1.1 Describe how the above approach was used for managing the mercury problem in Minamata.

What were the problems associated with this approach? How could a different framework be developed to avoid these problems? Describe how the above approach was used for managing the mercury problem in Minamata The conventional P-S-R environmental management framework was used for managing the Minamata mercury problem. State (S) - The monitoring of contaminant levels in Minamata bay wasnt conducted either before Chisso commenced production or during production. Response (R) - Chisso initial response to the mercury problem in Minamata bay was a denial by the company that it caused the problem. - Chisso then built a treatment facility at their plant that was designed to filter chemicals. It was completly inadequate and most likely a token response to seem like the company was doing something - Fishing was restricted for areas of Minamata bay with mercury greater than 25ppm. However, this was not properly enforced by the government. Pressure (P) -Economic pressure on the government to continue Chisso's operations. This is shown by the continued production for up to 8 years after the cause of high mercury was discovered. What were the problems associated with this approach - There was a serious lack of monitoring by either the government or chisso before and after the problem was identified. The monitoring for mercury levels, on fish stock levels, or for public human health levels for Minamata residents. - The Japanese government response was minimal that included paying fisherman to catch the fish in Minamata bay and lacked enforcement of pollution law. - The Japanese government did not properly enforce the fishing ban that it placed on the Minamata bay. - The problem with lack of government response may have been attributed to a lack of environmental management framework. - Chisso significantly delayed their response of waste contamination for Minamata bay. - A major problem was the time between when the problem was identified and when both Chisso and the Japanese government responded. How could a different framework be developed to avoid these problem A different framework that could have been applied to the Minamata problem would be ecologically sustainable development (ESD) principles. - Better regulation by the Japanese government and enforcement of Chisso to monitor the environment including mercury, heavy metals, and other pollutants. - Government regulation increased to very high levels if contaminants are proved. - Apply remediation immediately after the contaminant levels are identified to ensure environmental and public safety.
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- Using the ESD principles for the Minamata mercury problem, both intragenerational and intergenerational equity can be applied as well as precautionary principle, and conservation of biological diversity.

1.2 Provide a one sentence description of each of the ESD principles. Illustrate each principle with an example from an activity in your household, such as transport, nourishment, and shelter. Intergenerational Equity - The present generation of humans residing on this planet guarantee that the environment is left in the same or better state than what they received it in. The household car is used as minimal as possible to reduce its environmental impact for future generations. Intragenerational Equity - The environmental quality within the present generation of humans is maintained at a high standard. Ensuring that the household food is sourced from local produce to reduce the impact of transportation on the environment. Conservation of Biodiversity - refers to the maintanence and preservation of plants, animals, and microorganisms and their respective ecosystems to ensure ecological variety. For example, cultivation and maintenance of the household garden. The precautionary principle - is used to aid decision-making where the environement is at threat of serious environemntal damage. For example, the precautionary principle can be applied to a household by only purchasing meat that is produced in Australia (Mad cow disease free) to ensure this disease is not contracted by a household occupant. Global issues - Global issues as a sustainable development principle refers to environemental problems that originate in Australia and effect the rest of the globe. For example, household waste should be disposed of and dealt with in Australia. Economic diversity and resilience - the sustainable development principle of economic diversity and resilience refers to the need for economic policy to be diverse to ensure resilience to external economic factors.

2.1 Is there any evidence that the bio-capacity of the globe is being exceeded by the demand from human consumption, as is indicated by the Ecological Footprints calculations? According to data contained in the Global Footprint Networks "Footprint and Biocapacity results 2008," the bio-capacity of the globe was being exceeded by human consumption since 1986. It can be seen from the data that the global total biocapacity has remained approximately the same value between 32.1 to 33.2 billion global acres for the period of time between 1961-2005. This is because the biocapacity of earth is generally a finite size. However, during this same period the total ecological footprint for the globe has increased from 17.2 to 43.1 acres. It is also important to note
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that the total global EF has increased on the previous value for each year it was calculated. The easiest data to see the evidence that the bio-capacity of the globe is being exceeded is when the ecological footprint to biocapacity ratio reaches above 1. The data shows that in 1985 the ratio was 0.98 and in 1990 the ratio was 1.09. So, in approximately 1986 the bio-capacity of the globe was being exceeded by the demand from human consumption.

