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The purpose of my thesis is to analyse the relation between ecology and law. The thesis is composed of five chapters. Chapter One is introductory and defines the term ecology. Chapter Two focuses on law and its role in ecology. Chapter Three explains the importance of principles as the unifying elements of legal regulation. Chapter Four investigates the chosen principles of law intrinsic to environmental protection. Chapter Five describes the practical apllication of the Integrated Prevention and Pollution Control approach and endeavours for evaluation of its contribution to environmental protection.

O reconhecimento do bem ambiental e sua efetivação pelos entes estatais demonstra a necessidade de se prover mecanismos de atuação preventiva e corretiva na preservação do meio ambiente, como pressuposto para preservação da própria humanidade. Vários mecanismos de cunho processual são postos à disposição do cidadão para controlar, fiscalizar e exigir a adoção de medidas de preservação em face da finitude dos recursos ambientais existentes. Nesse aspecto, a participação da população na fiscalização e no controle da gestão política do meio ambiente é medida salutar para a preservação do bem ambiental. Entretanto, entraves de ordem processual, aliados ao fato de que o Brasil apresenta contextos culturais, sociais e econômicos com grande disparidade, se demonstram como óbices na efetiva preservação ambiental e mesmo na adoção de políticas públicas necessárias à manutenção e preservação do bem ambiental. Surge assim a necessidade de se prover as instituições de Estado de um novo modelo de gestão dos recursos ambientais, em especial os municípios, onde ocorrem a maior parte das ações administrativas de licenciamento ambiental, bem como, uma nova leitura do processo que passa a gerir direitos difusos e transindividuais nesse atual modelo de atuação na preservação ambiental. / The recognition of the ambient good and its realization for the state beings demonstrate the necessity of if providing mechanisms with preventive and corrective performance in the preservation of the environment, as estimated for preservation of the proper humanity. Some mechanisms of procedural matrix are ranks the disposal of the citizen to control, to fiscalize and to demand the adoption of measures of preservation in face of the finitude of the existing environmental resources. In this aspect, the participation of the population in the fiscalization and the control of the management politics of the environment is measured to healthy for the preservation of the ambient good. However, impediments of procedural order, allies to the fact of that Brazil presents cultural contexts, social and economic with great disparity, if demonstrate as obstacles in effective the ambient and same preservation in the adoption of necessary public politics to the maintenance and preservation of the ambient good. It appears thus the necessity of if providing the institutions with State with a new model with management with the environmental resources, in special the cities, where they occur most of the administrative cases of ambient licensing, as well as, a new reading of the process that starts to manage diffuse and transindividual rights in this current model of performance in the ambient preservation.

As of March 2016, GRID Alternatives’ 179 solar electric system installations on low-income housing contributed 103 metric tons of carbon (MT CO2e) emissions reduction for the climate action plans’ Energy or Renewable Energy climate action measures that pertain to solar electric installations in the cities of: Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Paso Robles, and San Luis Obispo and San Luis Obispo County. In 2007, the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) created a team of government agencies to design climate action plans (CAP) that met the emission reduction goals set out by AB 32 and the 2008 Climate Change Scoping Plan (Rincon Consultants, 2014, p. 1-2). Each CAP outlines its greenhouse gas (GHG) baseline emissions and GHG emissions reduction targets in metric tons of carbon (MT CO2e) and identifies climate action measures to reach GHG emissions reduction targets. The climate action measure that pertains to Energy or Renewable Energy, specifically solar electric system installations, is examined in this study. GRID Alternatives, a non-profit solar installer that implements its Solar Affordable Housing Program, was selected by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in 2008, to serve as the statewide program manager for the California Solar Initiative’s $108 million incentive program called the Single-family Affordable Solar Homes (SASH) program, which is the country's first dedicated solar rebate program for low-income families (GRID, 2016a, p. 2). In 2010, GRID Alternatives opened its Central Coast office in Atascadero to serve five central coast counties and tracks CO2 emission reductions for each installation. My objective is to determine the impact that GRID Alternatives’ solar electric installations in the cities of Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Paso Robles, and San Luis Obispo and in San Luis Obispo County have on their respective CAPs’ GHG emissions reduction targets for the Energy or Renewable Energy climate action measure that pertains to solar electric installations.

