Systems Research for Agriculture

Systems Research for Agriculture PDF Author: Laurie E. Drinkwater
Publisher: Department of Agriculture
ISBN: 9781888626162
Category : Agricultural systems
Languages : en
Pages :

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Systems Research for Agriculture

Systems Research for Agriculture PDF Author: Laurie E. Drinkwater
Publisher: Department of Agriculture
ISBN: 9781888626162
Category : Agricultural systems
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Resource Accounting for Sustainability Assessment

Resource Accounting for Sustainability Assessment PDF Author: Mario Giampietro
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317962079
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
The demands placed on land, water, energy and other natural resources are exacerbated as the world population continues to increase together with the expectations of economic growth. This, combined with concerns over environmental change, presents a set of scientific, policy and management issues that are critical for sustainability. Resource Accounting for Sustainability Assessment: The nexus between energy, food, water and land use offers an approach for multi-scale, integrated assessment of this nexus. It presents a comprehensive and original method of resource accounting for integrated sustainability assessments. The approach is illustrated with three detailed case studies: the islands of Mauritius, the Indian state of Punjab, and the energy economy of South Africa. The relationships between flows of goods, services and materials in these case studies offer valuable insights. The book provides a much needed quality control on the information used in deliberative processes about policy and planning activities. This innovative book will be of interest to researchers, students and practitioners in the fields of sustainability science, international development, industrial ecology, sustainable resource management, geography and ecological economics.

Nature's Numbers

Nature's Numbers PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309173388
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
In order to really see the forest, what's the best way to count the trees? Understanding how the economy interacts with the environment has important implications for policy, regulatory, and business decisions. How should our national economic accounts recognize the increasing interest in and importance of the environment? Nature's Numbers responds to concerns about how the United States should make these measurements. The book recommends how to incorporate environmental and other non-market measures into the nation's income and product accounts. The panel explores alternative approaches to environmental accounting, including those used in other countries, and addresses thorny issues such as how to measure the stocks of natural resources and how to value non-market activities and assets. Specific applications to subsoil minerals, forests, and clean air show how the general principles can be applied. The analysis and insights provided in this book will be of interest to economists, policymakers, environmental advocates, economics faculty, businesses based on natural resources, and managers concerned with the role of the environment in our economic affairs.

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics PDF Author: Jonathan M. Harris
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315448513
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 584

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Book Description
Harris and Roach present a compact and accessible presentation of the core environmental and resource topics and more, with analytical rigor as well as engaging examples and policy discussions. They take a broad approach to theoretical analysis, using both standard economic and ecological analyses, and developing these both from theoretical and practical points of view. It assumes a background in basic economics, but offers brief review sections on important micro and macroeconomic concepts, as well as appendices with more advanced and technical material. Extensive instructor and student support materials, including PowerPoint slides, data updates, and student exercises are provided.

Wasting Assets

Wasting Assets PDF Author: Robert C. Repetto
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 82

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Book Description


Measures of Environmental Performance and Ecosystem Condition

Measures of Environmental Performance and Ecosystem Condition PDF Author: National Academy of Engineering
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309522331
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
When Cleveland's Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969, no environmental measurements were necessary to know the seriousness of the problem. Incidents like the Cuyahoga fire raise an important question: Can catastrophes-in-the-making be detected early enough to be prevented? For those in industry, such disasters point to the need for measures that can improve the environmental performance of processes, products, business practices, and linked industrial systems. In Measures of Environmental Performance and Ecosystem Condition, experts share their insights on environmental metrics. The volume explores the most productive relationship between measures of environmental performance and measures of ecosystem conditions. It reviews current approaches, evaluates structures for business decisionmaking, and includes a matrix for determining the environmental performance of industrial facilities. Case studies include: Development and application of a water-quality rating scheme for streams and reservoirs in the Tennessee Valley. Three years of successful experience with waste metrics at 3M. The book covers the range of environmental performance and condition metrics, from the use of material flow data to monitor environmental performance at the national level to the use of bioassays to measure the toxicity of industrial effluents. This book offers something for everyone--policymakers, executives, engineers, managers, and advocates--with a stake in the measurement of environmental performance and ecological conditions.