2.2 what will 2050, in 40 years time look like? ie undertake a futures study to propose what future you will create for yourself when you are 65-75 years old. Use the ecological footprints measure to describe this situation, and how it will be achieved. What will 2050 in 40 years time look like? (Globally) It is very hard to predict what the globe will be like in 2050, 40 years from now. This is because the globe will be shaped by the individual behaviour of humans at a local scale, through to how national governments shape policies and actions that global bodies such as the UN take. The variables that will contribute to what the future will look in 2050 are highly varied and differ greatly from country to country. However, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development released a report titled "Vision 2050 - The new agenda for business" that is designed as a vision of how the world can become significantly more sustainable by 2050. It provided realistic plans that could be put in place to ensure a more sustainable future. It is predicted by many sources that by 2050, the worlds population will be 9 billion people. The report shows data calculated with the Global Footprint Network that if no changes are implemented, then humanity will be using the equivalent of 2.3 planets (Approximately 31 billion gha). The solutions proposed by Vision 2050 have found that despite a population increase to 9 billion people, humanity could possibly reduce the demand to approximately 1 world (approximately 16 billion gha) by 2050s or early 2060. The strategies that Vision 2050 proposes to reduce global humanities ecological footprint are spilt into two timeframes. These are 2010 - 2020, 10 years to analyse and implement strategies and then 2020 to 2050 as a transformation time to execute the strategic plans. The report spilts up the strategies to reduce the global ecological footprint and humanities demand on environment into the following categories: - Peoples values - Human Development - Economy - Agriculture - Forests - Energy and Power - Buildings - Mobility - Materials Each category has ideas and goals that will contribute to the reduction of humanities demand on the
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environment. What will 2050, in 40 years time look like ? (My local household) In 40 years time i will be 63 and it is anticipated that i will still be a full time employee in the workforce. I would like to see the following in 2050 at a local household level: - Vastly improved housing sustainability or as the media loves "Green Homes." It should be mandatory that all homes use energy efficient building materials, solar powered electricity, reuse of water, caputring water etc. However, much of this will rely on heavey investment by the government into research of new materials and technology. - Cultivation of household garden to grow as much fresh food as possible for the household (Currently already done by my household but would like to see this significantly increased in the community). - A big factor for myself is transportation as i live in a regional, coastal area. However, through more government investment in public transport and more investment in technology assisiting transportation. I believe transport around and from my regional area will be ok. For example, domestic and international travel will not need to be reduced because investment in new technologies should allow it to be less environmentally damaging. Eg the first solar powered plane was tested in the last month and was quite successful. - Water will be the most important commodity over the next 40 years, if it already isnt now. - I hope that communities and local households improve significantly as soon as possible to ensure a more sustainable future.

3. Advantages of having the EIS being prepared by the proponent? The advantages of the proponent completing (either in-house or via consultants) the EIS include: - Thorough knowledge of proposed development and its potential environmental impacts. - Ensures that all concerns are addressed in a reasonable timeframe. - The proposed development can be quickly altered as environmental concerns arise. - Greater information collection and analysis due to knowledge of proposed developments. Advantages of having the EIS being prepared by an independent authority? The advantages of an independent authority completing the EIS include: - Removed bias from the proponent for the EIS preparation. - EIS will contain objective analysis of the developments potential environmental impacts. Give your opinion on the preferred procedure I believe that the preferred procedure for completing an EIS is it should be prepared by the proponent, either in-house or by an engaged consultant. Although an independent authority would remove bias and provide an objective assessment, it is believed that the proponent would provide a better understanding of the development proposal and its potential environmental impacts. However, there is a role to play for an independent authority as a EIS review after its been completed.

