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Large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) hub investments require design choices regarding sizing (in Mt-CO2/year) and project build-out phasing. Investments in capture and transport represent the majority of overall project capex, with the ‘size’ of that infrastructure ideally optimised to capture and deliver steady rates over the asset lifetime. However, there is a risk that the sub-surface injection (i.e. storage) rate cannot be sustained at the specified capture rate. The investment risk in sizing major capture and transport equipment therefore lies in the uncertainty surrounding future dynamic performance of the storage site(s). This paper builds on a previous investigation for the Surat Basin, examining the role that sub-surface uncertainties play in this hub- sizing risk. Articulating the value of investment in additional appraisal information, shows that the acquisition of critical, uncertainty-defining data can reduce final investment risk in capture and transport, helping to ‘right size’ the hub build. Screening-stage modelling of technical and economic uncertainty plays a crucial role, characterised with a target unit technical cost (UTC) that represents the life-cycle, constant real-terms, carbon price ($/t) required for storage that would result in a break-even economic development. The presence of pre-development uncertainties in long-term dynamic performance, and the need for appraisal to reduce that uncertainty, effectively increase the required break-even storage price. Alternatively, ignoring that uncertainty could lead to under-performance of the storage resource (inability to sequester at the capture design-rates) and significant over-investment in capture and transport infrastructure, increasing the overall cost of CO2 sequestration.

This article uses trade directories and notifications in theLondon Gazetteto reconstruct the Potteries industrial district at the firm level for 1781 to 1851, a dynamic period of growth for a knowledge-intensive industry. It cuts across the organizational spectrum of the district in terms of the scale and scope of firms traditionally examined by including both the larger lead-firms and the smaller firms for which limited or no business records survive. It addresses difficulties associated with analysis of early clusters before the late nineteenth century. Directories offer a consistent series of records that, when cross-referenced with theGazetteand local newspapers, allow for detailed examination of firm behavior and the structure of the district during a formative growth period. Analysis highlights patterns of cooperative competition in an industry in which tacit knowledge played a crucial role as a source of competitive advantage, raises questions for future research, and provides an empirical base on which to consider further investigation of the trees that made up the forest.

Grand hopes exist that carbon capture and storage can have a major decarbonization role at global, regional and sectoral scales. Those hopes rest on the narrative that an abundance of geological storage opportunity is available to meet all needs. In this Perspective, we present the contrasting view that deep uncertainty over the sustainable injection rate at any given location will constrain the pace and scale of carbon capture and storage deployment. Although such constraints will probably have implications in most world regions, they may be particularly relevant in major developing Asian economies. To minimize the risk that these constraints pose to the decarbonization imperative, we discuss steps that are urgently needed to evaluate, plan for and reduce the uncertainty over CO2 storage prospects. Carbon capture and storage is key to strong climate change mitigation scenarios, but growth is slow. This Perspective argues that confidence in the expansion of carbon capture and storage requires greater attention to reducing uncertainty over injection dynamics and the pace of storage investment decision-making.

Transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy is fundamental for halting anthropogenic climate change. However, renewable energy facilities can be land‐use intensive and impact conservation areas, and little attention has been given to whether the aggregated effect of energy transitions poses a substantial threat to global biodiversity. Here, we assess the extent of current and likely future renewable energy infrastructure associated with onshore wind, hydropower and solar photovoltaic generation, within three important conservation areas: protected areas (PAs), Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) and Earth's remaining wilderness. We identified 2,206 fully operational renewable energy facilities within the boundaries of these conservation areas, with another 922 facilities under development. Combined, these facilities span and are degrading 886 PAs, 749 KBAs and 40 distinct wilderness areas. Two trends are particularly concerning. First, while the majority of historical overlap occurs in Western Europe, the renewable electricity facilities under development increasingly overlap with conservation areas in Southeast Asia, a globally important region for biodiversity. Second, this next wave of renewable energy infrastructure represents a ~30% increase in the number of PAs and KBAs impacted and could increase the number of compromised wilderness areas by ~60%. If the world continues to rapidly transition towards renewable energy these areas will face increasing pressure to allow infrastructure expansion. Coordinated planning of renewable energy expansion and biodiversity conservation is essential to avoid conflicts that compromise their respective objectives.

