Coal resources, new air quality standards,and sustainability

According to the National Research Council’s Committee on Earth Resources the stated goal of the “sustainability” paradigm is that the economic activity that maintains current well-being not make future generations worse off, either through environmental degradation or resource depletion. Coal is not “running out” in the United States but the effects of economic deregulation of electricity generation, new air quality standards (Phase II of the 1990 Clear Air Act Amendments), and continued restructuring of the coal mining industry will likely stretch lowsulfur coal supplies in the next decade. The paper discusses these forces and then presents summary coal quality data in the form of grade-cumulative tonnage relationships for major U.S. producing areas to show where future low-sulfur coal supplies are likely to come from. The final section considers the potential magnitude of additional demand for low-sulfur coal, alternative compliance strategies, and implications in terms of maintaining economic efficiency and in terms of the “sustainability paradigm.”     

浅谈绿色开采鄂尔多斯煤炭资源

鄂尔多斯的煤炭资源经过多年的开采,给国家经济建设作出了巨大贡献,同时也对生态环境产生了较大影响。本文针对鄂尔多斯地区主要生态环境问题,根据目前煤炭开采技术现状,提出适合鄂尔多斯地区的保水开采技术途径,将矿井水、瓦斯、矸石进行资源化利用。从而实现煤炭开采与生态环境协调发展,促进鄂尔多斯地区煤炭资源合理开发利用。     

Groundwater resources and quality in northeastern Jordan: safe yield and sustainability

Over-abstraction of groundwater is one concern of the Badia Research and Development Programme. The upper aquifer of the Azraq basin forms the largest resource of good-quality water, but current abstraction exceeds both average recharge and the safe yield of the aquifer, which is over-exploited. Although there has been no deterioration in water quality and only minor drawdown, the springs at Azraq have dried up, with severe, undesirable environmental impacts. Total abstraction of 20 × 10⁶ m³ yr⁻¹ appears to be sustainable and would allow some springflow, but this leaves a shortfall of 40 × 10⁶ m³ yr⁻¹ for domestic supply and agriculture.     

Examining the influence of settlement morphology and separation zones policies on the availability of shallow coal resources in the United Kingdom

In 2013, demand for coal in the UK was 60 million tonnes. Of this, 12.7 million tonnes (21%) came from indigenous sources; the majority of which was from surface mining (8.6 million tonnes). Many planning applications for surface mining of coal and the coal extraction that follows, are often a source of conflict with the communities who live within shallow coalfield areas. Policies which enforce a gap, or ‘separation zone’, between communities and surface coal mining operations exist in Wales and Scotland, but do not exist in England. This paper examines the effect of applying separation zones on the availability of shallow coal resources within two study areas; one within the South Wales Coalfield, the other within the Midlands Coalfield (comprising the Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and North Derbyshire Coalfield areas). Density profiles and a shape-index algorithm are used to compare and contrast settlement morphology (i.e. shape or footprint) and distribution to determine whether they have a bearing on the areal extent of any potential separation zone applied. The implications on the availability of shallow coal resources of applying different separation zone distances around settlements within these two areas are explored. Results reveal that although the settlement morphology is important in determining the area of the separation zone, and has greatest influence in the South Wales Coalfield, the area of coal resource sterilised by the application of separation zones is greatest in the Midlands Coalfield due to it having a higher proportion of urban development situated on the surface extent of the shallow coal resource.     

An analysis of 200-year-long changes in a landscape affected by large-scale surface coal mining: History,present and future

