Environmental Impact Assessment Review最新文献

{"title":"Urban resilience assessment and multi-scenario simulation: A case study of three major urban agglomerations in China","authors":"Yi Xiao ,&nbsp;Haonan Yang ,&nbsp;Liang Chen ,&nbsp;Huan Huang ,&nbsp;Ming Chang","doi":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107734","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107734","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Assessing and mitigating the adverse impacts of hazard shocks on urban is of paramount importance for cities to effectively enhance resilience and strive for sustainable development. This research employs an “Economic-Ecological-Infrastructure-Social-Institutional” (EEISI) evaluation framework to assess urban resilience (UR) of three major urban agglomerations. It analyzes their coordinated development levels among subsystems, examines spatial and temporal variation characteristics of critical influencing factors, and predicts UR under various scenarios. The results show that the UR of most cities exhibits a rapid increase, and the UR of cities in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) is remarkably ahead of the rest of the urban agglomerations. The consumption level, industrial structure, emergency shelter area, and government investment in science and education play a pivotal role in UR enhancement, and there are significant dynamic fluctuations in spatial and temporal dimensions among them. Furthermore, the prediction results for UR show an overall upward trend, and the optimal growth rate for the critical influencing factors is around 2 %. In this scenario, when factors increase by 1 %, UR increases by approximately 0.1728 %. These findings will provide management with decision-making information and references for scientific planning and optimization of urban agglomerations' functional layouts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":309,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Impact Assessment Review","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 107734"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142699891","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Life-cycle environmental burdens of cultivated seaweed as blue food: The case study of Wakame and Kelp in Dalian, China","authors":"Haoyu Wu ,&nbsp;Xiaoyang Liu ,&nbsp;Ling Tang ,&nbsp;Huade Zhao ,&nbsp;Fanghua Wei ,&nbsp;Chunsheng Liu ,&nbsp;Guobao Song","doi":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107735","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107735","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cultivated seaweed, known as typical blue food, benefits environmental sustainability like climate change mitigation when replacing land-based food with carbon-intensive fertilizer input. However, seaweed cultivation still generates environmental burdens that remain unclear, especially in China, where approximately 60 % of global seaweed is cultured. Here, we developed life cycle assessment (LCA) models to quantitatively compare the environmental performance of two seaweed species of wakame (<em>Undaria pinnatifida</em>) and kelp (<em>Saccharina japonica</em>) cultivated by floating rafts. We also developed scenarios to examine the environmental performance by controlling the seedling density and cultivation line inputs. Results show that the environmental loads of wakame are 10–40 % higher than those of kelp, with carbon footprints of 44–59 kgCO₂e and 37–58 kgCO₂e per ton wet weight, respectively. Seaweed cultivation at sea produces the most environmental burdens. The polyethylene cultivation lines are the crucial input influencing environmental performance. Extending the service time of cultivation lines by 10 % reduces the environmental load by ∼5 % on average. Lower seedling density with fewer cultivation line inputs slightly decreases the environmental burden but with less seaweed yield. Nitrogen and phosphorus removed by seaweed harvest are two orders of magnitude lower than fertilizers applied in land cropping systems of coastal provinces but are four orders higher than the life-cycle emissions of seaweed cultivation. We reviewed the carbon footprint of previous investigations on seaweed farming to compare with ours. Our study adds new knowledge to quantitatively understand the environmental burdens of cultured seaweed (especially for wakame <em>Undaria pinnatifida</em>) as a blue food alternative to land-based foods.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":309,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Impact Assessment Review","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 107735"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142699908","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing progress toward sustainable development in China and its impact on human well-being","authors":"Chaoyue Yu,&nbsp;Wencang Shen,&nbsp;Zhengfeng Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107729","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107729","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rising call for prioritizing specific sustainable development goals (SDGs) over holistic SDG achievement may worsen development imbalances and limit the enhancement of human well-being. It is essential to assess the progress and evenness of SDGs across time and space, as well as their impact on human well-being. Here, we assessed 16 SDGs for 31 provinces in China over the period 2000–2020, evaluated the SDG index (SDGI) and SDG evenness (SDGE), and explored the impact of SDGE and GDP on human well-being in terms of basic needs, security needs, and spiritual needs. Our findings indicate improvements in both SDGI and SDGE at the national and provincial levels. Most provinces witnessed progress across the majority of SDGs, except SDG 10 (reduced inequalities) and SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production). Over the past two decades, eastern China consistently exhibited a higher SDGI compared to western China. However, the