De nouveaux matériaux hybrides « inorganique-organique » pour le captage de polluants organiques (pesticides, HAP) ont été préparés soit par greffage sur des oxydes métalliques, soit par procédé sol-gel. Pour préparer ces matériaux nous avons développé une méthodologie catalytique pour la synthèse des motifs organiques aromatiques. Cette méthodologie repose sur la réaction de couplage de Heck palladocatalysée entre le vinylphosphonate de diéthyle avec des différents halogénures d’aryles en utilisant des catalyseurs homogènes et hétérogènes. Des bons rendements isolés ont été obtenus. En complément, nous avons étudié l’arylation du diéthylacétale de l’acroléine en milieu aqueux qui donne principalement l’ester propanoïque et le cinnamaldéhyde. Nous avons mis en évidence l’influence de différents paramètres (catalyseurs, température, bases, additifs) et montré que l’ajout de cyclodextrines est bénéfique, en augmentant dans la plupart des cas la vitesse de la réaction. Dans le cadre de cette étude, nous avons montré que le remplacement de NaOAc par NH(i-Pr)2 conduisait à une inversion de la sélectivité du cinnamaldéhyde vers l’ester propanoïque. Les matériaux azotés (amine; guanidine; biguanide@oxyde métallique) ont été obtenus soit par greffage des composés bi fonctionnels [fonction azoté]/PO(OEt)2 sur les supports, soit par greffage d’un aminophosphonate suivi d’une condensation en phase solide avec le DIP.La capacités de piégeage de différents pesticides par extraction en phase solide a été évaluée et comparés à celle de deux matériaux courants (charbon actif et Si-C18) connus comme support solide universel dans ce domaine. Nous avons ainsi démontré la complémentarité des différents matériaux dans le piégeage des pesticides. / Development of new hybrid materials “inorganic-organics” for the collecting of the various organic pollutants (pesticides, PAH). These materials were prepared by two methods: grafting of metallic oxides and sol-gel method. A catalytic methodology of the aromatic organic matrix synthesis was considered. This methodology is based on the reaction of pallado-catalyzed Heck coupling between the diethyl vinylphosphonate with different aryl halogenurs by using homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. The good isolated yields for products were obtained. The complement, we study of the arylation reaction of the acrolein diethylacetal in aqueous medium, and the influence of various parameters (catalysts, bases, temperature, additifs) on this reaction. The addition of cyclodextrins in reaction medium is beneficial. Within the framework of this study, we showed that the replacement of NaOAc by NH (i-Pr)2 led to an inversion of the selectivity of cinnamaldéhyde towards propanoïque ester. Nitrogen material (amine, guanide, biguanide/PO-OEt)2 either by grafting of bifunctional compounds on the supports, and grafting of amiophosphonate flow condensation to DIP.The capacity of the trapping of pesticides by extraction in solid phase was evaluated and compared of two current materials (activated carbon and Si-C18) known as universal solid support. We thus showed the complementarity of various materials in the trapping of the pesticides

This study determined the state of the practice and emerging trends in developing greenhouse gas (GHG) thresholds of significance for use under the California Environmental Policy Act (CEQA). To describe the adopted, proposed or considered approaches for developing thresholds of significance by air districts and the thought processes behind these decisions, information was obtained through surveys and phone interviews from twelve employees of air districts in California, State agencies, and consultants that are considered experts on this issue. The results of this study include a comparison matrix of the approaches of the three air districts that have adopted or proposed GHG thresholds of significance, and identification of the common themes from air districts’ responses that do not have adopted or proposed thresholds. While the development of GHG thresholds of significance is an evolving practice, emerging trends in this practice were identified. These trends include providing flexibility in options, an emphasis on programmatic approaches and a preference of including bright-line thresholds and efficiency thresholds. Furthermore, this paper concludes that while the three air districts that have proposed or adopted thresholds have laid the groundwork for other districts, some of the approaches or the thresholds themselves may not be easily transferable to other districts based on regional differences. This research provides insight into how GHG emissions might be addressed in CEQA documents throughout the State.