Describe at what stage and what influence you believe a community consultation committee should have in a project. Every development will have an impact on the environment and community, however, the extent of this impact will vary significantly between different projects. The initial project scope should describe the amount of community consultation that is needed. In general, i believe that community consultation committee's should be engaged upon completion of the EIS when it is put on public display. It is then that community consultation committees should review and provide comments on the EIS. Although from the initial stages of the EIS preperation, the community should be given as much information as needed but not be allowed to inte rfere with EIS preparation.

4.1 It has been suggested that the ability of companies to set their own policy and objectives will mean that low environmental performance will result from implementation of ISO14001 in a company; ie they will take the easy way out and set easy objectives and targets. Provide an opposing view to this, providing reasons to support the view I believe companies that set their own policy and objectives will, in most cases, not lead to low environmental performance from implementation of ISO14001. By implementing ISO14001, companies have commited to develop targets for their environmental performance and this is not taken lightly due to the high cost of implementing a formal EMS. Also companies are less likely to set low environmental measures due to the significant fines that can be handed out by industry bodies for non compliance as well as legal ramifications from ISO14001 accreditation. Therefore, it is not really a companies interest to expend large dollar on ISO14001 accreditation and risk there reputation by setting low performance targets. A company that sets low targets would also suffer damage to their reputation as a result of the local community, competing companies, industry bodies, and local governments.

4.2 Environmental reviews and audits may be undertaken by consultants, internally or by a combination. How was the BHP environmental review undertaken; what were the key advantages and outcomes of this method? The BHP environmental review of all operations both in australia and abroad documented in reading 2 moore and scaife was undertaken using the following approach: (1) Collect Information prior to site visits - organisation charts - site layouts - Enviro emergency response plans - chemical management procedures - regulatory information (2) Visit the site and undertake the following activities in order to - brief senior management
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- site interviews, plant inspections, inspect records. Use checklist based on scope - Prepare summary report - Provide debriefing to senior managment (3) Prepare detailed report The key advantages and outcomes of this method include: - The review increased awareness across the company of environmental issues. - Established networks in the environmental area - Corporate and division environmental positions were created - An environmental policy was developed and the development of a detailed EMS commenced - Review met the objectives set by BHP at start.

5. Browse through environmental reports on the CD, select a few that interest you to gain an impression of where the emphasis of monitoring and reporting is at. Provide a comment on where future environmental reports at each scale should place increased emphasis. The reports that i browsed and read were the Australia state of the environment 2001, Australia state of the environment 1996, WMC limited 2000, the hurstville city council - state of environment report 1996 and the BHP report. The emphasis of where monitoring and reporting is at varies depending on who produced the report. The private companies place an emphasis on their environmental performance of the past and up to the date of the report. A little discussion is made on levels to be reached in the future. However, the government based reports seem to provide a much more comprehensive analysis of future environmental problems. Future environmental reports at each scale should place increased emphasis on: - Water including quality, consumption, and use. - All scale should apply the ESD principles and in particular the precautionary principle. - Nationally, resource minimisation through better consumer, government and business behaviour. - Land USe - Conservation of biodiversity - Any emerging environmental trends from local scale through to global scale. 6.1 Which OECD countries consume less land from their domestic consumption than if available t them? Australia EF = 8.1ha/person Available EF = 9.7ha/person Using 1.6ha/person less than the available EF

Canada EF = 7.0ha/person Available EF = 8.5ha/person Using 1.5ha/person less than the available EF Source: M Wackernagel (1997) EFof nations Are these OECD countries sustainable from the viewpoint of a global reference? Sustainability is not a single country problem but a global problem and therefore no these OECD countries are not sustainable from the viewpoint of a global reference. This is because the same data also shows that the ecological surplus/deficit is -0.6 ha/person for the world. That is, in 1997 the world ecological footprint was -0.6 ha/person which is not sustainable from the global viewpoint. Is the current consumption of all countries at the global level sustainable? If not, what global options are possible over the next 100 years? No the current consumption of all countries at the global level is not sustainable. The data provided by wackernagel shows that the EF of many countries is significantly larger than their available EF. Such as Japan has an EF of 6.3ha/person and an available EF of 1.7ha/person. Therefore, the global options over the next 100 years should focus on a national strategy to promote and encourage the dematerialisation of the economy, as described by Yenkin. These are
y y y y y y