We have investigated almost 200 years of landscape transformations in a traditional brown coal mining region in northwest Bohemia, Czech Republic. The investigation was focused on the central part of the North Bohemian Basin including 44 cadastral areas representing a total area of 228.48 km². Within this area, an analysis of land use in six different time periods (1845, 1954, 1975, 1989, 2010, 2050) was performed. The analysis therefore includes the transitory period of a boom and slow-down of surface coal mining and also provides a unique comparison with the planned future condition of the landscape after the year 2050, when the mines have been closed down and the landscape restored. Practically all available geographic data resources on land use have been used – the stable cadastre, topographic maps, current landscape mapping and aerial photographs. We differentiated twelve land-use categories. Both Friedman test and detrended correspondence analysis show significant differences in the representation of individual land-use categories and characteristics of the landscape before and during mining operations and after their discontinuance and revitalisation of spoil tips and in residual pits. For a long period of time, agricultural landscape was changed into an industrial one. The basin part of the studied territory almost completely lacks eco-stabilising features that could be used as a basis for planning of a new landscape. This is because the original landscape had been intensively used for agriculture previously, and almost one half of the territory was over-exploited and other areas were affected by operation facilities and coal processing industrial plants. With the growing number of reclamation projects, the diversity of the landscape has been increasing, as well as the proportion of ecologically valuable elements (mostly forests and water bodies), whose total area could exceed 70% of the landscape's surface in the future, approximating its characteristics to a natural landscape with a high degree of ecological stability.     

Uncertain and treacherous: The cannel coal industry in Kentucky

The mining of cannel coal was a small, but prestigious, component of the coal production of Kentucky in the 1800's and early 1900's. Cannel coal was retorted into liquid fuel, gasified as an enricher of municipal gas supplies, and distilled as a feedstock for the production of chemicals. Each peak in usage was subsequently tempered by a discovery of cheaper sources of liquid hydrocarbons.Four mining areas in Kentucky, three in eastern Kentucky and one in western Kentucky, will be discussed. The Breckenridge deposit in western Kentucky was developed as early as 1837 and came to prominence in the 1850's and, to a lesser extent, in the 1880's. The Johnson County deposits were developed in the 1880's and continued in production through the 1920's. The Bell County cannels were developed in the 1890's. Although highly praised for their quality, they had a brief mining history because of the limited extent of the reserves. The most prolific cannel field, Morgan County, was opened in 1901 and continued to be a large producer, albeit with some low-production years, through the 1950's, with minor production as late as 1987.The production of cannel, as with any mineral commodity, was at the mercy of market demands and available transportation. Cannel coal, more than banded bituminous coal, occurs in relatively limited areas, leading to the rapid exhaustion of commercial deposits as well as failed attempts to develop deposits that did not attain commercial size.     

Competing Perceptions of the Rural Idyll: responses to threats from coal seam gas development in Gloucester,NSW, Australia

Threats to rural livelihoods and rural landscapes have increased over time as developed nations in particular look for cheaper and more locally based alternatives to traditional energy sources to drive national economies. In New South Wales, through the expansion of coal mines and coal seam gas (CSG), small towns such as Gloucester on the edge of the Upper Hunter are faced with competing visions which seek to redefine their future. Powerful and competing discourses over land use threaten not only the sustainability of the region but the integrity of its sense of place, centred on community, rurality, agricultural production and confrontation of risk from mining. The different discourses of local groups such as ‘tree-changers’, established residents and farmers conflict with those of external organisations such as the State government and mining/CSG companies which envisage Gloucester as a ‘balanced’ space of co-existence and position it as a new node in the carbon supply chain.     

煤矿塌陷地复垦还田生态重建研究--以抚顺煤矿为例

以抚顺煤矿为例,采用复垦还田与排矸相结合复垦高质量农田,轻可减少占用土地面积,又能在塌陷地复垦还田;同时也将剥离矸石等固体废物掩埋,防止环境污染,有利于保护环境,具有较大经济效益、神会效益和环境效益,为东北区乃至 全国类似矿区塌陷地复垦还田生态重建提供示范。     

