Water use in LCA: managing the planet’s freshwater resources

Water use in LCA: managing the planet’s freshwater resources

Freshwater is one of the planet’s most valuable resources being an essential life-sustaining element which cannot be substituted. Acting as the source of drinking water and the basis for hygiene and food supply, it is indispensable for humans, while at the same time ensuring biodiversity and pivotal ecosystem functions on which ultimately we all depend. We are witnessing a steadily worsening si...

Managing Scarce Water Resources – China

The Economics of Managing Scarce Water Resources

Recent events, news articles in the popular press, and research outside the field of economics have raised alarming questions about the sufficiency of global freshwater supplies and the potentially devastating impacts of current and future water shortages. For example, the 2008 Beijing Olympics drew attention to the problems of pollution and water shortages in China, where massive infrastructur...

Community perceptions of collaborative processes for managing freshwater resources

Six of New Zealand’s 16 regional councils are trialling collaborative planning as a means of addressing complex challenges in freshwater management. Although some work has been undertaken to evaluate similarities and differences across those processes, the success or failure rests with the public’s acceptance of the processes and their outcomes. This is the first study to evaluate public percep...

Land use in LCA

α). Four different formulae are presented: a linear and a non-linear one for local damage, and a linear and a non-linear one for regional damage. The local linear function bears most resemblance to the IVAM formula for occupation: EDPlocal = 1 – (Socc / Sregion). The regional function includes the land use pattern already established in the region. The linear function is: EDPregion = dSlost / d...