This paper puts forward two claims about funding carbon capture and storage. The first claim is that there are moral justifications supporting strategic investment into CO2 storage from global and regional perspectives. One argument draws on the empirical evidence which suggests carbon capture and storage would play a significant role in a portfolio of global solutions to climate change; the other draws on Rawls’ notion of legitimate expectations and Moellendorf’s Anti-Poverty principle. The second claim is that where to pursue this strategic investment poses a morally non-trivial problem, with considerations like near-term global distributive justice and undermining legitimate expectations favouring investing in developing regions, especially in Asia, and considerations like long-term climate impacts and best uses of resources favouring investing in the relatively wealthy regions that have the best prospects for successful storage development.

Decoupling energy use from economic growth is critical for improving energy productivity and mitigating climate change. Input-output databases have been increasingly utilised for consumption-based energy accounting, and for exploring both the direct and indirect influence of energy use. This study performed an environmentally-extended input-output analysis of energy use in Australia from 2006 to 2015 to investigate the total energy intensity of industry sectors, and the embodied energy flow from sources of energy use to the final consumption of commodities. Between 2006 and 2015, the national direct energy intensity reduced by an average of 2% per annum. Nearly all industry sectoral groups reduced their total energy intensity because of direct energy intensity reduction from other or within industry sectoral groups. The difference between the embodied energy use in the import and the export had widened, making Australia a greater net importer of embodied energy with significant outsourcing of direct energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Despite a slight reduction in per capita direct household energy use (3%), the per capita indirect energy use embodied in household commodity consumption increased by 7%. As indirect household energy use is more than three times direct household energy use, improving end use energy efficiency should also consider the embodied energy in commodities. Structural decomposition analysis shows that for the studied period, population growth and per capita demand for imported commodities are two major contributors for the increased total embodied energy in Australia.

We present the first analysis of water use in the Australian economy to account for inter-state trade, exports and consumption patterns, across all economic sectors and incorporating a temporal analysis. This is achieved by using the environmentally extended input-output technique, combining state-level input-output and water accounts from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Results show that the three big eastern economies (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland) rely mostly on water used within their jurisdictions. Approximately one-third of water consumption is for exported commodities, with the biggest export flows of virtual water being associated with agricultural production. Comparing results across the years (2000–2011), the water consumption associated with the provision of goods and services has decreased by 32% for exports, and by 38% for domestic markets. To date in Australia, the focus for improved trans-boundary water management (within Australia) has been on improved mechanisms for sharing physical allocation of water; these results provide the trans-boundary economic dependencies related to water availability. Recent innovations in the compilation of economic input-output models create an opportunity to progress this analysis, exploring in detail the economy–water interlinkages. It is our intention that the paper shows the value of analysing water flows using the multi-regional input-output techniques.

As global population and urbanization increase, so do the direct and indirect environmental impacts of construction around the world. Low-impact products, buildings, precincts and cities are needed to mitigate the effects of building construction and use. Analysis of embodied energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across these scales is becoming more important to support this direction. The calculation of embodied impacts requires rigorous, flexible and comprehensive assessment tools. Firstly, we present the Australian Industrial Ecology Virtual Laboratory (IELab) as one such tool discussing its structure, function and wide scope of application. Secondly, we demonstrate its potential high level of resolution in a case study: assessing embodied GHG emissions in an aluminium-framed window by combining product-specific life-cycle inventory data. The input-output analysis at the core of the IELab is mathematically comprehensive in the assessment of direct and indirect impacts and the tool can be applied at a range of scales from building component, to precincts and cities, or to the entire construction industry. IELab uses a flexible formalism that enables consistent harmonisation of diverse datasets and tractable updating of input data. The emissions and energy database supporting IELab has detailed data, aligning with economic accounts and data on labour, water, materials and waste that enrich assessment across other dimensions of sustainability. IELab is a comprehensive, flexible and robust assessment tool well positioned to respond to the challenge of assessing and aiding the design of a low-impact built environment.