<p>A major challenge of achieving sustainable development is to balance two critical targets with finite resources: to secure food security for a growing population with rising consumption demands, and to prevent further pollution into the environment and losses in ecosystem services. More importantly, the targets of food production and environment protection are not only related to socio-economic and technological development, but also tangled together both ecologically and economically, in particular regarding competition for land – the necessary natural resource for achieving both targets. In view of this, a comprehensive understanding about how to achieve sustainable development requires integrated analyses of the nexus of agricultural production, land use and environmental protection (the “agriculture-land-environment nexus”), interactions between these components,  and their responses to socio-economic development and policies. </p> <p><br></p> <p>This dissertation consists of three essays focusing on the impacts of environmental protection polices and infrastructure on the agriculture-land-environment nexus. The first essay analyzes how pollution reduction influences ecosystem services, with both a theoretical model and also empirical analysis with city-level data from China. Existing literature from the environmental and ecological fields reports that pollution reduction contributes to ecosystem services, but the ecosystem effects via economic channels remain under-addressed. We find when integrated together with an economic system, the reduction of pollution causes losses in the area of natural land that supports ecosystem services, which is further supported by empirical evidence. This finding emphasizes the importance of taking ecosystem effects into account on the design, implementation and evaluation of pollution control policies.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The second essay researches the impact of a large-scale forestry and grassland conservation policy in China, the grain-to-green project (GTGP), on cropland supply and crop production. In this essay, we first develop a theoretical model of the relationships between cropland supply, land value (with market access as proxy) and GTGP, and then empirically test these relationships using gridded data from China. We find GTGP not only directly reduces cropland area, but also restricts the elasticity of cropland supply in response to market access. Furthermore, we apply the GTGP’s impacts on cropland supply elasticity on a grid-solving computable model, in order to both validate the model and elasticity estimates via hindcasting and evaluate the GTGP’s impact on agricultural production via simulation. In the computable model where all grids are connected with crop markets, we find two effects of GTGP on agriculture: the direct effect that restricts cropland use and crop production in regions where it is implemented, and the indirect effect that increases crop production on regions not restricted or less restricted by GTGP. Essay 2 contributes to the literature by not only estimating the pattern of gridded cropland supply in China, but also reveals the indirect effect of GTGP on agriculture, which has seldom been researched. </p> <p><br></p> <p>The third essay researches the impact of transportation infrastructure on Brazilian agriculture, land use, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Combining a geographic information system (GIS) based analysis and computable model simulation, we find the expansion of infrastructure mainly contributes to the transportation cost reduction in inland Brazil and causes local cropland expansion and increased GHG emissions from land conversion. However, the shifting of crop production towards inland Brazil reduces the demand for cropland in southeastern and southern Brazil, which offsets the impact on cropland expansion and GHG emissions at the national level. Findings in Essay 3 indicate the importance of capturing both spatial heterogeneity and spatial spillover effects of infrastructure expansion when evaluating agricultural and environmental impacts. </p>

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Combustion of coal is one of the primary sources of electricity generation worldwide today. Coal contains different chemicals that cause particulate matter(PM) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions. These are health hazards and are responsible for deteriorating the ambient air quality. Particulate matter also forms ash deposits inside the coal combustor, which in turn decreases the energy efficiency of the power plants. Using biomass as a fuel in these utility boilers can potentially reduce the problems of particulate matter emissions and ash deposition, and can significantly reduce the SO2 emissions. However, biomass needs to be pretreated to make its properties similar to coal in terms of energy density, grindability, and durability before it can be fired in utility