sold in markets. Failure to account for these assets, to omit them from the benefit-cost equation, could seriously bias decisionmaking, often to the detriment of the environment. Economists and other social scientists have put a great deal of effort into addressing this shortcoming by developing techniques to quantify these non-market benefits. The major focus of this handbook is on introducing and illustrating concepts of environmental valuation, among them Travel Cost models and Contingent Valuation. These concepts, combined with advances in natural sciences that allow us to better understand how changes in the natural environment influence human behavior, aim to address some of the more serious shortcomings in the application of economic analysis to natural resource and environmental management and policy analysis. Because the handbook is intended for non-economists, it addresses basic concepts of economic value such as willingness-to-pay and other tools often used in decision making such as costeffectiveness analysis, economic impact analysis, and sustainable development. A number of regionally oriented case studies are included to illustrate the practical application of these concepts and techniques.

Bibliography of synthesis documents on selected coastal ocean topics

This compilation of references to works which synthesize information on coastal topics is intended to be useful to resource managers in decision making processes. However, the utility must be understand in terms of its limited coverage. The bibliography is not inclusive of all the published materials on the topics selected. Coverage is clearly defined in the following paragraph. The time span of the bibliography is limited to references that were published from I983 to 1993, except for a last-minute addition of a few 1994 publications. All searches were done in mid- to late-1993. The bibliography was compiled from searches done on the following DIALOG electronic databases: Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts, BlOSlS Previews, Dissertation Abstracts Online, Life Sciences Collection, NTlS (National Technical lnformation Service), Oceanic Abstracts, Pollution Abstracts, SciSearch, and Water Resources Abstracts. In addition, two NOAA electronic datases were searched: the NOAA Library and lnformation Catalog and the NOAA Sea Grant Depository Database. Synthesis of information is not an ubiquitous term used in database development. In order to locate syntheses of required coastal topics, 89 search terms were used in combinations which required 10 searches from each file. From the nearly 6,000 citations which resulted from the electronic searches, the most appropriate were selected to produce this bibliography. The document was edited and indexed using Wordperfect software. When available, an abstract has been included. Every abstract was edited. The bibliography is subdivided into four main topics or sections: ecosystems, coastal water body conditions, natural disasters, and resource management. In the ecosystems section, emphasis is placed on organisms in their environment on the major coastlines of the U.S. In the second section, coastal water body conditions, the environment itself is emphasized. References were found for the Alaskan coast, but none were found for Hawaii. The third section, on natural disasters, emphasizes environmental impacts resulting from natural phenomena. Guidelines, planning and management reports, modelling documents, strategic and restoration plans, and environmental economics related to sustainability are included in the fourth section, resource management. Author, geographic, and subject indices indices are provided. The authors would like to thank Victor Omelczenko and Terry Seldon of the NOAA Sea Grant Office for access to and training on the NOAA Sea Grant Depository Database. We are grateful also to Dorothy Anderson, Philip Keavey, and Elizabeth Petersen who reviewed the draft document.