Changing assumptions Reducing toxic or damaging flows Reducing the impact of waste flows Overall dematerialisation of the economy New information requirements / improve information base Propagation and adoption of effective working models and techniques and using models and techniques for managing and reducing material flows.

By adopting these principles over the next 100 years, the consumption of all countries at the global level will lead to more sustainable levels.

6.2 Define the terms "athroposphere" and "geogenic" Anthroposphere -is defined by brunner as the mans sphere of life, a complex system of energy, material, and information fluxes. The anthroposphere s driven by mans biological and cultural needs. It can be looked at as an open system consisting of processes connected with goods. These goods are carriers of materials. A given network of processes and goods is initiated by activities.
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These acivities are the result of a cultural evolution and the environmental conditions. Geogenic - is a natural regional economy that has a network of energy and material fluxes run by solar energy and the interactions of regional and global ecsystems. Dscribe what is meant by "Metabolism of the anthroposphere" and explain what drives this metabolism. Metabolism of the anthroposphere - Anthropogenic metabolism covers not only the physiological human metabolism but includes also the thousands of goods and substances necessary to sustain modern life. The total metabolism includes the input, output, and stock of materials and energy to satisfy all human needs for provisions, housing, transportation etc. This metabolism is driven by human activities and societies needs. That is, the metabolism is driven by man-made material flows due to activities such as cleaning, transporting, residing and communicating 7. what is happening to the stock of Pb in the process household in the given year of 1990? The household has an import of 7t/year of lead, while the export of 0.15t/year for sewage, 1.6t/year for car-exhaust, and 5.6t/year for municipal solid waste. This export totals 7.35t/year. Influx of 7t/year Outflow of 7.35t/year 7-7.35 = 0.35 t/year net annual loss. What will be the stock of Pb in the following processes in the year 2000 and 2100? region Input = 0.6+7+330 = 337.6t/year region output = 2+270+5.6 = 277.6t/year difference = 337.6 - 277.6 = 60t/year Therefore, there is an accumulation in the region every year of Pb (lead). Forest Soil Stock = 150t Rate of change = 0.6 Year 2000 = (0.6*10) + 150 = 156t Year 2100 = (0.6*110) +150 = 216 t Agricultural Soil Stock = 240t Rate of change = 0.9 Year 2000 = (0.9*10) + 240 = 249t Year 2100 = (0.9*110) + 240 = 339t

Urban Soil Stock = 30 Rate of change = 0.2 Year 2000 = (0.2*10) + 30 = 32t Year 2100 = (0.2*110) + 30 = 52t Landfill Stock = ? Rate of change = 60 Year 2000 = (60*10) + ? = ? + 600 increase Year 2100 = (60*110) +? = ? + 6600 increase River Stock = ? Rate of change = (0.05+0.6+0.2+0.14)-2 = -1.01 Year 2000 = (-1.01 * 10)+? = ? - 10.1t decrease Year 2100 = (-1.01 * 110) +? = ? - 111.1t decrease Is this sustainable? No this is not sustainable. The region has an accumulation of 60t/year of lead and this is not a sustainable level. It should be noted that the calculations do not account for any annual growth in Pb levels that would lead to larger unsustainable levels. What are the implications for environmental management in the region ?
y

The stock and rate of increase for forest soil, agrcultural soil, urban soil has significant implications for environmental management. The stock build up will eventually contribute to leaching to the river process and other associated waterways in catchments. The region also shows 1.6t of lead that is discharged to the atmosphere each year and accumulate in the previously mentioned processes. This could be eliminated by using unleaded petrol. The landfill also has a significant accumulation of lead increase each year, as shown in the calculations. As can be seen in 2100 the increase will have been 6600 t and this will cause significant leaching problems once the lead begins to break down.