From a waste management perspective, high-barrier, multi-layer, biodegradable food packaging could be a useful replacement for current multi-layered packaging that is non-recyclable and non-degradable. Whilst there is still technical research required, it is envisioned that a biodegradable thermoplastic starch (TPS) and polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) layered material could be a promising target. However, there is currently limited research identifying what environmental trade-offs are associated with using such a material meaning there is no guidance regarding what design characteristics are important to consider during development of such packaging. The aim of this study was to quantify the greenhouse gas (GHG) trade-offs associated with using the proposed biodegradable packaging and identify the important design considerations. To our knowledge this is the first study to discuss the implications of including food wastage when assessing biodegradable food packaging materials. It also considers the impacts of landfill methane capture efficiency, which is an important aspect as biodegradable packaging may release methane when disposed of in a landfill whereas non-biodegradable packaging is inert. However, a key result is that when food waste is included in the system boundaries, it contributes over 50% of the GHG emissions associated with the system, regardless of whether the package is biodegradable or not. This shows that even for biodegradable packaging, reducing food waste is a key design consideration. In fact, the negative environmental impacts associated with disposal of a PHA-TPS packaging in landfill with low gas capture rates can actually be offset if the package reduces food wastage (beef) by approximately 6%. The overarching result is that a PHA-TPS food packaging only delivers positive GHG outcomes if it reduces food wastage or increases the viability of biological food waste processing. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This study critiques available methods for the national-level, sector specific, characterisation of food waste. Such estimates are required to account for the environmental and socio-economic implications of food waste, and to identify the highest impact and most cost-effective solutions to reduce those negative outcomes associated with wasted food. Australian results are compared using three fundamentally different approaches taken from the literature, along with two variants implemented for this study. The results are extremely inconsistent, suggesting that our current quantitative knowledge on Australian food waste may not be sufficient for optimal prioritisation of mitigation options. While these ‘conventional’ methodologies may not be sufficient in isolation, their strengths are complementary and would ideally be integrated into a single analytical framework that incorporates the best available top-down and bottom-up datasets.

Decision-making at regional scales requires timely information. Within four months of the release of official national statistics, we have produced a time-series (2008–2015) of balanced sub-national, multi-regional supply-and-use tables (MR-SUT), integrated with a set of socio-economic and environmental accounts. This was achieved using the Australian IELab, where data used in this study are available (https://ielab.info/resources/91). Four multi-regional, environmentally extended supply-use tables regionalised in different ways were produced to demonstrate the flexibility of tailoring input–output models to specific research or policy questions. Results for satellite coefficients are sensitive to the chosen regional grouping and method for regionalisation. We demonstrate the relevance of such purpose-built information to government and corporate decision-makers by analysing the indirect economic and employment consequences of a slowdown of the mining boom in Western Australia. The demonstrated in...

Effective planning of airshed pollution mitigation is often constrained by a lack of integrative analysis able to relate the relevant emitters to the receptor populations at risk. Both emitter and receptor perspectives are therefore needed to consistently inform emission and exposure reduction measures. This paper aims to extend the Pangea spatial multi-scale multimedia framework to evaluate source-to-receptor relationships of industrial sources of organic pollutants in Australia. Pangea solves a large compartmental system in parallel by block to determine arrays of masses at steady-state for 100 000+ compartments and 4000+ emission scenarios, and further computes population exposure by inhalation and ingestion. From an emitter perspective, radial spatial distributions of population intakes show high spatial variation in intake fractions from 0.68 to 33 ppm for benzene, and from 0.006 to 9.5 ppm for formaldehyde, contrasting urban, rural, desert, and sea source locations. Extending analyses to the receptor perspective, population exposures from the combined emissions of 4101 Australian point sources are more extended for benzene that travels over longer distances, versus formaldehyde that has a more local impact. Decomposing exposure per industrial sector shows petroleum and steel industry as the highest contributing industrial sectors for benzene, whereas the electricity sector and petroleum refining contribute most to formaldehyde exposures. The source apportionment identifies the main sources contributing to exposure at five locations. Overall, this paper demonstrates high interest in addressing exposures from both an emitter perspective well-suited to inform product oriented approaches such as LCA, and from a receptor perspective for health risk mitigation.