region demonstrating the best SDGE performance gradually shifted from the eastern coastal region to northern China. SDGs 1 (no poverty), 3 (good health and well-being), 8 (decent work and economic growth), and 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions) made significant contributions to the enhancement of SDGI and SDGE. Furthermore, economic development and the improvement of SDGE significantly influenced human well-being, albeit with some variations. Both of them positively affected health but also exacerbated environmental challenges. For gender equality, SDGE had a positive impact, while GDP had a negative influence. To achieve sustainable development, it is imperative to promote the decoupling of development from resource consumption and environmental pollution. Additionally, comprehensive measures should be implemented to enhance the equity and inclusiveness of economic development outcomes. This study contributes to the comprehensive achievement of the SDGs and serves as a valuable reference for assessing sustainable development paths and optimizing development patterns globally.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":309,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Impact Assessment Review","volume":"110 ","pages":"Article 107729"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142700559","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The effect of environmental centralization: An assessment of China's environmental vertical management reform below provincial level","authors":"Meilin Tang,&nbsp;Lei Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107727","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107727","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To strengthen the top-down supervision over local environmental management, China has gradually initiated environmental vertical management reform (EVMR) below provincial level since 2016, which empowers provincial environmental agency to replace municipal government to directly administrate municipal environmental agencies. As the largest environmental centralization reform in China since the opening and reform, the effect of EVMR below provincial level on environmental quality and the underlying mechanisms remain relatively underexplored. Taking air quality as the indicator, one of the most prominent environmental issues in China, and using panel data of 255 municipalities during 2011–2021 and staggered difference-in-differences model, this research finds that that averagely, the reform reduced municipal annual PM_2.5 concentration by about 8.03 %. However, the effect was not significant until the fourth year after the reform. In addition, the reform effects were heterogeneous for cities with different levels of resource endowments, attention of high-level authority, and economic growth pressure. Further analysis shows that the reform has strengthened the working incentive of municipal environmental agency by increasing their budget and enhancing law enforcement power. However, the reform has failed to boost the environmental attention of municipal governments, which are inclined to view environmental agency as an outsider rather than collaborator. Moreover, it is found that in part of cities, the personnel management along with the EVMR is still lagged and municipal environmental agency is still subject to the intervention of municipal government, which negatively affect the working enthusiasm of the environmental officers and thus the reform effect. Finally, this paper proposes corresponding suggestions to further improve the reform effect.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":309,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Impact Assessment Review","volume":"110 ","pages":"Article 107727"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142700558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Agent-based modeling in solid waste management: Advantages, progress, challenges and prospects","authors":"Xi Tian ,&nbsp;Fei Peng ,&nbsp;Guoen Wei ,&nbsp;Chong Xiao ,&nbsp;Qingyuan Ma ,&nbsp;Zhikang Hu ,&nbsp;Yaobin Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107723","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107723","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The growing issue of solid waste management (SWM) is recognized as a significant challenge to ecosystem preservation. Agent-based modeling (ABM) has received significant attention for its capability to address complex systems and simulate the outcomes of strategic implementation. This review compares ABM with other methods and provides a comprehensive overview of research on ABM in SWM from 2000 to 2023, emphasizing its advantages, progress, challenges, and future directions. Results indicate that: 1) ABM possesses 8 key advantages in simulating individual behavior, responses to environmental changes across time and spatial scales, and decision-making processes, namely interactivity, heterogeneity, dynamism, traceability, spatiality, scalability, complexity, and adaptability. 2) Current research primarily focuses on simulating behavioral and strategic effects of SWM (accounting for 45.5 %), while multi-model coupling is becoming a new trend. 3) ABM encounters challenges in its research, including a lack of standardized research steps, high data dependency, limited computing resources, and difficulties in algorithm explanation. Therefore, this study introduces a set of normative steps that provide clear guidance for research and help ensure the reproducibility and accuracy of studies. Future research should incorporate big data and emerging technologies to enhance computational efficiency and processing capabilities of models. To better utilize ABM for achieving environmental protection and sustainable development goals, prioritizing integration of multi-model coupling, interdisciplinary collaboration, visualization, and open-source code sharing as key strategies is essential.