Envlronmenta management

Energy shortages have occurred in different parts

12.1 us aina e ergy of the world on a number of occasions in the past.
supplies Such shortages can have major economic and social
consequences. But it is not just potential shortages of
energy that is the concern. In poor countries, energy
D Renewable and non-renewable poverty has a major impact on people's lives and it is
energy a major obstacle to development. The concept of fuel
Non-r ... newable sources of energy are the fossil fuels poverty is becoming a more and more important issue in
(Figure 12.1) and nuclear fuel . These are finite so as
1
many apparently afflu:e nt countries as people struggle to
they are used up the supply that remains is reduced. pay for rising energy bills in harsh wmters.
Eventually, these no·n -renewable resources could At presen( non-renewable resources dominate globa]
become completely exhausted. Ren r.r~ble en rgy can energy. The enwonmental challenge is to transform the
be used over and over again. The sources of renewable global er v n · to achieve a better balance between
energy are mainly forces of nature that are sustainable renewables and non-renewables. The key energy issues
and that usually cause little or no environ_mental for individual countries are the three Ss: sustainability,
pollution. Renewable energy includes hydro-electric security and strategy.
(HEP}, biomass, wind solar, geothermal~ tidal a.nd
1

wave power. D Factors affecting the demand for and

Energy resources a.re at the core of the global economy. supply of energy
Energy is vital for economic growth and development.
At the national scale, there are huge variations in
Howeve~ emissions of greenhouse gases from energy use
energy de1nand and supply. Demand is primarily
are the main contiibutors to human-induced climate
change. Energy production and consumpti.on are major governed by the size of a country's population and
issues both 'Within and bet:vleen countries. Many countries its level of economic development. The gap bet\vee:n
that have to import a significant amount of the energy the world's richest and poorest countries in terms of
they use have become more a:nd more concerned about energy demand is huge. Growth in energy demand
energy security. There a.re grov.ri.ng conc:ems msome parts is particularly rapid in middle-income countries
(MICs) su ch as China a.nd India.. A country's energy
of the world that an inequitable availability and uneven
policy can have a significant impact on demand if it
distributions of energy sources may lead to conflict.
focuses on efficiency and sustainability as opposed to
concentrating solely on building more power stations
and refining f ac:ilities. High levels of pollution due
to energy consumption can be a strong stimulus to
developing a cleaner energy policy.
As might be expected1 global variations in energy supply
occur for a number of reasons. These can be broadly
subdivided into physicalJ economic and political factors.
Table 12.1 shows examples for each of these groupings.
The cornbin ation of factors opera.ting in each country can
vary significantly.

Figure 12~1 As1 011 well in Dorset, UK

• 12 Environmental management
Table 12.1 Factors affect~ng1tl1e supp1y ·Of energy
- - -

J>.l"o/S.1 ~
• Deposits of fossll tuefs are onl,y found. In a • The most acces.s,lble~and lowest-cost, • countries wanting to dev9l'op nuc1ear
1

1,1 mited number of locatlons, deposits of fossH fuels are JnvarlablrY eloctr1clty tt;qulre permission from the
• Large-scale HEP development rectulres 11 lg h devel.oped ii rst. International Ato mlc Energy Agency.
preolpltatlan major steep-sldoo valleys and'
I • Onshore deposilts of olJ and g,es a.re usually • lnternatlonal agreements such as the Kyoto
Imper,meable ruck. cheaper to develop than offshore deposits. Protocol can have a conslderabJe Influence on
• large power stat Ions requ Ire flat land and • PotentlaJ HEP sites c1ose to major transport
1 ttm .energy doolslons of Ind lvid ual cou ntrles.
geol~ lcal ly stable foundatlons. routes and exls1J ng electric lty trans·mlsslon • Potential H6P schemes on alntematlonru rtvers •
• Solar power needs a. large number of days a corrldors are mors economlca.1to ,bulld' than
1
may requ Ire the agreement of other oou nbies
year witt, strong sunlight. those In very lnaccessl ble looatlo ns. t,hat share tlle rtver,
• Wino power needs high average wind speeds • 11n poor count~es1 FDI Is ofta, essential for tne • Govemments may Jnslst on erier~ companies
1ri roughout the year. developm91 t of energy resources. prod-Lelng a certal n proportion o,f their energy
• Tidal powier stations req ul re a very Jarge tidal • \Nhen energy prices rise slgnliflcantty, from ra,ewable sources.
range. corn panles Increase spend Ing o.n exp loration • Leglslatloo regarding emlsslons from power
• The avall'abllllty of biomass var19S wldsly a.nd dQvQlopment
1
stations w1 II 1
favoo r G us; of! for sxam ple1
according to cllmatlc conditions. 'low-sulphur coal1 as opposa'J to coal wtthl a hgh
sulphur content

The key factor in supply is energy resource

endowment. Some countries are relatively rich in
domestic energy resources, while others are lacking 1 Look at TabJe 12·.1. Select two points from each of the three
in such resources and heavily reliant on imports. categoriies to 1investig ate further. Present your findings to
1

However, resources by themselves do not constitute others in your dass.