How could the MFA for Pb in the region be used in the EIA for a lead-acid battery manufacturing plant proposal? A material flux analysis (MFA) is a materials balancing method applied at a regional scale for
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individual elements to analyse - the input of the material to processes in the region - the accumulation of stocks of the material in processes - the current outputs of materials from anthropogenic to natural environments. The MFA allows an analysis of the lead fluxes for different processes within the region. It could be used to identify the points in the region where lead could be recycled for a lead-acid battery manufacturing plant. The data from the MFA would then be used in the EIA to show the quantity of Pb that would be recycled. This would also show a more sustainable fluxes of Pb within the region.

8. For emission regulations that you are familar with (eg incinerator gaseous emissions); determine which approach was used to derive the numerical limits. What advantages and disadvantages result when compared to use of alternative approaches? The emission regulations that i am familar with are air quality monitoring regulations. The most common approach to derive the numerical limits is using available air quality monitoring equipment and then the NEPM (National environment protection measure) set standards and numerical limits. These standards include ozone, nitorgen dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and PM10. The advantage of this approach is a clear level can be recorded for an exact period of time and a comparison can be made with the acceptable limit. This allows the determination of a fail or pass level of air pollution, or more commonly a rating is given. A disadvantage when compared to alternative approaches is that the source of the increased air pollution is not known. A numerical reading value is recorded but the source and concentration of the source is unknown.

9.1 Explain how leasing rather than purchasing a photo copying machine l ads e manufacturers to the provision of a cleaner production service. Leasing a photocopy machine encourages the leasing company to source a machine from manufacturers that is more efficient and has a longer design life. This is the result of the leasing company wanting to reduce the overheads associated with maintenance and upkeep of the photocopy machine. This leasing in the long term will lead to cleaner production services from manufacturers. It will be achieved by:
y y y

Waste minimisation due to longer life cycles of the photocopier Production of more durable parts for the photocopier to meet leasing companies demands Design of photocopier parts that can be easily recycled at the end of the life cycle.

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The photocopier designed that consume less materials.

9.2 Consider the general service provided by a pen, and define a functional unit for this service so that a range of information transfer sets of goods can be compared in a LCA. A functional unit as it relates to life cycle assessment is defined as the object of the LCA and is introduced in order to allow objective comparison of products. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool that can be used to evaluate the environmental effects of a product, process, or activity and consists of 4 components. These are goal definition and scoping, life-cycle inventory (LCI), impact assessment, and improvement assessment. A functional unit for a pen for an office employee would be 2 hrs of writing, 5 days per week, until the ink in the pen runs out. This functional unit would allow a comparison of a set of different pens in a life cycle assessment. 10.1 Explain how MIPS could be applied to the problem of designing a transport system of a city. MIPS was developed to provide information on significant environmental impact associated with the system of goods that provide a particular service in an economy. MIPS can be used to calculate the total amount of fossil fuel material used from he transport system of a city. Then this can be reduced for the transport system by replacing the fossil fuel material with material that is sourced from a renewable energy source. The Wuppertal institute a proposed a MIPS reduction of ten fold for developed economies, in order to move to a sustainable global economy. How could this reduction be achieved? (Generally and provide some examples for this transport system example) A reduction would be achieved though a transport system that is powered by renewable energy for both public and private transport. An MIPS reduction ten fold for a city transport system would involve the following: - Create significantly more cycle paths that will promote cycling as a transport option. - Reducing car use by providing more efficient public transport, in particular train and tram transport due to there mass transport benefits. - Significantly reduce taxes and registration costs for energy efficient cars as a last resort transport option - Create buses and cars that are powered by renewable energy sources - Create electricity from renewable sources that will allow electrified rail track to be powered by renewable energy and environmentally friendly.