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":309,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Impact Assessment Review","volume":"110 ","pages":"Article 107723"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142700576","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring the emission spillover effects in production networks under carbon trading market: Insights into complementary and competitive industries","authors":"Mingdong Jiang ,&nbsp;Xinxin Yu ,&nbsp;Jingru Xu ,&nbsp;Zepeng Wu ,&nbsp;Xiaomei Shen ,&nbsp;Guanyu Zhong","doi":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107720","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107720","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As the division of labor deepens, carbon emissions may easily escape through the intertwined production network and well-connected market. As a result, the effectiveness of carbon trading market can no longer be evaluated solely for the regulated regions or industries. Their spillover effects along production networks are necessary for determining whether the policy simply cuts carbon emissions radically or just drives their transmission. To this end, we regarded the pilot carbon emission trading market (PET) in China, as a quasi-natural experiment and employed the multi-regional input-output model to depict the inter-industry linkages. Its spillover impacts on their complementary (including upstream and downstream) and competitive industries have been examined separately, along with the deep mechanism and its heterogeneous feature. Results show that the PET significantly suppresses carbon emissions in upstream industries, while promoting carbon emissions in competitive ones. Furthermore, the PET reduces emissions in upstream industries mainly by decreasing production scale and improving technological innovation. In contrast, the production scale of the downstream industry is not significantly affected, though its energy structure and carbon emission intensity have been improved to a certain extent. Worse still, competitive industries seize the market share of regulated industries and expand production, leading to an increase in carbon emissions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":309,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Impact Assessment Review","volume":"110 ","pages":"Article 107720"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142700573","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quantity or quality? The impact assessment of environmental regulation on green innovation","authors":"Zhensheng Li ,&nbsp;Boqiang Lin","doi":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107726","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107726","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As technological progress aimed at realizing resource conservation and environmental protection, green technology innovation provides an important nudge for sustainable development. Is the Porter Hypothesis valid in China's environmental system? This paper's focus centers on the Clean Air Action Plan, the paradigmatic environmental regulation in China. Based on the patent data and classification, China's green innovation activities are measured from the two dimensions of quantity and quality. Using the regression control method, this paper assessed the policy effect of the Clean Air Action Plan on green technology innovation by constructing a counterfactual framework. The empirical findings indicate that environmental regulation has positively stimulated green innovation activities. However, regarding both statistics and economic magnitude, the positive impact on patent quality is significantly smaller than on patent quantity. Further analysis shows that policy effect is heterogeneous in different scopes: the quantitative and qualitative improvement is only embodied in green patents of waste management, which implies that innovation is concentrated on end-of-pipe treatment, with a pronounced path dependence in green innovation. This paper provides new micro-level evidence and theoretical support for exploring pathways to green transformation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":309,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Impact Assessment Review","volume":"110 ","pages":"Article 107726"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142700575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A BIM-based carbon footprinting of earthworks in road construction process","authors":"Baowen Lou ,&nbsp;Freja Nygaard Rasmussen ,&nbsp;Samson Abate Degago ,&nbsp;Eivind Schnell Juvik ,&nbsp;Rolf André Bohne","doi":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107731","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107731","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Carbon dioxide emissions are a major component of greenhouse gases and their evaluation during the life cycle of civil infrastructures is increasingly becoming a pivotal criterion for project tendering. During construction activities, the use of heavy-duty vehicles generally accounts for most of the energy consumption. However, the CO₂ emissions deriving from earthwork machines have not been thoroughly calculated yet due to the inner complexity of such task. In this regard, this research streamlines a quantitative assessment process of carbon dioxide leveraging digital tools and considering a bicycle lane project stretching approximately 3 km in Trondheim, Norway. