Environmental benefits

The broadest view of "aiding and abetting" includes doing nothing, but merely watching natural processes occur without further intervention. This has been termed "Intrinsic Bioremediation", and it too has met with success. From an environmental point of view, although unfortunately not always from a regulatory viewpoint, it is important that any remediation intervention yield a clear net environmental benefit. Sometimes very mild stimulation of intrinsic processes may be the most environmentally responsible option. 

Groundwater. Nitrotoluenes have been detected in groundwater in some areas, and intrinsic remediation may be occurring at some sites by anaerobic degradation. Research into whether this can be stimulated with a net environmental benefit is in its very earliest stages, and no clear evidence for success has been presented. 

There are profound opportunities for both industiy and the individual to prevent the generation of waste indeed, pollution prevention is today primarily stimulated by economics, legislation, liabihty concerns, and the enhanced environmental benefit of managing waste at the source. The Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 has estabhshed pollution prevention as a national policy, declaring that waste should be prevented or reduced at the source wherever feasible, while pollu-... 

Therefore, the use of H SO during Willard-Winter distillation process is able to separate fluoride from the anhidrite matrix, with the additional advantages such as economy, security and environmental benefits. 

Once the options have been clearly defined it will be necessary to carry out a cost-benefit analysis of each option. This has two main objectives. First, the overall cost of the project will need to be assessed to determine whether or not it is financially viable and, second, to ensure that those who will be required to incur expenditure are fully aware of the commitment needed. The financial benefits to users of the waters for recreation, fisheries, navigation, etc., are relatively easy to determine, but monetary valuation of the environmental benefits such as conservation and general amenity will be more difficult to define. As yet this aspect of the cost-benefit analysis has not been fully developed in the UK. Having determined a range of options and costs for eutrophication control in a particular catchment, consultation on the details of the Action plan with all those involved is needed before any plan can be implemented. 

In summary, heat-driven cycles for cooling or heat pumping can have energy saving and environmental benefits. There are also niche applications in developing countries or remote areas. Adsorption cycles using active carbons are one of a number of approaches that might be economically viable. 

Implementation of cleaner production processes and pollution prevention measures can yield both economic and environmental benefits. The primary treatment technologies afforded to this manufacturing include the following ... 

Implementation of cleaner production processes and pollution prevention measures can yield both economic and environmental benefits. The following production-related targets can be achieved by measures such as those described above. The numbers relate to the production processes before the addition of pollution control measures. In sulfuric acid plants that use the double-contact, double absorption process, emissions levels of 2 to 4 kilograms of sulfur dioxide... 

A pesticide manufacturing plant should prepare a hazard assessment and operability study and also prepare and implement an emergency preparedness and response plan that takes into account neighboring land use and the potential consequences of an emergency. Measures to avoid the release of harmful substances should be incorporated in the design, operation, maintenance, and management of the plant. Implementation of cleaner production processes and pollution prevention measures can yield both economic and environmental benefits. 

It is often taken for granted that reduction of a waste will have environmental benefits. Though this is generally true, there are exceptions to the rule. For example, reducing one waste may give rise to pH imbalances or may produce another waste which is more difficult to treat, resulting in a net environmental disadvantage. Hence, there may be environmental trade-offs between the status quo and the alternatives identified. 

Consider the environmental benefits and the savings in process and waste-treatment operating costs, along with the payback period for an investment, to decide which options are viable candidates. Once this is done, the audit team can develop draft recommendations to include in the final report and presentation to top management. 

In a cost-benefit analysis (CBA), the cost of a remedial measure is weighed against the environmental benefits it creates. Is it worth investing in a new scrubber for a plant if the impacts on its surroundings decrease by 10%. ... 

States, companies and consumers are saving millions of dollars in energy costs since new computers, mostly replacement systems, are being plugged in at a rate of over thirty million a year. Just as importantly, society receives the environmental benefit of reducing the need for additional electric power plants. 

Cofiring biomass has environmental benefits in addition to lowering greenhouse gases. Since biomass has little or no sulfur, sulfur dioxide (SOj) emissions are less when biomass fuels are used. In the United States, power plants have allowable sulfur dioxide levels for each gigawatt of power produced. If they produce less than the allowable amount of sulfur dioxide, they receive credits with which they can trade on the open market. The price for these sulfur dioxide credits is about 70 to 200 per ton. 

