Simulation of life-cycle efficiency of lamb and wool production for genetic levels of component traits and alternative management options

Absorbent hygiene products (AHP) have received much interest due to the notion that their end-of-life (EoL) stage has high environmental impacts. Since the use of AHP will continue to rise in the foreseeable future, information that helps with a reduction in the environmental impacts of AHP through their life cycle is needed. This research presents an estimation of AHP in municipal waste, and it also reviews and discusses waste management options, available treatments at bench, pilot or full scale, and life cycle assessments (LCAs) available in the literature. Municipal waste of countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development contains on average 2.7% of baby nappies, 4.8% of adult nappies and 0.5% of sanitary pads (in weight), whereas that of Latin-American countries have 7.3%, 3.3%, and 0.9%, respectively. Management options for AHP waste in developed countries are landfilling and incineration, while in developing countries AHP are disposed of in dumpsites and landfills. Most LCAs identify significant environmental impacts in the production of raw materials, while EoL scenarios involving incineration and landfill were found to have a significant contribution to global warming potential. Substitution with alternative products has been suggested as a way of decreasing environmental impacts; however, their use frequently causes a trade-off on different impact categories. Municipalities could use a wide range of policy tools, such as extended producer responsibility systems, bans, levies, ecolabelling, or a combination of these, to reduce the environmental and economic burden of AHP waste.

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Advances in precision agriculture in south-eastern Australia. I. A regression methodology to simulate spatial variation in cereal yields using farmers' historical paddock yields and normalised difference vegetation index

Crop and Pasture Science ◽

10.1071/cp08347 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 60 (9) ◽

pp. 844 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

P. D. Fisher ◽

M. Abuzar ◽

M. A. Rab ◽

F. Best ◽

S. Chandra

Keyword(s):

Linear Relationship ◽

Precision Agriculture ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Yield Variability ◽

Variable Rate ◽

Management Options ◽

Yield Data ◽

Alternative Management ◽

Financial Benefits ◽

Normalised Difference Vegetation Index

Despite considerable interest by Australian farmers in precision agriculture (PA), its uptake has been low. Analysis of the possible financial benefits of alternative management options that are based on the underlying patterns of observed spatial and temporal yield variability in a paddock could increase farmer confidence in adopting PA. The cost and difficulty in collecting harvester yield maps have meant that spatial yield data are generally not available in Australia. This study proposes a simple, economical and easy to use approach to generate simulated yield maps by using paddock-specific relationships between satellite normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the farmer’s average paddock yield records. The concept behind the approach is illustrated using a limited dataset. For each of 12 paddocks in a property where a farmer’s paddock-level yield data were available for 3–5 years, the paddock-level yields showed a close to linear relationship with paddock-level NDVI across seasons. This estimated linear relationship for each paddock was used to simulate mean yields for the paddock at the subpaddock level at which NDVI data were available. For one paddock of 167 ha, for which 4 years of harvester yield data and 6 years of NDVI data were available, the map of simulated mean yield was compared with the map of harvester mean yield. The difference between the two maps, expressed as percentage deviation from the observed mean yield, was <20% for 63% of the paddock and <40% for 78% of the paddock area. For 3 seasons when there were both harvester yield data and NDVI data, the individual season simulated yields were within 30% of the observed yields for over 70% of the paddock area in 2 of the seasons, which is comparable with spatial crop modelling results reported elsewhere. For the third season, simulated yields were within 30% of the observed yield in only 22% of the paddock, but poor seasonal conditions meant that 40% of the paddock yielded <100 kg/ha. To illustrate the type of financial analysis of alternative management options that could be undertaken using the simulated yield data, a simple economic analysis comparing uniform v. variable rate nitrogen fertiliser is reported. This indicated that the benefits of using variable rate technology varied considerably between paddocks, depending on the degree of spatial yield variability. The proposed simulated yield mapping requires greater validation with larger datasets and a wider range of sites, but potentially offers growers and land managers a rapid and cost-effective tool for the initial estimation of subpaddock yield variability. Such maps could provide growers with the information necessary to carry out on-farm testing of the potential benefits of using variable applications of agronomic inputs, and to evaluate the financial benefits of greater investment in PA technology.

