Footprint, ecological

The previous sections have pointed to the important role that solar energy will play in a sustainable society. Whether we talk of a living system, an industrial society, or an economic system, it seems that ultimately solar energy should drive it The sun is our nuclear reactor, remote and safe [3]. In that context, it makes much sense to pay attention to an inspiring and consciousness-raising monograph with the title Our Ecological Footprint [20,28]. 

In 1996, Dr. Wackernagel and his PhD supervisor Professor Rees published a unique monograph entitled Our Ecological Footprint [20]. This publication has made a dramatic impact on our thinking with regard to the intelligent management of our earth in terms of resources and emissions. 

Let us firsttum to the definition that the authors have given to the Ecological Footprint [19, p. 9]  

How will this situation be in 2020 when so many Chinese people have improved their living standard This is not only a concern for China but for all countries that use China for their economic output China, the world s factory. Most developed countries import their ecological footprint from outside and therefore have a national ecological deficit. A developed country as the Netherlands has a footprint that is nearly five times its national biocapacity. How remarkable it is that our economic and ecological interests and performance become so interwoven on a global scale. There seems to be no national solutions any longer, these problems take an international or even a global dimension. 

By the way, everyone who is interested in his or her personal Footprint should visit the Global Footprint Network Web site and do the Footprint Quiz  

Transforming a sustainability strategy into action requires thus not only the development of a practical framework aimed to identify and assess options for improving the sustainability of chemical processes and products, address issues such as risk and security, green building design, globalization and corporate responsibility [8], but also to establish reliable and robust bases to characterize the various aspects of the complex phenomenon. 

The ecological footprint (EF) is oneofthe most widely used indicators of sustainability. It is a measure of human demand on the Earth s ecosystems and compares human demand with planet Earth s ecological capacity to regenerate it. It represents the 

The value of EF as indicator also for chemical production lies in the explicit indication that the ecosystem has a value equivalent to its ecological yield valued as it would be on commodity markets for the value of water, wood, fish or game that is purified or nurseried or generated or harbored in that ecosystem. Thus, a price can be put on the natural capital of an ecosystem based on the price of natural resources it yields each year. Therefore, EF provides the basis to estimate the ecological cost of production of a chemical that should be added to the industrial cost to develop an intrinsic cost that considers not only the product itself but also how it is produced. In Chapter 1 the need for a new model of global economy, which includes sustainability and ecosystem valuation in the value of goods, has already been discussed. 

Related indicators to EF are the carbon and water footprints. A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide. The water footprint is an indicator of water use that includes both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer. Water use is measured in water volume consumed (evaporated) and/or polluted per unit of time. 

Even if part of above results could be questionable, they evidence that the use of ecological footprint indicators are valuable tools to analyze the impact on the ecosystem of chemical production. 

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April 22) in 184 countries around the world, in cooperation with more than 5,000 national and international environmental groups. Participants took part in a very large variety of activities, many of them associated with other environmental programs, such as the Community Health Assessment Program, the Ecological Footprint... 

Reducing Total Fertility Rate. Ecological Footprint per capita. 

Wackernagel, M. Rees, W. Our Ecological Footprint, New Society Publishers Vancouver, Canada, 1996. See also the forum on this subject in Ecol. Econ. 2000, 32, 341-394. 

Anastas and Warner formulated the twelve principles of green chemistry in 1998. These serve as guidelines for chemists seeking to lower the ecological footprint of the chemicals they produce and the processes by which such chemicals are made. 

M. Wackemagel and W. Rees, How Big is Our Ecological Footprint A Handbook for Estimating a Community s Appropriated Carrying Capacity, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1993. 

TABLE 6.1. Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity per Person by Country ... 

Other aggregation methodologies have also been proposed in the literature. One approach is based on thermodynamics materials, fuels, and wastes can all be expressed as the total consumption or loss of exergy, or energy available to do work (Bakshi and Fiksel, 2003). Alternatively, the metrics may be expressed in terms of land use, or ecological footprint. Land use impacts of energy sources and common household materials have been reported (Chambers et al., 2000). It is unclear, however, whether proxies such as exergy and land use adequately represent overall sustainability impacts. 

N. Chambers, C. Simmons and M. Wackernagel, Sharing Nature s Interest. Ecological Footprints as an Indicator of Sustainability, London, Sterling, VA, Earthscan, 2000. 

The converging pressures outlined above present sizeable risks, but they also represent sizeable opportunities for the chemical industry. Nimble, foresighted companies should acknowledge these risks. Through shrewd product evaluations, research, and asset redeployments, they can select a future path leading to enhanced profitability, a reduced ecological footprint, and a healthier future for all. 

Robert s (1992) program, The Natural Step (TNS), is preferred to such options as life cycle, ecological footprinting, and green engineering. The four principles of TNS are as follows ... 

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