Assure proper performance of measures once specified and installed thereby assuring that energy and environmental benefits to energy codes are realized by building owners and occupants, and Improve enforcement through partnerships and support of innovative enforcement practices by local governments. 

Not all decisions are made on the basis of economics alone. Consumers choose capital investments on the basis of efficiency, aesthetics and perceived benefits. An important environmental benefit of hybrid cars is the reduction in emissions. This is of particular relevance to an environmentally conscious consumer, and may shift the choice even though the benefit to the consumer is difficult to measure m dollars. 

Despite the environmental benefits of natural gas vehicles, large numbers of compressed natural gas stations need to be built or compressed natural gas will never be more than a niche fuel servicing large fleets of buses, cabs, and delivei y trucks that can be fueled at a central location. Nonroad short-range vehicles such as forklifts, backhoes, street sweepers, and airport ground support equipment are also ideally suited for natural gas use. 

As a constituent of synthesis gas, hydrogen is a precursor for ammonia, methanol, Oxo alcohols, and hydrocarbons from Fischer Tropsch processes. The direct use of hydrogen as a clean fuel for automobiles and buses is currently being evaluated compared to fuel cell vehicles that use hydrocarbon fuels which are converted through on-board reformers to a hydrogen-rich gas. Direct use of H2 provides greater efficiency and environmental benefits. ... 

Such fluids often referred to as 5/95 fluid (that being the ratio of oil to water), have essentially the same properties as water with the exception of the corrosion characteristics and the boundary lubrication properties, which are improved by the oil and other additives. The advantages of this type of fluid are fire resistance, lower fluid cost, no warm-up time, lower power consumption and operating temperatures, reduced spoilage of coolant, less dependence on oil together with reduced transport, storage, handling and disposal costs, and environmental benefits. 

The description of the association of heterocychc chemistry and microwave irradiation has also shown that performing microwave-assisted reactions should be considered with special attention. A few of these considerations can be applied generally for conducting microwave-assisted reactions and include the following (a) the ratio between the quantity of the material and the support (e.g., graphite) or the solvent is very important (b) for solid starting materials, the use of solid supports can offer operational, economical and environmental benefits over conventional methods. However, association of liquid/solid reactants on solid supports may lead to uncontrolled reactions which may result in worse results than the comparative conventional thermal reactions. In these cases, simple fusion of the products or addition of an appropriate solvent may lead to more convenient mixtures or solutions for microwave-assisted reactions. 

The development of a rechargeable polymer battery is being pursued worldwide. Its attraction lies in the specific weight of polymers, which is considerably lower than that of ordinary inorganic materials, as well as potential environmental benefits. In principle there are three different types of battery. The active polymer electrode can be used either as cathode (cell types 1, 2), or as anode (cell type 3), or as both cathode and anode (cell type 4) (Fig. 14). As the most common polymer materials are usually only oxidizable, recent research has concentrated on developing cells with a polymer cathode and a metal anode. 

Environmental benefits of Emission Controls. Information in Figure 5 illustrate that the emission of sulphur in eastern North America has declined over the past decade. This decline allows for a possible verification of the dose-response relationships on which the environmental concerns for emissions have been based. A decline in sulphate deposition in Nova Scotia has apparently resulted in a decrease in acidity of eleven rivers over the period 1971-73 to 1981-82 (47), In the Sudbury, Ontario area where emissions have dechned by over 50% between 1974-76 and 1981-83, a resurvey of 209 lakes shows that most lakes have now become less acidic. Twenty-one lakes that had a pH < 5.5 in 1974-76 showed an average decline in acidity of 0.3 pH units over the period (48), Surveys of 54 lakes in the Algoma region of Ontario have shown a rapid response to a decline in sulphate deposition. Two lakes without fish in 1979 have recovered populations as pH of the water moved above 5.5 (49). Evidence is accumulating to support the hypothesis of benefits that were projected as a consequence of emission controls. This provides increased confidence in the projections. 

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