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Opportunity costs of alternative management options in a protected nature park: The case of Ramat Hanadiv, Israel

Land Use Policy ◽

10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.11.015 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 71 ◽

pp. 494-504 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Itai Divinski ◽

Nir Becker ◽

Pua Bar (Kutiel)

Keyword(s):

Opportunity Costs ◽

Management Options ◽

Alternative Management ◽

Nature Park

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CSG water: desalination and the challenge for the CSG industry—developing a holistic CSG brine management solution

The APPEA Journal ◽

10.1071/aj12016 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 53 (1) ◽

pp. 193

Author(s):

Lyvonne Ly ◽

Ian Fergus ◽

Steve Page

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Life Cycle Cost ◽

Produced Water ◽

Mine Waste ◽

Water Desalination ◽

Mixed Salt ◽

Management Options ◽

Recovery Processes ◽

Brine Management ◽

Emerging Trends

The management of brine, generated from the desalination of CSG produced water, is a key challenge for the CSG industry. In many cases, the cost and technical challenges relating to the management of brine has a greater impact on the economic and technical feasibility of desalinating CSG produced water than the desalination plant itself. The challenge is to determine the best solution for brine management, given the high salinity of the brine and limited options available for acceptable disposal. This has driven the need for more sustainable options, including using salt recovery processes to recover the salts for beneficial use. Where suitable strata can be identified, brine injection may be considered as a low life-cycle cost solution for brine disposal. CSG brine is particularly high in alkalinity, and as such, brine management options, including acid mine waste neutralisation and recovery of salts (sodium chloride [NaCl] and sodium carbonate [Na2CO3]) are possible. The latter uses selective salt crystallisation, which is generally higher in capital and operating costs, but is offset by the revenue gained from the sale of salt(s). Other brine management options include solar evaporation ponds or zero liquid discharge technology to produce a mixed salt residue that can be disposed through onsite encapsulation or landfill. The feasibility and life-cycle cost of any brine management option depends primarily on the location of CSG sites and the availability of brine management disposal/sale opportunities in reasonable proximity—this is one of the greatest challenges for managing brackish CSG produced water sources, particularly as the CSG sites are in remote inland locations. Further challenges associated with the management of salts recovered include establishing a viable commercial route for the market sale of the salts. This peer-reviewed paper explores technical considerations, challenges and the life-cycle cost of the brine management options. The emerging trends for desalination and brine management in the CSG Industry will also be featured in this paper.

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Life cycle assessment of municipal waste management options

Environmental Research ◽

10.1016/j.envres.2020.110307 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 110307

Author(s):

D.A. Sarigiannis ◽

E.J. Handakas ◽

S.P. Karakitsios ◽

A. Gotti

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Waste Management ◽

Municipal Waste ◽

Management Options ◽

Municipal Waste Management

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Assessing management options for wastewater treatment works in the context of life cycle assessment

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1998.0428 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 38 (11) ◽

pp. 23-30 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

F. J. Dennison ◽

A. Azapagic ◽

R. Clift ◽

J. S. Colbourne

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Global Warming ◽

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Global Warming Potential ◽

Water Utilities ◽

Management Options ◽

Management Regimes ◽

Treatment And Disposal ◽

The Uk

This paper presents the preliminary results of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study comparing different wastewater treatment works, operated by Thames Water Utilities Ltd. in the UK. Fifteen works have been studied, representing a range of size and type of treatment works. Five management regimes for centralising sludge treatment and disposal were analyzed in the context of LCA to provide guidance on choosing the best practicable environmental option (BPEO). Consideration of Global warming potential indicates that the four proposed management regimes with centralisation of sludge for treatment and disposal, as adopted by Thames Water Utilities Ltd., is an environmental improvement upon the current practice. One of these options, that of complete centralisation and composting of sludge prior to disposal, exerts the least environmental impact with respect to Global warming potential. This suggests that the adoption of composting at Crawley is environmentally preferable to increasing the digestion facility at this works.

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