Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 2001. / Errata slip inserted. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: Dr. Charles Connerly, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences, Dept. of Urban and Regional Planning. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Oct. 2, 2003). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-107).

The purpose of this study was to analyze strategies for sustainable development, and especially the opportunities and constraints for sustainable development in arid lands. This study examines how environmental, economic, political, and social factors influence regional development. Because of the complexity of the problem, a two-perspective interdisciplinary approach was used. First, from a historical perspective, a farming systems approach focuses on understanding the interaction of population, environmental, technological and institutional factors. Second, and from an economic perspective, a linear progranuning model examines the interaction of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as well as the Amendment to Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution in regional-level current and expected transformations. Research was conducted in central Sonora, located in northwest Mexico, one of the arid zones of the Sonoran desert. From colonial times to the early 20th century chaotic changes occurred in Sonora. These changes were influenced by cultural, environmental, and technological factors. Cultural differences between the indigenous Sens and Spaniards prompted a long period of conflict. Seris were a hunter-gatherer nomadic group, the Spanish conquerors searched for gold and minerals, and the later Mestizos were farmers and ranchers. The strategy of hunting-gathering not only permitted the Seris to cope with a hostile, arid climate, but also helped them resist Spanish efforts to colonize or exterminate them. In contrast, environmental barriers limited the introduction of agricultural systems into the Seri territory and limited the rapid conquest of the Sens as well. Nonetheless, the Seris were nearly exterminated as a result of this conflict, and their territory reduced to the coastal margins of the Gulf of California.

This thesis argues that an effective way to curb the significant problem of environmental degradation in Nigeria‘s Niger Delta region and preserve its environment for posterity is by changing the ethic underlying environmental protection laws in Nigeria to a less anthropocentric one. The wanton degradation has several causes including an overly anthropocentric view of law, life and the natural world. The Nigerian environmental legal order is flawed in the following ways: non-justiciability of Constitutional provisions on environmental matters; insufficient deterrence of some sanctions or inadequate enforcement of others; inadequate compensation; insufficient use of injunctive relief; and difficulty of victims of environmental degradation in the region to be availed by relevant foreign regimes due to lack of financial resources, ignorance, poor education, insufficiency of legal and scientific resources and inadequate action by Government law officers. The thesis explores some improvements that have been suggested in existing literature which should be adopted to make the extant system work better. It however argues that the impact of such reforms would be enhanced if the ethic underlying the Nigerian environmental protection laws is changed to a less anthropocentric one; and one way of doing so is to constitutionalize nature‘s right to exist for posterity. This right will be enforceable by individuals, Non-Governmental Organisations and Environmental Protection Agencies, any or all of whom will act as a ‘guardian’ for nature in a specialist environmental court. This is the ‘new’ contribution of this thesis as regards Nigeria. This proposal will however not be a ‘magic bullet’ but can help promote social change so long as there is genuine involvement of all categories of stakeholders - government and non-governmental institutions, communities and private sector organizations.

Today 88 % of the world energy comes from fossil fuels. Greenhouse gas emissions are increasing and the fossil fuels energy sources will decrease at some point. Other alternatives must be found, to substitute and lower the usage of fossil fuels. Biogas is one of these other options. It is a versatile fossil free fuel that can be used for heat, power and fuel for vehicles. Many different substrates have been used for biogas production over the years, and now algae are examined as a substrate. Algae have advantages over the former substrates used for biogas production. Laboratory experiments were conducted to examine the co-digestion potential of algae and biosludge, which is a rest product from a wastewater treatment plant at a pulp and paper mill. The profitability aspect of using algae and biosludge for biogas production has been examined as well.The result shows that unmixed algae were the highest methane producing substrate, which produced a maximum of 203,5 Nml/g VS. An interesting result was that both algae and biosludge separately produced more methane gas than the mixtures. The profitability aspect of the thesis showed that it is not profitable to use algae primarily for biogas production, based on the conditions of today.

No description available.

No description available.

The main focus of this report is to establish a comparative study of traditional and biodegradable vest-plastic bag production through the utilization of a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. The measurements were made for the Ukrainian limited liability company “Polymer”, as a representative manufacturer, in order to calculate the environmental impact of plastic bag manufacturing, and identify the more environmental friendly item. This research is based on a literature review of the special characteristics of life cycle assessment and its methods and methodologies, a field study, which included two semi-structure interviews, and measurements and comparison of the harmfulness of traditional and biodegradable bag production. The software SimaPro 7.3.2 and IMACT 2002+ method were chosen in order to accomplish the research purpose. The results of the study show that traditional vest-bags produced by the researched enterprise are less environmentally friendly. Their production process has a bigger impact on environment and human health than that of the biodegradable bags. Moreover, a list of recommendations for possible improvements was developed based on the results of the research. It was sent to the directors of LLC “Polymer” as a suggestion for creating a “green strategy” of further development.