Eagle Environmental

Author: clareh

  • Municipal Service Paying For Itself and Generating Surplus

    The Marselisborg Wastewater Treatment Plant in Aarhus, Denmark, produces over150% more electricity than is required to run the plant. The plant generates energy from the biogas it creates from household waste water and sewage. Carbon is extracted from the waste water and pumped into bio-digesters kept at 38°C. The bacteria on the bio-digesters produce methane which is burned to make heat and generate electricity. In 2015, Marselisborg WWTP had a total energy production of 9,628 MWh/ year and consumed 6,311 MWh/year, giving an equivalent net energy production of 153 percent.

    Over the past five years focus has been placed on energy savings and energy production. At the Plant, energy-saving technologies such as an advanced SCADA control system, a new turbo compressor, sludge liquor treatment based on the anammox process, and a fine bubble aeration system have optimised processes, reduced energy consumption and fine-tuned systems. The energy production has also been improved through implementation of new energy efficient biogas engines (CHP), resulting in an increase in electricity production of approximately 1 GWh/year. Furthermore, a new heat exchanger has been installed with the aim of selling surplus heat to the district heating grid, which represents approx. 2 GWh/year. This has resulted in a reduction in power consumption of approximately 1 GWh/year which corresponds to about 25 percent in total savings.

  • Energy Toolkit 2.0: Leading Instruments And Methodologies For Sustainable Energy Planning

    The Worldwatch Institute, in collaboration with the Low-Emissions Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP), have produced the second iteration of the Energy Toolkit The toolkit is a collection of leading instruments and methodologies for climate-compatible energy planning, offering energy practitioners, policymakers, and experts a quick reference guide to some of the best-established instruments available at no or low cost. The result is a compilation of 26 tools from agencies around the world.

    The compilers say that the toolkit does not claim to be a complete encyclopaedia of all available tools. They hope to update and further improve the toolkit in coming years. They request that if you have developed a sustainable energy modelling tool or know of one that should be featured here, please contact them at [email protected]

  • Handbook Of Drought Indicators And Indices Released

     The Integrated Drought Management Programme (IDMP) has released a Handbook of Drought Indicators and Indices which is freely downloadable The IDMP is co-sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Global Water Partnership (GWP) and some 30 other partners.

    The handbook is aimed at those who want to generate indicators and indices themselves, as well as for those who simply want to obtain and use products that are generated elsewhere. It is intended for use by general drought practitioners such as meteorological and hydrological services and ministries, resource managers and other decision-makers.

    Based on available literature and drawing findings from relevant works wherever possible, the handbook addresses the needs of practitioners and policymakers, and is not an academic paper. The handbook aims to present some of the most commonly used drought indicators and indices that are being applied across drought-prone regions.

    The goal is to advance monitoring, early-warning and information-delivery systems in support of risk-based drought management policies and preparedness plans. These concepts and indicators and indices are outlined in the Handbook, which will evolve and integrate new indicators and indices as they come to light and are applied in the future.

  • WBCSD – Lifestyle Material Footprint: An Explanation

    The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has released a Briefing Paper,  Lifestyle Material Footprint: An explanation, which explains in plain language exactly what the material footprint is.

    The material footprint measures the resource use over the complete life-cycle of products, services and activities that shape lifestyles, e.g. food consumption and mobility patterns. It can be applied in different scales, from individual lifestyle material footprints to the average material footprint per capita in a country.

  • CERES Supplier Self-Assessment Questionnaire: Building the Foundation for Sustainable Supply Chains

    The CERES Supplier Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ): Building the Foundation for Sustainable Supply Chains has been designed to assist companies seeking to strengthen their supply chain engagement. The aim is to help companies be more competitive and build resiliency in their supply chains by identifying, assessing, managing and disclosing supply chain sustainability risks.

    The SAQ will be useful for companies seeking to strengthen their supply chain engagement. It was designed with the industrial goods sector in mind, but can also help companies beginning to address sustainability issues in their supply chains.

    The SAQ uses leading practices in the field, and addresses environmental, social, and governance issues, it is a “conversation starter” for companies to use with their suppliers as they begin to assess the sustainability risks in their supply chains. The SAQ will help companies be more competitive and build resiliency in their supply chains by identifying, assessing, managing and disclosing supply chain sustainability risks.

    Although the tool is free to download, it does require registration so that CERES can track where the tool is used, and by whom.

    CERES is a non-profit organization advocating for sustainability leadership. They mobilise a powerful network of investors, companies and public interest groups to accelerate and expand the adoption of sustainable business practices and solutions to build a healthy global economy. In 2014, CERES celebrated 25 years of advancing a sustainable economy.