Energy impacts of urban water systems are substantial, but not typically analysed systemically. We develop a new system boundary framework including a utility, the 'bulk water supply authority' (SB1); the 'urban water system' including water use (SB2); and the 'regional water system' (SB3). We use the framework to review existing models and show that most address only one boundary. We apply the framework to quantify thermal equivalents of water-related energy in SB1 and SB2, and identify that over 96% of water-related energy in South East Queensland (SEQ) is outside SB1 and within SB2. Consideration of energy influenced by water use is paramount to systemic energy efficiency and optimisation in the urban water system. Clear articulation of system boundaries will improve modelling and management of the energy impact of urban water. Systemic modelling will help decision makers answer increasingly integrated and cross-system and sector questions regarding water and energy interactions. Defines boundaries for the water-energy system.Creates a framework for consistent analysis and management.Clarifies how models address parts of the energy effect of the water 'system'.Quantifies water-related energy across multiple boundaries.

The environmental benefits and burdens of phosphorus recovery in four centralized and two decentralized municipal wastewater systems were compared using life cycle assessment (LCA). In centralized systems, phosphorus recovered as struvite from the solids dewatering liquid resulted in an environmental benefit except for the terrestrial ecotoxicity and freshwater eutrophication impact categories, with power and chemical use offset by operational savings and avoided fertilizer production. Chemical-based phosphorus recovery, however, generally required more resources than were offset by avoided fertilizers, resulting in a net environmental burden. In decentralized systems, phosphorus recovery via urine source separation reduced the global warming and ozone depletion potentials but increased terrestrial ecotoxicity and salinization potentials due to application of untreated urine to land. Overall, mineral depletion and eutrophication are well-documented arguments for phosphorus recovery; however, phosphorus recovery does not necessarily present a net environmental benefit. While avoided fertilizer production does reduce potential impacts, phosphorus recovery does not necessarily offset the resources consumed in the process. LCA results indicate that selection of an appropriate phosphorus recovery method should consider both local conditions and other environmental impacts, including global warming, ozone depletion, toxicity, and salinization, in addition to eutrophication and mineral depletion impacts.

A massive transformation of the global energy supply system is required if deep reductions in atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions are to be achieved. A top–down review of historical data and energy forecasts provides a perspective on the magnitude of the challenge. Global engineering capability has expanded significantly over the last two decades, accommodating more than 100 GW/year increase in electricity generation infrastructure. However, business-as-usual demand forecasts to 2050 will require more than double the global rates of energy project execution. Transforming to a low-carbon energy supply mix requires 30–70 GW/year of additional infrastructure, due to the increased reliance on intermittent renewables, and the earlier-than-expected replacement of existing coal power plants. Although all power systems share many similar subsystems that will need to be delivered regardless of the technology type, meeting the extra demands for engineering design, construction and/or supply chains may not be possible. The discussion focuses only on physical limitations of electricity generation, specifically around the timing and scale of retiring and/or replacing coal-fired power generation capacity to meet the International Energy Agency's two-degree scenario. We ignore the economics and politics of the transition scenarios and the transformation of the transportation and industrial sectors. What is clear is that the longer the delay in starting a significant transformation, the greater the challenge will become. Decision makers must understand the constraints to technology transitions to deliver effective policy. A broad international consensus is not required, instead reaching agreements and developing economically sustainable pathways to technology transitions in the United States, China, and India is more likely to be successful and the only means for significantly curbing global emissions.