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is adopted to define the necessary earthwork operations and provide accurate data to appraise quantity take-off volumes. Three earthwork tasks, namely excavation, transport and compaction, are investigated. The corresponding CO₂ emissions are subsequently quantified considering three operating modes for excavator (idling, moving and working), three types of transport vehicles (wheel dozer, tractor scraper and articulated dump truck) and two models of compaction machines (sheepsfoot and vibratory rollers). The results indicate that 75.5 t CO₂ emissions are generated from the on-site heavy machines. In particular, the transport activities contribute to the largest proportion of CO₂ emissions (56 %), half of which is produced while moving excess soil to the dump pit. Besides, the amount of carbon dioxide (2.9 t) generated during the idling and moving statuses of excavator is not negligible. Therefore, an optimized construction workflow and proper planning process are required to reduce machine fuel consumptions as well as increase the working efficiency. Bearing in mind the strategic importance represented by early planning for sustainable construction activities, this study provides innovative insights regarding the assessment of carbon footprints generated by earthwork machines.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":309,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Impact Assessment Review","volume":"110 ","pages":"Article 107731"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142700574","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pension plans' sustainable identity as a catalyst for environmental and social investing","authors":"Elisa Bocchialini ,&nbsp;Paola Ferretti ,&nbsp;Federica Ielasi","doi":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107702","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107702","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Regulators and financial investors require environmental and related social issues to be increasingly integrated into pension plans' investment decisions. This paper aims to verify the role that internal pressures play in the boosting of pension schemes' financial portfolios with respect to a more sustainable orientation. This study specifically aims at verifying whether certain of the sustainability-oriented governance practices that pension plans adopted (their sustainable identity), could act as enablers of their ESG investment strategies. We analyze a highly representative sample of Italian pension plans comprising a confidential dataset collected via questionnaires submitted in 2022 and 2023.</div><div>This study's main results highlight sustainable identity's relevance as a driver of pension plans' environmental and social choices when applied to financial portfolios. Specifically, establishing an ESG committee on the board, or assigning specific responsibilities concerning ESG issues to board members, correlates significantly with the sustainability of pension plans' investment choices. Likewise, when incorporating ESG criteria into investment decisions, the proportion of the investment portfolios selected on the basis of the ESG criteria and the kind of sustainability strategies applied to the financial assets, demonstrate a positive association with other ESG-related governance structures. The latter include the presence of incentive systems grounded in ESG objectives, establishing an external body with specialized ESG expertise (e.g., an ethics committee), or creating a sustainability function (e.g., a sustainability manager reporting directly to the board).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":309,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Impact Assessment Review","volume":"110 ","pages":"Article 107702"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142700572","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unveiling the heterogeneity of environmental impacts of China's coal washing plants by a configuration-specific life cycle assessment","authors":"Jie Zhang ,&nbsp;Junjie Li ,&nbsp;Yirong Wang ,&nbsp;Yulong Yan ,&nbsp;Lin Peng ,&nbsp;Kechang Xie","doi":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107725","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107725","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Coal washing is considered a promising method of mitigating coal-induced air pollution in China because of the limited end-of-pipe treatment potential for coal pollution. However, the estimated benefits of coal washing have been overly optimistic due to the lack of comprehensive research on the environmental burden of coal washing and its related indirect impacts. Moreover, the specific coal quantity and quality requirements for various downstream sectors cannot be effectively addressed because the environmental effects of the differentiated scales and technologies used in coal washing plants have not been determined. The objective of this study is to quantify both the direct and indirect environmental impacts of Chinese coal washing plants and innovatively reveal the internal disparities and their formation mechanisms. A total of 2367 coal washing plants were investigated, and 20 configurations that combined both the washing scale and technology were categorized. Plant-level input and output data were modeled by the ReCiPe 2016 methodology to perform a configuration-specific life cycle assessment. The results showed that enlarging the plant scale increased the environmental benefits by 11.0–38.4 % in most cases. Washing coal via flotation and heavy medium methods generally resulted in higher environmental impacts of 2.0–16.0 % and 0.6–7.3 % compared to that of jigging due to the use of chemical reagents and medium powders, respectively. Different configuration structures across provinces induced spatially heterogeneous environmental impacts, which were high in southern and eastern China and low in northern and western China. The results highlighted the considerable environmental impacts of coal washing hidden in the coal production and consumption chain. Moreover, the findings reveal a spatially explicit configuration strategy for downstream-specific demands and show that enhancing solid waste utilization can reduce toxic environmental impacts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":309,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Impact Assessment Review","volume":"110 ","pages":"Article 107725"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142653281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}