  • Open Access Journal – Environmental Health Perspectives

    Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) is a monthly, peer-reviewed journal of research and news, published with support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. EHP‘s news content is prepared by science journalists and reviewed by subject matter experts. Published since 1972, EHP has been online-only since January 2013. EHP is open access, and all content is available for free online. Articles can be downloaded as PDF files.

    The environmental health sciences include many fields of study and increasingly comprise a multidisciplinary research area. EHP publishes articles from a wide range of scientific disciplines encompassing basic research; epidemiologic studies; risk assessment; relevant ethical, legal, social, environmental justice, and policy topics; longitudinal human studies; and in vitro and in vivo animal research with a clear relationship to human health. Children are uniquely sensitive to their environments, and thus EHP devotes a research section specifically to issues surrounding children’s environmental health.

    As an example of the diversity of topics published in the journal, the January 2017 issue contains papers on: an estimation of premature deaths attributable to vegetation smoke, the global food system as a transport pathway for hazardous chemicals,  Colorectal Cancer and Long-Term Exposure to Trihalomethanes in Drinking Water, Urban and Transport Planning Related Exposures and Mortality: A Health Impact Assessment for Cities, and Placental Pathology Associated with Household Air Pollution in a Cohort of Pregnant Women from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

  • WBCSD Report – Quantification Matters – How To Mobilize Finance For Social Impact

    The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) report, “Quantification Matters – How To Mobilize Finance For Social Impact”, first released in September 2016, demonstrates how impact and financial value go hand in hand. The private sector can be a central actor for positive social impact, transforming global problems into opportunities. The report suggests that more clearly communicating the business case of these opportunities is the key to mobilizing finance.

    Key findings suggest that:- mainstream finance mechanisms are more powerful in creating social impact at scale than a separate asset class (for example, social impact bonds); it is a myth that social impact bonds are a panacea in that their risk/return profile makes them unviable for traditional investors; and to achieve viable and scalable social impact, companies need to mobilize support from institutional investors.

  • Freshwater Governance For The 21st Century – Free Book

    Freshwater Governance for the 21st Century is a free book published by Springer Open and the South African Water Research Council.

    The stated purpose of the book is to illustrate, in broad terms, the general matters of freshwater governance, mapping the spectrum of decision-making. The book aspires to contribute to the transitioning between techno-centric and eco-centric approaches, or a hybrid concept, to people-centric approaches. The set of book chapters presented in the volume are based on the existing current knowledge as well as the authors’ experience working in the water sector, using nontechnical jargon in order to reach a wider audience. The target audience of this volume will range from academics, technicians, decision-makers, and managers to students; the aim is to target not just academia but also policy-makers and deep thinkers.

    The book was contemplated in late 2012 after the International Conference on Fresh Water Governance which was held in South Africa. It was actively pursued after the then newly appointed WRC CEO, Mr. Dhesigen Naidoo, led the initial authors’ workshop in Madrid. The premise was that freshwater governance needed some serious reflection and collective wisdom to chart its way forward.

  • Comic-Santa’s Green Christmas – Father Christmas Battles Climate Change

    Comics Uniting Nations have released a new aid for teaching and raising awareness of climate change. Santa Claus gives a deeply personal account of his struggle to recognize, understand and take action against the widespread global impacts of rising temperatures and extreme weather events, and the rapid Arctic ice melting that is threatening the very foundations of his fabled Workshop and Village.

    The comic, entitled, Santa’s Green Christmas Father Christmas Battles Climate Change, is freely downloadable and provides a different approach and background to explaining some of the issues linked to climate change. Comic United Nations has invited schools, churches, NGOs and businesses to print and utilize the comic as a teaching tool, or to distribute as a holiday gift to students, members, employees or customers. The text is written to appeal to a range of age and education levels.

     

  • Nature Doesn’t Need People – People Need Nature

    The NGO, Conservation International, has prepared a series of short videos (1 – 2 minutes each) which encapsulate many of the reasons why Nature and our environment are important to us. The series opens with a video narrated by actress, Julia Roberts, as “Mother Nature”. She points out that Nature has been around for 4.5 billion years, 22,500 times longer than humankind and doesn’t really need humankind. Her stark statements put into perspective human dependence on Nature. Other celebrities such as Penelope Cruz, Robert Redford, Harrison Ford, Kevin Spacey, Rees Witherspoon, Liam Neeson, and Joan Chen tackle issues such as Water, Ice, Rain Forests, Coral Reef, Redwoods, the Soil and the Ocean in a simple and powerful manner which brings home some of the extreme  environmental crises that are being faced at the moment. This communication is critical and should be viewed by as many people as possible.

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