Glacial erosion and relief production in the Eastern Sierra Nevada,California

The proposal that climate change can drive the uplift of mountain summits hinges on the requirement that glacial erosion significantly enhances the relief of a previously fluvially sculpted mountain range. We have tested this hypothesis through a systematic investigation of neighbouring glaciated and nonglaciated drainage basins on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, CA. We present a simple, objective method for investigating the relief structure of a drainage basin, which shows noticeable differences in the spatial distribution of relief between nonglaciated and glaciated basins. Glaciated basins on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada have only ∼80 m greater mean geophysical relief than nonglaciated basins. This “extra” relief, though, is attributable principally to the larger size of the glaciated basins, as geophysical relief generally increases with basin size. The glaciers on this side of the range were only responsible for relief production if they substantially increased headward erosion rates into low relief topography, such as an elevated plateau, and thus enlarged previously fluvial basins. We carried out a preliminary morphometric analysis to elucidate the importance of this effect and found that the glaciers of the eastern Sierra Nevada may have eroded headward at considerably faster rates than rivers, but only when they were not obstructed from doing so by either competing larger glaciers in adjacent valleys or transfluent ice at the head of the basin. Our results also suggest that, in temperate regions, alpine glaciers are capable of eroding downward at faster rates than rivers above the equilibrium line altitude (ELA). Although we can rule out significant peak uplift in response to local relief production, in the special case of the Sierra Nevada the concentration of mass removal above the ELA could have contributed to flexural uplift at the edge of a tilting block.     

藏东横断山区草地利用变化对土壤质量的影响

草地利用变化导致的土壤质量演变已经引起了全球广泛关注,然而有关西藏高原这方面的研究目前还很少.为此,探讨藏东横断山区草地转变成坡耕地后土壤质茸变化.选择3种土地利用类型:草地、短期耕作坡耕地、长期耕作坡耕地,采集土壤表层样品,并测定土壤理化性质.利用土壤退化指数(DI)与土壤质量综合指数(I_Q)评价了3种土地类型的土壤质量.结果表明:草地垦殖后的短期耕作造成表层土壤容重、砂粒含量明显增大(容重:从1.11 g/cm~3增大至1.32 g/cm~3;砂粒含量:从43.3%增大至54.7%),粘粒、粉粒含量明显减小;长期耕作导致土壤表层厚度明显增加(从23.6 cm增加到30.6 cm),有机质与全氮含量显著降低(分别降低29%、22%);两种坡耕地全磷与全钾含量变化均不明显.短期、长期耕作坡耕地DI与IQ均低于草地,表明坡耕地土壤质量出现退化.利用DI与I_Q评价出来的短期耕作坡耕地与长期耕作坡耕地土壤质量退化程度不一致,表明这两种指数不能等效地评价该区不同土地利用类型下的土壤质量.土壤质量综合指数被认为是评价本研究区土壤质量状况的一种更合理方法.据此断定,长期耕作坡耕地土壤质量退化较严重.     

环境质量、环境规制与产业结构优化——基于中国东、中、西部面板数据的实证分析

环境污染、环境规制和产业结构优化升级是当前中国为实现包括生态文明在内的"五位一体"小康社会目标必须解决的重要问题。基于2003—2012年中国东、中、西部地区的省际面板数据,实证考察了环境污染、环境规制和产业结构优化的关系。模型以SO2排放量作为环境污染指标,以SO2排放量和产业结构优化关系为例验证了环境库兹涅茨曲线的存在。环境规制会促进产业结构优化,不同地区不同形式环境规制政策对产业结构的优化效应是有差异的。因此,应采取形式多样和有地区差异的环境规制政策以改善环境质量、促进产业结构优化。     

From the Seam to the Stove: greenhouse gas assessment and the coal seam gas industry in Australia

In Australia, Coal Seam Gas (CSG) is a relatively new source of natural gas commonly advocated as a lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions alternative to coal. This study investigates how GHG emissions have been, and potentially could be, assessed within the Australian CSG industry. The research involved a document analysis of several Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) and consultant reports prepared as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process for major CSG projects in New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland (Qld). There were found to be inconsistencies in the conduct of greenhouse assessment by the CSG industry, including how complete and transparent assessments were, as well as how effectively they addressed project emission intensity and cumulative impacts. There were also found to be large inconsistencies between assessments carried out for Qld projects and those for NSW projects, likely because of differences in how assessment requirements are applied by planning bodies. This study also highlights how alternative assessment approaches, such as Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), have potential to enable a broader and more consistent understanding of emission sources that cross a range of geographical and project boundaries.     

