Optimizing Utilization of Municipal Waste

Design of an Optimal Waste Utilization System: A Case Study in St. Petersburg, Russia (24 page pdf, Mikhail Rodionov and Toshihiko Nakata, Sustainability, Sep. 8, 2011) A pollution-free city is one where the air and water are clean and solid pollution is eliminated. Today’s review article looks at a system in St Petersburg, Russia where [...]

Greenest Cities in the U.S. and Canada

US and Canada Green City Index – Assessing the environmental performance of 27 major US and Canadian cities (71 page pdf, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by Siemens, July 2011) Today’s review article comes from the Economist which assessed over two dozen cities in the US and Canada in terms of performance under [...]

Health Impacts of Landfills and Incinerators

Health impact assessment of waste management facilities in three European countries (48 page pdf, , Francesco Forastiere, Chiara Badaloni, Kees de Hoogh, Martin Krayer von Kraus, Marco Martuzzi, Francesco Mitis, Lubica Palkovicova, Daniela Porta, Philipp Preiss, Andrea Ranzi, Carlo A Perucci, David Briggs, Environmental Health 2011, 10:53, June 2, 2011) Today’s review article assessed the [...]

Zero Energy Houses and The Cube Project

The Cube Project   The focus of today’s review is a Zero Energy House conceived in the UK, suitable for one person (but can be scaled up for larger homes or buildings). In addition to generating zero waste and energy self-sufficient, it can produce  £1000 per year by feeding unused electricity from solar panels back [...]

A New Look at the Ecological Footprint

Development of Ecological Footprint to an Essential Economic and Political Tool (17 page pdf, Hans P. Aubauer, Sustainability, Apr. 12, 2011)   The concept of a single measure of sustainability, the basis for the Ecological Footprint, is analyzed in the article reviewed today.  The various deficiencies are addressed by combining the EF with three other [...]

Are There Health Impacts from Incinerators?

Mortality and morbidity among people living close to incinerators: a cohort study based on dispersion modeling for exposure assessment (12 page pdf, Andrea Ranzi, Valeria Fano, Laura Erspamer, Paolo Lauriola, Carlo A Perucci and Francesco Forastiere, Environmental Health, Mar. 24 , 2011)   The advent of incineration or plasma-arc technology to dispose of waste is [...]

Designing a Sustainable City with Local Farming and Waste Management

  Optimizing Urban Material Flows and Waste Streams in Urban Development through Principles of Zero Waste and Sustainable Consumption (29 page pdf, Sustainability 2011, 3(1), 155-183, Jan. 11, 2011) Also discussed here: Zero Waste Australia Today’s review article caught my attention because it focussed on urban farming and waste reduction and the large contributions to [...]

Life-Cycle Assessment of Nanotechnology and Health

Image via Wikipedia Sustainable Nanotechnology: Through Green Methods and Life-Cycle Thinking (16 page pdf, Sustainability 2010, 2(10), 3323-3338, Oct. 25, 2010) Before futurist Jay W. Forrester at MIT, developed the “World” model for the Club of Rome in 1970, he focussed on the same Systems Dynamic approach by applying it to an urban setting.  Many [...]

Using System Dynamics to find More Sustainable Practices

T21-Ohio, a System Dynamics Approach to Policy Assessment for Sustainable Development: A Waste to Profit Case Study (19 page pdf, Sustainability 2010, 2, 2814-2832, Sept. 6, 2010) The system dynamics approach has long been used to assess the many inter-linkages that exist in the integrated world of economics, environment and society, most notably by the [...]

Uncertainty in Recycling Waste

Image by Getty Images via @daylife Uncertainty Regarding Waste Handling in Everyday Life (15 page pdf, Sustainability, 2(9), 2799-2813, Sept.3, 2010) The need to reduce the output of waste for many cities is as great a need as to reduce vehicle emissions in that both, if not given enough priority, result in overflowing landfills and [...]

Sustainable Consumption

Image via Wikipedia The Role of Formal and Informal Forces in Shaping Consumption and Implications for Sustainable Society: Part II (20 page pdf, Sustainability 2010, 2, 2573-2592, Aug. 10,2010) The search for a sustainable, pollution-free city must address the issue of consumption of goods and what gives rise to it. The article reviewed today looks [...]

Waste – burn it or bury it?

Should the U.S. Burn or Bury Its Trash? (New York Times “Opinion”, Apr. 13, 2010) Also discussed here: Europe Finds Clean Energy in Trash, but U.S. Lags (New York Times “Environment”, April 20, 2010) This article raises a crucial question on dealing with waste generated, as opposed to reducing it in the first place. On [...]

Plasma arc waste disposal

Plasma arc waste disposal (Wiki) Since 2008,  Plasco Energy Group has disposed of 85 tons of waste each day in a demonstration project in Ottawa, through a largely pollution free process called “plasma arc gasification” .  If the demonstration is successful, the facility will be expanded to  process 400 tons per day which represents about [...]

Masdar City – zero carbon, zero waste

Masdar City (wiki) is a 50,000-person city based on applied sustainability research and technology that is being developed in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Key Quotes from Top Ten Sustainability Stories of the Decade : “The complex is being used for cutting-edge research in: renewable energy (including dozens of active and passive solar and wind [...]