boilers. Steam explosion is one of the leading biomass pretreatment methods that enhances the physicochemical properties of biomass. A comprehensive review of the steam explosion process, its product properties, its comparison with other treatment processes, as well as its economic analysis and lifecycle assessment, have been explored in this work. Steam-exploded biomass has been co-combusted with bituminous coal in a 1500 kWth combustor to analyze the ash aerosol particle size distribution, composition, and deposition behavior. The primary results of these tests showed that both particulate matter emissions and ash deposition amount reduced significantly as more biomass was co-fired with coal. The submicron-sized particulate matter concentration showed a high correlation with the final mass of ash deposits (R2 > 0.96). Predicting ash deposition rates is important during the combustion of solid fuels. A Machine Learning tool was applied and trained with a fuel composition database of 92 fuels obtained from a thermodynamic equilibrium software (FactSage). When fully operational, this model should be integrated with an existing ash deposition model, which should make it self-sufficient in terms of generating equilibrium composition data. SO2 emissions were analyzed during the co-combustion of biomass and coal, and a synergistic decrease in SO2 emissions was observed with higher biomass blends. Experiments were conducted in a full-scale 471 MWe furnace to analyze the SO2 emissions, and an 85%-15% blend of coal and biomass was responsible for a 28.1% reduction in emissions and 22.1% reduction in the lime slurry utilization in the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) towers compared to pure coal combustion. Ash deposit characterizations by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) combined with thermodynamic equilibrium simulations revealed that calcium and potassium were responsible for this synergistic reduction as these metals captured the SO2 from the flue gases and retained them in the ash phase. The SO2 research was important since the current literature is deficient in research conducted at suspension-fired full-scale utility boilers to reduce SO2 emissions by co-firing coal and biomass blends. The research in this dissertation should provide valuable insights to the energy industries that are considering a transformation of fuel portfolio from coal to biomass and explore how the mineral matter present in pretreated biomass would behave inside a utility boiler. The primary conclusions are that during the co-combustion of coal and biomass, ash deposition mass and particulate matter ash load decreased, and SO2 emission saw a synergistic reduction in emissions due to higher calcium and potassium content in biomass compared to pure coal combustion.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:27:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcio Mauro Dias Lopes.pdf: 790608 bytes, checksum: 750b6129fc946e4e1b99d379f70ee4a1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-05-06 / Objective: To analyze the different elements related to environmental management in company as instrument for environmental defense. Justification: The presented defense sense is based on the presupposition that the environment needs actions of preventive nature and not reactive any more. Hypothesis: to analyze the different tools for environmental management that propitiate the development of companies within a criterium of environmental preservation in all working phases of an enterprise. Methods: Thus, the present work corresponds to a bibliographical review of different subjects that provide basis to the Brazilian environmental management, still including survey of articles and reports produced in symposia, associated to the practical experience of activities linked to the area. Results: Therefore, a comprehensive work was obtained as result, which shows that it is possible to make compatible development and environmental preservation / Objetivo: analisar os diferentes elementos relacionados ao gerenciamento ambiental na empresa como instrumento preventivo de defesa do meio ambiente. Justificativa: O sentido de defesa apresentado baseia-se no pressuposto de que o ambiente necessita de ações de caráter preventivo e não mais reativo. Hipótese: analisar algumas das ferramentas de gestão ambiental que propiciem o desenvolvimento das empresas dentro de um critério de preservação do meio ambiente em todas as fases de funcionamento. Aspectos Teórico-metodológicos: o presente trabalho constitui-se pela revisão bibliográfica de diferentes assuntos que embasam a gestão ambiental brasileira, incluindo-se ainda a pesquisa em artigos e relatórios produzidos em simpósios, associados à vivência prática do autor nas atividades ligadas à área. Resultados: obteve-se como resultado um trabalho abrangente, porém não esgotado, que demonstra ser possível compatibilizar o desenvolvimento com a preservação do meio ambiente