In recent years, cities in some water stressed regions have explored alternative water sources such as seawater desalination and potable water recycling in spite of concerns over increasing energy consumption. In this study, we evaluate the current and future life-cycle energy impacts of four alternative water supply strategies introduced during a decade-long drought in South East Queensland (SEQ), Australia. These strategies were: seawater desalination, indirect potable water recycling, network integration, and rainwater tanks. Our work highlights the energy burden of alternative water supply strategies which added approximately 24% life-cycle energy use to the existing supply system (with surface water sources) in SEQ even for a current post-drought low utilisation status. Over half of this additional life-cycle energy use was from the centralised alternative supply strategies. Rainwater tanks contributed an estimated 3% to regional water supply, but added over 10% life-cycle energy use to the existing system. In the future scenario analysis, we compare the life-cycle energy use between "Normal", "Dry", "High water demand" and "Design capacity" scenarios. In the "Normal" scenario, a long-term low utilisation of the desalination system and the water recycling system has greatly reduced the energy burden of these centralised strategies to only 13%. In contrast, higher utilisation in the unlikely "Dry" and "Design capacity" scenarios add 86% and 140% to life-cycle energy use of the existing system respectively. In the "High water demand" scenario, a 20% increase in per capita water use over 20 years "consumes" more energy than is used by the four alternative strategies in the "Normal" scenario. This research provides insight for developing more realistic long-term scenarios to evaluate and compare life-cycle energy impacts of drought-adaptation infrastructure and regional decentralised water sources. Scenario building for life-cycle assessments of water supply systems should consider i) climate variability and, therefore, infrastructure utilisation rate, ii) potential under-utilisation for both installed centralised and decentralised sources, and iii) the potential energy penalty for operating infrastructure well below its design capacity (e.g., the operational energy intensity of the desalination system is three times higher at low utilisation rates). This study illustrates that evaluating the life-cycle energy use and intensity of these type of supply sources without considering their realistic long-term operating scenario(s) can potentially distort and overemphasise their energy implications. To other water stressed regions, this work shows that managing long-term water demand is also important, in addition to acknowledging the energy-intensive nature of some alternative water sources.

This work presents a critique of the environmentally-extended input-output (EeIO) methodology for analysing the environmental and socio-economic impacts of food systems in order to address food waste problems. We applied EeIO analysis to estimate environmental and economic factors embodied in Australian food waste. The scope of the study does not include the impacts of food use nor end-of-life waste treatment. The impact of imported food was considered the same as Australian produced food. Results indicate that Australian food waste represents 9% of total water use, 6% of GHG emissions, 1% of surplus and 1% of compensation to employees. The analysis shows that the method is adequate to analyse environmental and socio-economic aspects of food waste. The main benefits of EeIO are that it provides inclusive information of all actors in the food supply chain, includes all products available, enables analysis of environmental and economic indicators together, and provides a consistent framework for analysis, consistently defining system boundaries. Through the exercise we identify key aspects to consider when analysing food waste consequences. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Compiling, deploying and utilising large-scale databases that integrate environmental and economic data have traditionally been labour- and cost-intensive processes, hindered by the large amount of disparate and misaligned data that must be collected and harmonised. The Australian Industrial Ecology Virtual Laboratory (IELab) is a novel, collaborative approach to compiling large-scale environmentally extended multi-region input-output (MRIO) models.The utility of the IELab product is greatly enhanced by avoiding the need to lock in an MRIO structure at the time the MRIO system is developed. The IELab advances the idea of the "mother-daughter" construction principle, whereby a regionally and sectorally very detailed "mother" table is set up, from which "daughter" tables are derived to suit specific research questions. By introducing a third tier - the "root classification" - IELab users are able to define their own mother-MRIO configuration, at no additional cost in terms of data handling. Customised mother-MRIOs can then be built, which maximise disaggregation in aspects that are useful to a family of research questions.The second innovation in the IELab system is to provide a highly automated collaborative research platform in a cloud-computing environment, greatly expediting workflows and making these computational benefits accessible to all users.Combining these two aspects realises many benefits. The collaborative nature of the IELab development project allows significant savings in resources. Timely deployment is possible by coupling automation procedures with the comprehensive input from multiple teams. User-defined MRIO tables, coupled with high performance computing, mean that MRIO analysis will be useful and accessible for a great many more research applications than would otherwise be possible. By ensuring that a common set of analytical tools such as for hybrid life-cycle assessment is adopted, the IELab will facilitate the harmonisation of fragmented, dispersed and misaligned raw data for the benefit of all interested parties. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

