Search

Abstract: The paper deals with the development of a tool used for the life cycle assessment of residential buildings located in three different European towns: Brussels (Belgium), Coimbra (Portugal) and Luleå (Sweden). The basic tool focuses on the structure and the materials of the buildings and permits the evaluation of the Embodied energy, Embodied carbon and yearly energy consumption. For that purpose, a different set of original data is taken into account for each location, in which the monthly temperatures, energy mix, heating and cooling systems are defined. The energy consumption, being for heating space or water, for cooling or for lighting is transformed into CO2 emissions to deduce the Operational carbon as well. The influence of the energy mix can therefore be assessed in the basic tool. As a matter of fact, the heating and cooling systems habitually used in the three countries are also of great importance. The District Heating system, is, for instance, incorporated in the basic tool. The presence of solar water heater or photovoltaic panels is also strongly influencing the operational carbon. After a short literature review on building LCA and the description of the basic tool, the software Pleiades + Comfie combined with Equer is used to achieve the complete LCA for one building using two different load bearing frames. The results of the calculations for Brussels climate are verified against these software results. The dependence of the results to parameters such as climate, energy mix and habits is then discussed in the companion paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Non-perennial rivers and streams (NPRS) cover > 50% of the global river network. They are particularly predominant in Mediterranean Europe as a result of dry climate conditions, climate change and land use development. Historically, both scientists and policy makers underestimated the importance of NRPS for nature and humans alike, mainly because they have been considered as systems of low ecological and economic value. During the past decades, diminishing water resources have increased the spatial and temporal extent of artificial NPRS as well as their exposure to multiple stressors, which threatening their ecological integrity, biodiversity and ecosystem services. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive overview of the structural and functional characteristics of NPRS in the European Mediterranean, and discuss gaps and problems in their management, concerning their typology, ecological assessment, legislative and policy protection, and incorporation in River Basin Management Plans. Because NPRS comprise highly unstable ecosystems, with strong and often unpredictable temporal and spatial variability – at least as far as it is possible to assess – we outline the future research needs required to better understand, manage and conserve them as highly valuable and sensitive ecosystems. Efficient collaborative activities among multidisciplinary research groups aiming to create innovative knowledge, water managers and policy makers are urgently needed in order to establish an appropriate methodological and legislative background. The incorporation of NPRS in EU-Med River Basin Management Plans in combination with the application of ecological flows is a first step towards enhancing NPRS management and conservation in order to effectively safeguard these highly valuable albeit threatened ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Indoor air pollution has a negative impact on human health, comfort and productivity. Emissions, however, are often related to essential functions of the indoor environment and cannot be eliminated with source control. Ventilation is then used to dilute these pollutants to acceptable concentrations. Due to recent crises in the energy markets and the subsequent quest for higher efficiency in energy use, heat recovery ventilation has gained capstone status in sustainable building concepts. However, along with a reduction of ventilation heat loss, operating a heat recovery unit increases the pressure drop and fan power consumption in the system. These aspects are rarely traded off against each other and even more scarcely for a broad range of operating conditions. This paper addresses this trade-off based on primary energy, carbon dioxide emission, household consumer energy price and exergy frameworks for the different climates in Europe. The results presented here demonstrate that, for the moderate climate region of middle Europe, natural ventilation, simple exhaust mechanical ventilation and heat recovery ventilation have no clear advantage over each other as far as operating energy is concerned. Realistically low specific fan power will make heat recovery ventilation advantageous in virtually all tested conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In the last two decades we witnessed a progressive shift in the approach towards the reduction of the impact of natural hazards. From a general reactive approach, focusing on strengthening disaster response mechanisms, we have moved to proactive approaches. There has been recognition that each element of society, from public institutions to private sector, from community-based organizations to every single individual, can make a difference by acting before disasters strike to reduce the associated risks of human and economic losses. This proactive approach can be summarized in three words: Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). Today, DRR is an approach used in several sectors and research areas. In the Development sphere, DRR is considered a key feature for sustainability of economic and development gains – especially for developing countries. Significantly, the is titled “Risk and poverty in a changing climate” highlighting the importance of DRR in reducing poverty while being a means to address the challenges posed by adaptation to climate change. This paper, which serves as an introduction to the special issue of Environment Science & Policy on climate change impact on water-related disasters, intends to provide readers with an overview of the main policy frameworks addressing DRR internationally and in Europe. Further, it aims to offer some “food for thought” on the underlying opportunities we have to enhance the resilience of our communities towards the risks posed by weather-related hazards. It stresses the importance of governance of risks, which starts from an effective dialogue between the scientific community and the policy makers: those who have the responsibility to decide on the most cost-effective interventions to address climate change adaptation and risk reduction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Our understanding about the regional variation of Sediment Yield (SY) in Europe and its scale dependency currently relies on a limited number of data for mainly larger river systems. SY is the integrated result of all erosion and sediment transporting processes operating in a catchment and is therefore of high value for environmental studies and monitoring purposes. Most global assessments of SY consider catchment area (A), climate and topography as the main explanatory variables. However, it is still unclear if these factors also control regional variations of SY within Europe. This paper aims at bridging this gap. Therefore, we i) present a large database of SY-values which was constructed through an extensive literature review; ii) describe the spatial patterns of SY across Europe; and iii) explore its relation with A, climate, and topography. In total, sediment yield data from 1794 different locations throughout Europe were collected (507 