10.2 Explain why the SPI is conservative approach in relation to the use of fossil organic material (for fuel or plastics); and the area required to dissipate toxic or stable synthetic
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substances. Compare this to MIPS approach. The sustainable process index (SPI) is a unit of measure of the index of resource consumption and waste emissions in ha or m2. It includes a greater variety of waste emissions and is mo re applicable to process design and optimisation. The basic feature of the SPI is that technologies must be embedded in the biosphere and that this embedding must be in a non-invasive way. The SPI is a conservative approach in relation to the use of fossil organic material (for fuel and plastics) because they are treated as a renewable resource and thus leads to a more conservative SPI. While for toxic or stable synthetic substances the SPI is conservative because the break down rate of these is slow and they also not recycled as raw materials. The most significant difference between MIPS and SPI is that the MIPS does not include wastes in its calculations. Where as, SPI includes both resource consumption and waste emmisions. Therefore, this leads to more favourable result when compared with SPI for the MIPS.

11. Why has the US generally been declining and the netherlands and germany increasing over the past 20 years? The decline in US TMR per capita in the early years of the period was due primarily to major reductions in soil erosion after the enactment of the conservation reserve program. This program paid farmers not to farm highly erodible lands. The decline in US TMR per capita can also be attributed to the completion of much of the federal interstate highway system. Why is Japan much lower than the other 3 OECD countries? In all the countries except japan, high levels of energy consumption, primarily from fossil fuels, is a major reason for the high overall levels of TMR. Japan is much lower than the other 3 OECD countries primarily because japan has a relatively small per capita use of energy compared with the other countries. Why did germany increase significantly in 1990-1991? The sharp rise in german TMR in 1990-1991 reflects the reunification with the former east germany, altering what would otherwise have been a relatively constant trend. Figure 2 shows the primary contributions to TMR in 1991. Comment/Explain the relative contributions amoung countries. - Fossil fuel is the largest contributor to TMR in the US and germany and is the second largest contributor in japan and netherlands. - In Germany, heavy use of lignite coal and hidden flows from large overburden mining coal dominates fossil fuel contribution. metals, reflecting strong automobile and steel sectors, and construction also contribute heavily to TMR.
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- In Japan, the metals and industrial materials industry is largest contribution. The contribution from domestic erosion is relatively low, reflecting the dominance of paddy rice cultivation. - Netherlands, renewable materials are largest contributions. Fossil fuels, primarily natural gas and metals are also major contributors. Domestic erosion is negligible. -US, high contribution from fossil fuels, road building, infrastructure development, agricultural operations. Figure 3 and 4 show the proportions of direct inputs and hidden flows, and domestic and foreign components. Do these make sense from your general knowledge of these economies? Direct inputs and hidden flows - hidden flows dominate as a proportion of TMR in 1991 for all 4 countries. They are between 55 to 75 % of total. -US and germany are largest followed by netherlands and then japan. Domestic and Foreign - Varies considerably amongst countries. - Figure 4 illustrates that the smaller an industrial country, the larger in proportion its transboundary materials flows and the greater the separation of the environmental effects of its natural resource use from their consumption benefits. Figure 5 and 6 show material intensity trends, mostly showing good improvements. Why is this same trend not shown in TMR and DMI graphs? What does this mean for sustainabilty achievment over the next 20-30 years? The analysis in Figure 5 shows a declining pattern of materials intensity in all countries supporting the conclusion that a modest decoupling is taking place. WHile figure 6 includes only direct material input (natural resource commodities) and the pattern implies that direct inputs of natural resources are now growing in parallel with econnomic growth. The same trend is not shown in TMR and DMI graphs because it includes extractive activities and other hidden flows and the TMR/GDP ratio provides the best measure of a countries materials intensity. Currently 45 to 85t of natural resources per person per year are required and this translates into an enormous amount of extractive activity. For sustainabilty achievement over the next 20-30 years more comprehensive material accounts are needed of natural resources. This would allow more efficient natural resource use per person and allow industrial countries to reduce their material intensity

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