The Gold Coast region of south-east Queensland (Australia) has a population of approximately 515,000 persons and is projected to increase by up to 16,000 persons per annum. This case study examined the urban water cycle of the Gold Coast under two scenarios of infrastructure provision, namely: (1) the 'Traditional' mix, as operating in 2007-8, prior to the commissioning of large-scale water recycling and desalination schemes in this region; and (2) a semi-hypothetical 'Future' mix that includes seawater desalination, rainwater tanks and water recycling (namely, 'third pipe' Class A+ to a limited number of the total households; and indirect potable reuse via a dam from the largest wastewater treatment plant in the area). By assumption, the projected future water supply needs of the region would be met largely by a combination of desalination, water recycling and domestic rainwater tanks, but only limited additional supply from dams. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was applied to these two scenarios in an effort to identify as broadly a possible the environmental impact potentials of adopting more energy and materials-intensive future water supply alternatives in order to service a growing population. The study found that the technologically more complex options of water supply (i.e. water recycling, desalination), as well as rainwater tanks, have the potential to increase environmental impacts on a 'per unit volume of water' basis in most impact categories (including ecotoxicity, human toxicity, global warming, ozone depletion and metals depletion), compared with the 'Traditional' supply mainly via dams. Only eutrophication potential (through more advanced treatment and reduced nutrient load discharges) and freshwater extraction (through reduced reliance on dams) would be reduced, in relative terms. Wastewater treatment and associated activities dominated environmental impacts in relative terms for the 'Traditional' urban water cycle as a whole. Nevertheless, the increase in impacts due to future alternative water supplies (recycling, desalination and rainwater tanks), was noticeable in the 'Future' scenario. Achieving a balance between these opposing environmental impact potentials presents a challenge to urban water planners and operators in the context of achieving sustainability goals in the face of a growing population and/or diminishing water supplies from existing dams.

Purpose Recent literature has highlighted a renewed debate amongst the scientific community about the relevance of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions to future ozone layer management. This raises the question as to whether the life cycle assessment (LCA) community should also consider incorporating N2O into its ozone depletion models. This discussion summarises a preliminary investigation into the justification for doing so.

Greenhouse gas emissions are likely to rise faster than growth in population and more than double for water supply and wastewater services over the next 50 years in South East Queensland (SEQ), Australia. New sources of water supply such as rainwater tanks, recycled water, and desalination currently have greater energy intensity than traditional sources. In addition, direct greenhouse gas emissions from reservoirs and wastewater treatment and handling have potentially the same magnitude as emissions from the use of energy. Centralized and decentralized water supply and wastewater systems are considered for a scenario based upon a government water supply strategy for the next 50 years. Many sources of data have large uncertainties which are estimated following the IPCC Good Practice Guidelines. Important sources of emissions with large uncertainties such as rainwater tanks and direct emissions were identified for further research and potential mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.