reservoirs and 1287 gauging stations), representing a minimum of 29,203 catchment-year data. Only SY-data measured at gauging stations or derived from reservoir siltation rates over a period of a minimum of one year were included in the database. This database comprises a large range of catchment areas (A): i.e from small upland catchments (≥0.01km²) to major European river basins (≤1,360,000km²). An overview of the collected SY-data is provided and sources of uncertainty on the available data are discussed. Despite potentially large uncertainties on several of the individual SY-values, analysis of this database indicates clear spatial patterns of SY in Europe. The temperate and relatively flat regions of Western, Northern and Central Europe generally have relatively low SY-values (with ca. 50% of the SY< 40tkm−2 yr−1 and ca. 80% of the data <200tkm−2 yr−1), while Mediterranean and Mountainous regions generally have higher SY-values (with around 85% of the SY-data >40tkm−2 yr−1 and more than 50% of the data >200tkm−2 yr−1). These differences are attributed to a combination of factors, such as differences in climate, topography, lithology and land use. Although larger differences in SY were found between the climatic regions than between topographic zones, it is currently difficult to identify the individual importance of the various controlling factors of SY. SY–A relationships were calculated for the entire dataset and for subgroups stratified according to the measurement method (gauging stations or reservoir surveys), range of the catchment area, climatic region, topographic zone of the river outlet, and major European river system. Although typically a negative relationship between SY and A is expected due to a decrease in topsoil erosion rates on more gentle slopes and an increase in sediment deposition with an increase in catchment size, this relationship was found to be generally very weak and subject to a lot of scatter. Furthermore, results illustrate important differences in scale dependency: whereas a weak but significant negative trend is generally observed for the temperate and relatively flat regions, no significant or even positive trends were observed in mountain regions and Mediterranean Europe. When only larger river catchments (i.e. >100km² and especially >10,000km²) are considered, catchment area exerted a larger control on SY. These findings confirm previous studies and indicate that the relationship between SY, spatial scale and other controlling factors is often complex and non-linear. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A range of new spatial datasets classifying the European environment has been constructed over the last few years. These datasets share the common objective of dividing European environmental gradients into convenient units, within which objects and variables of interest have relatively homogeneous characteristics. The stratifications and typologies can be used as a basis for up-scaling, for stratified random sampling of ecological resources, for the representative selection of sites for studies across the continent and for the provision of frameworks for modeling exercises and reporting at the European scale. This paper provides an overview of five recent European stratifications and typologies, constructed for contrasting objectives, and differing in spatial and thematic detail. These datasets are: the Environmental Stratification (EnS), the European Landscape Classification (LANMAP), the Spatial Regional Reference Framework (SRRF), the Agri-Environmental Zonation (SEAMzones), and the Foresight Analysis for Rural Areas Of Europe (FARO-EU) Rural Typology. For each classification the objective, background, and construction of the dataset are described, followed by a discussion of its robustness. Finally, applications of each dataset are summarized. The five stratifications and typologies presented here give an overview of different research objectives for constructing such classifications. In addition they illustrate the most up to date methods for classifying the European environment, including their limitations and challenges. As such, they provide a sound basis for describing the factors affecting the robustness of such datasets. The latter is especially relevant, since there is likely to be further interest in European environmental assessment. In addition, advances in data availability and analysis techniques, will probably lead to the construction of other typologies in the future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper addresses problems arising from effects of natural environmental factors on toxicity of pollutants to organisms. Most studies on interactions between toxicants and natural factors, including those completed in the EU project NoMiracle (Novel Methods for Integrated Risk Assessment of Cumulative Stressors in Europe) described herein, showed that effects of toxic chemicals on organisms can differ vastly depending purely on external conditions. We compiled data from 61 studies on effects of temperature, moisture and dissolved oxygen on toxicity of a range of chemicals representing pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, plant protection products of bacterial origin and trace metals. In 62.3% cases significant interactions (p ≤0.05 or less) between natural factors and chemicals were found, reaching 100% for the effect of dissolved oxygen on toxicity of waterborne chemicals. The meta-analysis of the 61 studies showed that the null hypothesis assuming no interactions between toxic chemicals and natural environmental factors should be rejected at p =2.7×10−82 (truncated product method probability). In a few cases of more complex experimental designs, also second-order interactions were found, indicating that natural factors can modify interactions among chemicals. Such data emphasize the necessity of including information on natural factors and their variation in time and across geographic regions in ecological risk assessment. This can be done only if appropriate ecotoxicological test designs are used, in which test organisms are exposed to toxicants at a range of environmental conditions. We advocate designing such tests for the second-tier ecological risk assessment procedures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Two of the ways in which air travel affects climate are the emission of carbon dioxide and the creation of high-altitude contrails. One possible impact reduction strategy is to significantly reduce the formation of contrails. This could be achieved by limiting the cruise altitude of aircraft. If implemented, this could severely constrain air space capacity, especially in parts of Europe. In addition, carbon emissions would likely be higher due to less efficient aircraft operation at lower cruise altitudes. This paper describes an analysis of these trade-offs using an air space simulation model as applied to European airspace. The model simulates the flight paths and altitudes of each aircraft and is here used to calculate emissions of carbon dioxide and changes in the journey time. For a one-day Western European traffic sample, calculations suggest annual mean CO2 emissions would increase by only 4% if cruise altitudes were restricted to prevent contrail formation. The change in journey time depended on aircraft type and route, but average changes were less than 1 min. Our analysis demonstrates that altitude restrictions on commercial aircraft could be an effective means of reducing climate change impacts, though it will be necessary to mitigate the increased controller workload conflicts that this will generate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]