Impacts of future climate change on agroclimatic resources in Northeast China

In this study, the spatial distribution and changing trends of agricultural heat and precipitation resources in Northeast China were analyzed to explore the impacts of future climate changes on agroclimatic resources in the region. This research is based on the output meteorological data from the regional climate model system for Northeast China from 2005 to 2099, under low and high radiative forcing scenarios RCP4.5 (low emission scenario) and RCP8.5 (high emission scenario) as proposed in IPCC AR5. Model outputs under the baseline scenario, and RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios were assimilated with observed data from 91 meteorological stations in Northeast China from 1961 to 2010 to perform the analyses. The results indicate that: (1) The spatial distribution of temperature decreases from south to north, and the temperature is projected to increase in all regions, especially under a high emission scenario. The average annual temperature under the baseline scenario is 7.70°C, and the average annual temperatures under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 are 9.67°C and 10.66°C, respectively. Other agricultural heat resources change in accordance with temperature changes. Specifically, the first day with temperatures ≥10°C arrives 3 to 4 d earlier, the first frost date is delayed by 2 to 6 d, and the duration of the growing season is lengthened by 4 to 10 d, and the accumulated temperature increases by 400 to 700°C·d. Water resources exhibit slight but not significant increases. (2) While the historical temperature increase rate is 0.35°C/10a, the rate of future temperature increase is the highest under the RCP8.5 scenario at 0.48°C/10a, compared to 0.19°C/10a under the RCP4.5 scenario. In the later part of this century, the trend of temperature increase is significantly faster under the RCP8.5 scenario than under the RCP4.5 scenario, with faster increases in the northern region. Other agricultural heat resources exhibit similar trends as temperature, but with different specific spatial distributions. Precipitation in the growing season generally shows an increasing but insignificant trend in the future, with relatively large yearly fluctuations. Precipitation in the eastern region is projected to increase, while a decrease is expected in the western region. The future climate in Northeast China will change towards higher temperature and humidity. The heat resource will increase globally, however its disparity with the change in precipitation may negatively affect agricultural activities.     

矿山土地破坏程度评价--以攀枝花市花山煤矿为例

土地破坏程度评价对指导矿山土地复垦和生态重建具有指导意义。应用模糊数学综合评价方法对花山煤矿土地破坏程度进行评价。介绍了模糊数学评价的原理、方法和评价程序,确定了各种破坏类型土地的破坏程度评价因子、因子权重及评价等级。根据土地破坏类型,花山煤矿破坏土地可划分为两大类六单元。各单元分别建立起土地破坏程度评价的模糊评价矩阵,最终评价得出花山煤矿土地破坏程度综合评价结果为:江边排矸场为重度破坏,C区排矸场为中度破坏,地表塌陷区、水泥厂排矸场、金塘湾排矸场、沿江沟排矸场为轻度破坏。     

基于人眼视域图像识别的风景道视觉景观质量评价

风景道是国家旅游与交通产业融合发展的举措,而视觉景观质量（VLQ）则是风景道建设的依托。当代计算机视觉技术的发展为风景道VLQ的研究带来机遇,使其在方法上能够突破主观与客观之间的二元分割。以云南思小高速为研究对象,通过多镜头组合的等距拍摄方式获取道路景观的双眼视域图像,利用图像识别技术获取图像的像素信息;建构“非量表式语义差异法”,从“自然—人工”“多样—统一”“开阔—幽深”3个维度对视域图像进行像素级别的计算。结果显示,案例地VLQ的特征较为突出,具有高度自然、相对统一和开阔的总体特征;不同行驶方向上的VLQ存在差异,但该差异会随观测尺度的扩大而减小。基于研究结果,本文提出设置支线道路配合突出风景道形象、强化双向道路景观的差异化建设措施。实证研究在风景道VLQ测评方面表现出了直观、精确的特征,反映了本文“主体性与客观性兼顾”的方法论优势。该方法的运用将助力管理机构制定更具科学性的风景道规划、建设与管理决策,推动中国风景道的高质量发展。     