Urban water systems around the world are going through a period of substantial change: they are evolving towards more complex water supply alternatives; are being placed under increasing pressure to achieve higher quality effluent and biosolids discharges; and are being confronted with a growing number of broader environmental management challenges. This thesis explored the use of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology for assisting in that process of change, because of LCA’s strengths in combining practicality and flexibility with ‘big picture’ thinking. The overarching goals were to: (1) explore LCA principles that do or do not provide useful perspectives for urban water planners, and (2) identify situations where the benefits from life-cycle thinking will be impeded by gaps in data and modelling approaches. The analytical starting point was a comparison of two different configurations for a city-scale, integrated water supply and wastewater system: a ‘traditional’ approach dependent on low-energy dam-sourced mains water supply; and one with a more complex mix of contemporary water supply infrastructure intended to reduce the intensity of freshwater extraction and nutrient discharge. This change incurs a substantial increase in energy use, meaning the reduced pressure on local aquatic ecosystems may come at the expense of large increases in other life-cycle impacts. Notably however, the results generated in this thesis indicate that an exclusive focus on energy use is unlikely to be a robust approach to factoring these bigger picture environmental impacts into water industry decision making. Furthermore, it is the wastewater components of the system, rather than the water supply components, that make the largest contribution to most of the life-cycle impacts. An excessive focus on the energy or greenhouse gas (GHG) implications of growing urban water demands is, therefore, unlikely to chart the industry on an optimal course to a more environmentally benign system configuration. The estimates for direct (scope 1) greenhouse gas emissions in this thesis utilise a comprehensive set of locally relevant empirical data and expert knowledge. Based on that, direct emissions could comprise 20% or more of the overall GHG footprint for urban water infrastructure systems. The substantial spatial variability associated with all the largest direct emission sources should be an important consideration in the urban water decision making process. For assessing the option to dispose of sewage treatment plant (STP) biosolids onto farmlands, the uncertainty associated with estimating field fluxes of carbon and nitrogen is likely to be more important than the more traditional focus on biosolids transport energy. The second major case study considered in this thesis is focussed on the issue of biosolids reuse for agricultural purposes. When that practice is assessed against a broader set of impact categories than just energy use or GHG emissions, it becomes apparent that conventional life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) models could bias against this as a preferred fertiliser source. With respect to nutrient discharge, metals toxicity, and phosphorus recovery, there is a disconnect between the results produced with these impact assessment models, and the scientific knowledge and industry priorities that currently guide the associated Australian policy debate. Growing use of LCA in the Australian agricultural sector will encourage the use of those very models that are least well placed to provide useful critique of biosolids applications to soils, hence could lead to a weakening of agricultural support for this practice. This could pose a risk for water utilities already dependent on farmers to absorb the majority of their STP biosolids. Phosphorus recovery and organics toxicity are both issues that could benefit from analysis incorporating the life-cycle perspective, since for both there is the prospect that water industry mitigation actions could shift the environmental burden to somewhere else in its supply chains. However, the analyses presented here suggest that the available LCIA models are not up to this task in either case. For the assessment of minerals resource depletion, the choice of impact assessment models could also have a substantial effect on the results that are obtained. A number of priority tasks are identified here, that would advance the LCA modelling framework so it can provide more meaningful contribution to urban water cycle planning. Ozone depletion assessment is another issue where the adoption of conventional LCIA approaches will fail to provide any useful insight to the urban water industry. There is a strong case for including N2O emissions in such assessments, and doing so clearly indicates this could have a material influence on the conclusions draw from analysis of water infrastructure systems. Quantifying the ozone enhancing effects of CO2 and CH4 emissions remains a bridge too far for the available LCIA models, but their increasing and complex influence suggests there may be a need for evolution in the metrics used to assess the ozone depletion issue. The urban water industry would likely be affected by any changes in international ozone-layer policy as a result of the increased scientific focus on these non-halocarbons, and should keep a watching brief on this issue. The work undertaken in this thesis clearly identifies the value that can be derived from the LCA approach to infrastructure and options analysis. Furthermore, the compilation of whole-of-system data provides benchmarks that offer valuable benefits for the task of considering environmental trade-offs – whether that be from comparing across different water system technology options, and/or comparing across impacts that occur at different localities or points in time, and/or comparing across different environmental issues. In all respects, the goal should be to strive for robust consideration across all important life-cycle contributions and impacts. The challenge is to appropriately direct effort into the issues that matter, rather than those that are easiest to deal with. Incidental benefits derived from detailed industry data collection can be substantial, however they do not necessarily ensure that LCA delivers its fullest value. Detailed consideration may well be required on uncertain issues that are beyond the traditional expertise of the analyst. Practitioners should also resist the temptation to uncritically adopt historical convention in the choice of LCA impact assessment models. Lack of rigour in the definition of inventory data and/or impact assessment models doesn’t prevent LCA studies from being completed, but it will greatly diminish the value of the LCA exercise.

The stratospheric ozone layer plays a critical role in regulating conditions on Earth, but has been substantially depleted by CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) and other halocarbon emissions. This has increased transmission of UVB radiation to the surface, and been implicated in a range of negative human and ecosystem health impacts.

Recent years have seen an increase in the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to inform urban water systems research. The attraction of LCA is its capacity to identify trade-offs across a broad range of environmental issues and a broad range of technologies. However, without some additional perspective on the scale of the results, prioritisation of these concerns will remain difficult. LCA studies at the whole-of-system level are required to identify the diversity of life cycle environmental burdens associated with urban water systems, and the main contributors to these impacts. In this study, environmental impact profiles were generated for two city-scale urban water systems: one typical of many urban centres, with a high reliance on freshwater extraction and the majority of treated wastewater being discharged to the sea; and one that adopts a more diverse range of water supply and wastewater recycling technologies. The profiles were based on measured data for most system components, otherwise best available empirical data from the literature. Impact models were chosen considering the substantial methodological developments that have occurred in recent years. System operations, directly within the sphere of influence of water system managers, play the dominant role in all but one of the 14 life cycle impact categories considered. While energy use is the main cause of changes in the impact profiles when the alternative water supply technologies are included, it is not the only important driver of impacts associated with city-scale urban water systems. Also extremely important are process emissions related to wastewater treatment and dams (notably fugitive gases, wastewater discharges, and biosolids disposal). The results clearly indicate a diverse range of environmental impacts of relevance, extending beyond the traditional concerns of water use and nutrient discharge. Neither energy use, nor greenhouse gas footprints, are likely to be an adequate proxy for representing these additional concerns. However, methodological improvements will be required for certain LCA impact models to support future case study analysis, as will a comprehensive critique of the implications from selecting different impact models.

