environmental impact assessment Articles
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The Sri Lanka environmental flow calculator: a science-based tool to support sustainable national water management
As Sri Lankan water resources are being increasingly exploited, particularly for hydropower and irrigation, ecologists, water practitioners and policymakers alike are realizing the importance of protecting these resources and setting environmental sustainability thresholds. Environmental flows (EF) – the concept that helps define such thresholds – has now become an integral part of ...
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Sovereignty of states, peaceful nuclear energy and principles of international environmental law
The sovereign right of states to peaceful nuclear energy is analysed on the basis of principles of international environmental law. The exercise of this right depends on the implementation of certain obligations under international law. The notion of sovereignty as independence and superiority does not serve the challenges of peaceful nuclear energy and the modern understanding of the environment ...
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Atmospheric dispersion modelling for regulatory purposes in the United Kingdom
Short-range atmospheric dispersion models are used to assess the environmental impact of airborne pollutants from industrial plants. The results are of interest to a range of specialist and non-specialist groups, including regulators, operators, environmental organisations, and local residents. In order that these groups can be well-informed, it is important to develop clear and consistent ...
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Valued ecosystem components for watershed cumulative effects: An analysis of environmental impact assessments in the South Saskatchewan River watershed, Canada
The accumulating effects of human development are threatening water quality and availability. In recognition of the constraints to cumulative effects assessment (CEA) under traditional environmental impact assessment (EIA), there is an emerging body of research dedicated to watershed‐based cumulative effects assessment (WCEA). To advance the science of WCEA, however, a standard set of ecosystem ...
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Modelling surface pollutant concentrations in the city of Zurich
First results of a dispersion modelling study in the city of Zurich are presented. Surface pollutant concentrations (yearly averages) at several monitoring stations were modelled using the Danish OML-Multi operational model and compared with observations. For this purpose a detailed SO2 and NOx emission inventory for the year 1990 was constructed. The results show an average overestimation of the ...
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The environmental impact of changing consumption patterns: a survey
How does environmental impact change when national income increases? So far, this question has been mainly discussed from the point of view of production, but in recent years several studies have dealt with the question of decoupling from the point of view of consumption. The optimistic subscribers to decoupling argue that, with increasing income, the composition of consumption changes in the ...
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Uncertainty adjustments to deterministic atmospheric dispersion models
Atmospheric Dispersion Models (ADMs) are routinely used in environmental impact assessment, risk analysis, and source apportionment studies. There are a variety of such computational ADMs, but these models usually only provide deterministic predictions or estimation of uncertainty. By introducing error components in ADMs, we formulate statistical modelling to obtain more precise prediction. These ...
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Health and environmental impacts of China's current and future electricity supply, with associated external costs
This paper summarises the results of the assessment of health and environmental impacts, and the corresponding external costs within the China Energy Technology Program (CETP). China faces an enormous challenge, as it needs to meet the growing demand for energy in general and electricity in particular. Coal is, and will most probably remain for a long time, the dominant energy carrier in China, ...
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Application of dispersion models in the environmental assessment process in the United Kingdom
The UK planning process has traditionally been separated from the licensing process as far as industry is concerned. Implementation of the Environmental Assessment Directive (85/337/EEC) has therefore been the responsibility of planners, not pollution regulators. This is one of the reasons why there are no formalised procedures for using dispersion models in the environmental assessment ...
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Implications for UK coal-fired power stations of a move to a particulate matter standard based on PM2.5
The contribution of UK coal-fired power stations to ambient PM2.5 concentrations has been assessed using short- and long-range modelling. The results suggested a minimal contribution from power stations to both local and regional concentrations of PM2.5 relative to the standards in the proposed European Directive on Ambient Air Quality and only a modest contribution in terms of overall UK PM2.5 ...
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Pollution impact assessment along Vasai Creek of Mumbai: measurement of physico–chemical parameters
The rapid urbanisation and industrialisation in Vasai City of Mumbai with improper environmental planning has resulted in discharge of sewage and industrial wastes in to the Vasai Creek thereby greatly affecting its physico–chemical properties. The present investigation to study the physico–chemical parameters of creek water for the two assessment years 2009 to 2010 and 2010 to 2011 suggests the ...
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Application of different dispersion models to a site near the Belgian-Dutch border
Many countries in Europe use dispersion models for regulatory purposes that differ in many aspects. In practical situations near borders between countries this may lead to the calculation of very different impacts of the same source configuration. We applied three models to the same source in the Dutch province of Zeeland Flanders, near the Belgian-Dutch border. The Belgian model IFDM and the ...
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Environmental management of industrial wastes in developing countries: Bangladesh Case Study
Industrial development in the developing countries of Asia, and in developing countries everywhere, has proceeded without control of pollution emissions and the resulting environmental degradation has now reached a serious level. The population problem, already severe, continues to get worse, forcing acceleration of urbanisation and industrialisation. An effective system for controlling ...
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Comparison between dispersion parameters deduced from wind fluctuations and Pasquill values: application to a short-range urban pollution case
The real-time prediction of pollution episodes in urban areas close to industrial plants is of great importance for regulatory control, so that emissions can be reduced when high pollution levels are observed. For this purpose, an 'on-line' practical model must be used with a limited number of input meteorological data. However, two questions arise. What are the ability and the accuracy of the ...
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Comparisons of models with data: effects of averaging time as indicated by sonic anemometer measurements
For continuous sources, plots of predicted against observed gas concentrations often display considerable scatter. These differences are apparent even when the averaging times for the models and data match. Possible sources of error in the observations are shifts in direction of the mean wind or disturbance by intermediate- and large-scale eddies. Errors in predictions may arise from the ...
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Comparisons of dispersion calculations between TA Luft and a method based on a more complex model combination (FITNAH/LPDM)
Dispersion calculations for regulatory purposes in Germany have been based on a Gaussian-type model for more than 20 years. Within this procedure nearly 88 000 hourly consecutive meteorological situations are evaluated statistically and put into 1944 classes. For each of these classes surface concentrations are calculated and combined to a one-year mean surface concentration field. Another ...
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Comparison of different building shells ‐ life cycle assessment
The REACT (Renewable Energy & Efficiency Action) project is an EU‐funded cross‐border cooperative venture featuring the participation of companies and researchers from Burgenland (Austria) and western Slovakia that is developing zero energy concepts for newly built single‐family homes. A variety of building structures are defined for family houses, and the different impacts they have on the ...
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Nuclear regulatory processes in India: a review of public engagement
Public involvement is imperative in the nuclear regulatory process in India, owing to the nature of concerns arising out of processes for harnessing nuclear energy, as also the recent wave of democratic activism submerging India, evidenced by the protests against nuclear power plants in Kudankulam and Jaitapur and anti–corruption movements. India's nuclear regulatory authority does not provide ...
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Application of dispersion models for evaluating the influence of urban air pollution on human health
The main objective of this study is to analyse quantitatively the influence of urban air pollution on the health of children, by (i) analysing the concentrations of pollutants in the atmosphere, (ii) analysing the indoor air concentrations, and (iii) conducting epidemiological surveys. The area considered is Espoo, the neighbouring city of Helsinki. We focus in particular on the influence of ...
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The Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling System (ADMS): comparisons with data from the Kincaid experiment
In order to test the ability of a model its results must be compared with experimental data; hence validation work is an essential part of the development of any model. This paper presents the results of a validation study of the UK Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling System (UK-ADMS) version 1.06, a short-range dispersion model, against the results of the Kincaid field experiment. Predictions of ...
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