未来中国的农业资源综合生产能力与食物保障

首先预测了包括耕地资源和非耕地资源在内的农业资源的未来食物生产能力 ;然后以不同的营养供给量为标准 ,根据人口预测方案估算了未来三个时段的食物需求量 ;最后开展需求量与生产能力的平衡分析。在耕地资源生产的粮食数量与同期需求量的平衡分析中 ,2 0 10年以小康水平的食物结构作为需求标准 ,粮食生产能力略大于粮食需求量 ,2 0 30年和2 0 5 0年以较富裕和富裕水平的食物结构作为需求标准 ,粮食生产能力已小于粮食需求量。说明依靠有限的耕地资源难以满足中国从小康生活到富裕生活过程中的食物需求。以农业资源综合生产能力为基数的供需平衡分析表明 ,未来三个时段农业资源的综合生产能力所提供的食物数量均高于同期需求量。因此必须挖掘非耕地资源的食物生产潜力 ,依靠农业资源综合生产能力才能保障中国从小康生活到富裕生活过程中的食物需求。     

区域煤炭资源流动及其宏观经济效应初探——以内蒙古为例

从流量、流向以及流动通道三方面,探讨了内蒙古煤炭资源流动平衡现状,采用向量自回归模型解析了内蒙古煤炭资源流动与其宏观经济发展的相互作用关系,结果表明:(1)内蒙古已成长为中国最大的能源输出基地,煤炭交流活动主要集中在其周边地区,尤以华北和东北地区为主。(2)内蒙古铁路煤炭运能不足,缺乏独立、完善的运输网络。(3)内蒙古煤炭资源流动与区内经济发展水平的提高、重工业的发展、第三产业发展以及税收增长均存在着长期稳定的均衡关系,且对区内重工业发展和税收增长具有明显的单向推动作用,但对区内人均GDP和第三产业发展的促进作用相对比较微弱。(4)建立独立、完善的煤炭运输网络;重视发展煤炭运输及其相关服务业;转变能源输出战略,提高输出资源附加值,带动区内煤炭工业以及整体经济发展水平提高的政策建议。     

神府东胜煤田的沙漠化问题

神府、东胜煤田50000Km²范围内现有沙漠化土地37990.2Km², 占总土地面积的72.9%, 比七十年代后期的41153.67Km²减少了3163.46Km², 减少了6%左右。通过对土地沙漠化形成因子的多元分析, 表明土地沙漠化是在全球或区域气候变化的背景下演进的。人为活动也在相当程度上受气候干湿变化的制约。人为活动对土地沙漠化的诱发作用具有气候因素控制下的复杂反应性质。根据土地沙漠化多因子控制模型, 预测沙漠化发展趋势, 并提出了相应的防治对策。     

Impact of land cover changes and topography on soil quality in the Kasso catchment,Bale Mountains of southeastern Ethiopia

This study assessed land cover change and topographic elevation on selected soil quality parameters in the Kasso catchment, southeastern Ethiopia. Twenty‐seven soil samples collected from 0–30cm depth under four land cover types across three elevation gradients were analysed for selected soil quality parameters. Results indicated that soil particle size distribution is different (p<0.001) in the catchment because of the effect of land cover change and elevation. Most cultivated lands occupy lower elevations where clay accumulates as a result of its movement from higher to lower elevations. Ploughing accentuates weathering, making cultivated lands richer in finer materials. Cation exchange capacity and exchangeable magnesium and potassium negatively correlated with elevation, total nitrogen and available phosphorous. Conversion of natural vegetation to cropland contributed to changes in pH (p<0.05), exchangeable calcium (p<0.01), potassium (p<0.001), available phosphorous (p<0.01) and nitrogen (p<0.01) contents. Parameter soil degradation index results showed that soil organic carbon, nitrogen, available phosphorous and exchangeable potassium contents declined and bulk density increased because of the land cover change. This negative effect on agricultural development and environmental health of the catchment makes an integrated land resource management approach indispensable for sustaining agricultural productivity and the environmental health of the Kasso catchment.