By the end of 1990, at least three hundred Aboriginal and Islander people had graduated in South Australian tertiary institutions, from associate diploma level and above. In 1990, the annual graduation rate surpassed forty, the great majority at three-year level or above, including at least one Honours, one doctorate and graduates in architecture and law. The eight-fold increase in graduate numbers over the total up to 1980 reflects the active presence on campuses of Aboriginal/Islander-oriented support services and, even more so, of preparation programs: some three-quarters of all graduates had participated in some form of supplementary preparation.

Preparation and support programs for teacher trainees were instituted in South Australia in 1978. By that time, only thirteen Aboriginal/Islander people had ever graduated as teachers in South Australia. Since that time, and by the end of this year, over one hundred awards will have been completed in South Australia, eighty percent by people who had been prepared and enrolled through special entry preparation and support programs such as ATEP (Aboriginal Teacher Education Program) at Underdale and the Magill Early Childhood Education Program. Graduates now work across the range from pre-school to tertiary education. Around seventy percent of graduates are in classrooms, with another fifteen percent otherwise involved in education. Very few, if any, are employed.

Many members of the American Political Science Association are probably not aware of the work of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). Founded in 1919 as a coalition of the professional societies that represents the diverse disciplines in the academic humanities, the ACLS now engages in a wide range of activities—offering generous grants and fellowships to scholars in humanistic disciplines; advocating for the strengthening of faculties in the disciplines; working with both government and private foundations to provide access to great works in the humanities, resources for departments, colleges, and universities; and facilitating efforts to define and preserve standards for peer review and quality research.

The Brock version of the Split-Step Fast Fourier Transform (SSFFT) and the Jeager version of the Implicit Finite Difference (IFD) acoustic parabolic equation models are compared with a Lloyd mirror interference pattern in the range domain. The SSFFT displays the inability to place the transmission loss nulls at the correct ranges. It is also unable to utilize bottom loss information correctly. The IFD produced nulls at the correct ranges; however, it inserted an unacceptable amount of noise except when small {1 m) vertical grid steps were used and the pressure release bottom was placed at extended depths. In shallow water cases, the IFD is able to properly represent the pressure information. Each model is explored in the wavenumter domain by use of a "Waver.u mber Technique" (WT) model with emphasis on source depth determination. The source depth may be deterained by measuring the distance between the equally spaced nulls in the wavenumber representation. Neither acoustic model was able to provide accurate source depth information when the null spacings were compared to a known source-depth determination carve. Since the null spacings were not uniformly spaced, this was tc be expected. Some specific problem areas in the models were identified by the use of the WT. http://archive.org/details/acomparisonoftwo1094519200 Lieutenant, United States Navy Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

The Brock version of the Split-Step Fast Fourier Transform (SSFFT) and the Jeager version of the Implicit Finite Difference (IFD) acoustic parabolic equation models are compared with a Lloyd mirror interference pattern in the range domain. The SSFFT displays the inability to place the transmission loss nulls at the correct ranges. It is also unable to utilize bottom loss information correctly. The IFD produced nulls at the correct ranges; however, it inserted an unacceptable amount of noise except when small (1 m) vertical grid steps were used and the pressure release bottom was placed at extended depths. In shallow water cases, the IFD is able to properly represent the pressure information. Each model is explored in the wavenumber domain by use of a 'Wavenumber Technique' (WT) model with emphasis on source depth determination. The source depth may be determined by measuring the distance between the equally spaced nulls in the wavenumber representation.