A Survey of Ecological Economics

A Survey of Ecological Economics PDF Author: Rajaram Krishnan
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1610911121
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 428

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Book Description
The emergent discipline of ecological economics is based on the idea that the world's economies are a function of the earth's ecosystems -- an idea that radically reverses the world view of neoclassical economics. A Survey of Ecological Economics provides the first overview of this new field, and a comprehensive and systematic survey of its critical literature. The editors of the volume summarize ninety-five seminal articles, selected through an exhaustive survey, that advance the field of ecological economics and represent the best thinking to date in the area. Each two- to three-page summary is far more comprehensive than a typical abstract, and presents both the topics covered in each paper and the most important arguments made about each topic. Sections cover: historical perspective definition, scope, and interdisciplinary issues theoretical frameworks and techniques energy and resource flow analysis accounting and evaluation North-South/international issues ethical/social/institutional issues Each section is preceded by an introductory essay that outlines the current state of knowledge in the field and proposes a research agenda for the future. A Survey of Ecological Economics is the first volume in the Frontier Issues in Economic Thought series produced by the Global Development And Environment Institute at Tufts University.

National Environmental Accounting

National Environmental Accounting PDF Author: Joy Hecht
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136525637
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
This book presents national environmental, or 'green' accounting as it has developed in Europe and other parts of the world. It introduces the most recent methods developed through the United Nations Statistical Department and other international organizations, but bridges the gap between the superficial treatment of environmental accounting in economics textbooks and environmental literature, on the one hand, and the highly technical manuals of international organizations, on the other. Joy Hecht begins with a history and introduction to national income accounting. The first part of her book explains how the environmental accounts build on the structure of the 1993 System of National Accounts. She then shows the UN approach to accounting applied to pollution, recycling, and the management of natural resources such as forests, minerals, and fisheries. The third section discusses how the accounts approach green GDP and other macroeconomic indicators. The book concludes by going beyond the UN structures to discuss other adjusted macroeconomic measures and how accounting data can be used to build them. National Environmental Accounting is a non-technical introduction to an increasingly important field. It is a must-read for anyone interested in how environmental accounts can help society move towards greater sustainability.

Natural Resource and Environmental Economics

Natural Resource and Environmental Economics PDF Author: Roger Perman
Publisher: Pearson Higher Ed
ISBN: 0273760378
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 745

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Book Description
Now in its 4th Edition, this book is a comprehensive and contemporary analysis of the major areas of natural resource and environmental economics. All chapters have been updated in light of new developments and changes in the subject, and provide a balance of theory, applications and examples to give a rigorous grounding in the economic analysis of the resource and environmental issues that are increasingly prominent policy concerns. This text has been written primarily for the specialist market of second and third year undergraduate and postgraduate students of economics. The full text downloaded to your computer With eBooks you can: search for key concepts, words and phrases make highlights and notes as you study share your notes with friends eBooks are downloaded to your computer and accessible either offline through the Bookshelf (available as a free download), available online and also via the iPad and Android apps. Upon purchase, you'll gain instant access to this eBook. Time limit The eBooks products do not have an expiry date. You will continue to access your digital ebook products whilst you have your Bookshelf installed.

Environmental Accounting

Environmental Accounting PDF Author: Howard T. Odum
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 394

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Book Description
In this important new work, Howard T. Odum, widely acknowledged as the father of systems ecology, lucidly explains his concept of emergy, a measure of real wealth that provides a rational, science-based method of evaluating commodities, services, and environmental goods. Using specific real-world examples, Dr. Odum clearly demonstrates the revolutionary role of emergy in environmental management and policy making. Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making offers environmental professionals—policymakers, managers, ecologists, planners, developers, and activists—a systematic approach to environmental and economic valuation that will eliminate much of the rancor and adversarial decision making that often plagues environmental issues. Specifically, this book: Describes the theoretical basis, calculation procedures, and applications of emergy Introduces the concept of "transformity," the ratio of emergy (work put into a product) and energy (value received from the product) Provides formulas for emergy calculations, procedures for making an emergy evaluation table, and parameters for updating evaluations Demonstrates the use of emergy to evaluate environments, minerals, waters, primary energy sources, economic developments, and international trade Compares the emergy approach to environmental evaluation with others Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making will help environmental decision makers and the society they serve maximize economic vitality with less trial and error, innovate with fewer failures, and adapt to change more rapidly. It provides the tools they need to arrive at the best policies in resource management, economics, and the environment. Balancing the economy and the environment— from the father of systems ecology Increasing economic dependence on diminishing natural resources has sparked a highly charged debate over the use and fate of the world environment. Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making presents a unique method of environmental management based on maximizing real wealth, the whole economy, and the public benefit. Renowned ecologist Howard T. Odum introduces the concept of emergy to provide a rational alternative to the tug-of-war over the world's most vital assets. Emergy measures the energy put into making a product and is the cornerstone of Odum's revolutionary text. This timely and important book offers key insights into: Determining the real value of a product or service Transformity, or the relationship between emergy (input) and energy (output) Stored wealth, available energy, and the final product Balancing economic and environmental needs Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making will help economists, ecologists, policymakers, and planners make more responsible, informed decisions to sustain economic and environmental development.