supply: Capital and technology are required to exploit 2 For itihe UK, find out when:
resources. a the fast steam tra.1ns {buiming coaJQ, stqpped be~ng used
The use of energy in all countries has changed over time on 8ritain~s gener~ railway network
due to a number of factors: b nudear electri my
first came on~~ne
c North Sea gas iiirst came online.
Technological development- for example: a nuclear
electricity has only been available since 1954~ boil and
gas can now be extracted from much deeper waters D Trends in consumption of
than in the past and c renewable energy technology is conventional energy resources
advancing steadily. The fossil fuels dominate the global energy situation. Their
Increasing national wealth - as average incomes relative contributions (for 2012) are:
increase living standards hnprove, which involves the
increasing use of energy and the use of a greater variety oil: 33per cent {Figure 12.2)
of E?nE?rgy SOUYCE?S. coal: 30per cent
Changes in demand - at one time all of Britain !s trains
1
natural gas: 24 per cent.
were powered by coal and.most people also used coal
for heating in.their homes. Before natural gas was
discovered in the North Sea, Britain's gas was produced
from coal (coal gas).
Changes in price - the relative prices of the
different types of energy can influence demand.
Electricity production in the UK has been switching
from coa1 to gas over the last 20years. mainly
because power stations are cheaper to run on
natural gas.
Environmental fa.ctors/pu blic opinion - public
opinion can influence decisions made by governments.
People today are much better mformed about the
environmental impact of energy sources than they ·were
in the past. Figure 12L2 Oil 1refinecyl IMmord Haven, UK

12.1 Sustainable energy supplies II

 In contrast, HEP accounted for 6~6 per cent and ·nuclear In terms of usage by type of energy, some general points
energy 4.5 per cent of global energy. The main data source can be made~
used in this topic is the BP Statistical Review ofWorld Energy. The most developed countries tend to use a wide mix
[t mcludes com·mercially traded fuels only: It excludes of energy sources, being able both to invest in domestic
fuels such as wood, peat and anima.l waste, which, thougri energy potential and to buy energy from.abroad!.
rr.nportant in many countries] are unreliably documented
• The high investment required for nuclear electricity
in terms of production and consumption statistics.
means that only a limited number of countries
Figure 12.3 shows the regional pattern of en.ergy
produce electricity this way. However many countries
consumption for 2012 . Consmnption by type of fuel varies 1

that could afford the investment choose not to adopt

widely by world region:
this strategy.
Oil - only in Asia Pacific is the contribution of oil less Richer nations have been able to invest more money in
than 30per cent and it is the main source of energy renewable sources of energy.
mfour of the six regions shown in Figure 12.3. In the In the poorest countries, fu I o is an important
Middle :E:a.sti it accounts for approximat9.ly SOper cent of source of ,energy, particularly where communities have
consumption. no access to electricity.
Coal - only in the Asia Pacific region is coal the main Figure 12.4 shows how global consu1nption of the
source of energy. In contrast, it accounts for less five major traditional sources of energy changed
than 5 per cent of consumption in South and Central between 1987 and 2012. The demand for energy has
Arn.erica and in the Middle East. China was responsible
1 grown relentlessly over this time period, with an
for 50.2per cent of global coal consumption in 2012. overall increase of 60per cent in total glob a] ,energy
Natural gas - natural gas is the main source of energy consumption.
in Europe and Eurasia and it is a close second to oil in
the Middle East. Its lowest share of the energy nux is • Coal 13 OOO
11per cent in the Asia Pacific region. Renewables
12 OOO-;
CU
• Myd ro-elec:tridty
Hydro. .electricity - the re]a tive importance of hydro- Nudear energy 11 OOO -~
electricity is greatest in South and Central America • Na-tural ,gas 10000 i
(25per cent). Elsewhere its contribution varies from 6per Oil 9000 .0
1
8000
cent in Africa to less than 1 per cent in the Middle East.
VII
41
7000 C
Nuclear energy - nuclear energy is not presently 6000
C
.B
available in the Middle East and it makes the smallest
=
5000 C
0
contnbution of the five traditional energy sources in Asia 4000
Paci.fie, Africa and South and Central.America. It is most 3000 i
important in Europe and Eurasia and North America. 2000
1000
Renewables - consumption of renewable energy other
than HEP is rising rapidly; but from a vezy low base. 1987 1992 1997 2002 2007 2012
Renewables make the largest relative contribution to Source: IGCSE Geography :2nd edition. P. Guinness & G. Nagle (I.Jodder ~ducation, 2014) p.207
energy consumption in Europe and Eura.sia.
Figure 12.4 Gbbal consumptron of mB!jor energ,y sources 1

Coal • Hydro-el,e ctridty • Natural gas 1987-2012

• Renewabies Nuclear energy Oil

% 100 Figure 12.5 shows per person energy consumption

901 around the world. The highest consumption countries
80 such as the USA an.d Canada use more than 6tonnes
70 oil equivalent per person, while almost an of Africa and
60 much of Latin America and Asia use less than 1.5 tonnes
50 oil equivalent per person. The individual countries
40
consuming the most enerw in 2012 as a. p9rc9nta.ge of th9 1
30
20
world tota.L were:
10 • China: 21.9per cent
-~
O L - ' - ~ . . _ _ ~ ~ ~ _ . _ ~. _ _~ ~ ~ - - " - _ _ _ _ . ~ _ . . _ - - - - ' - -
m .,.. • USA: 17.lpercent
:Sw
.... Russia: 5.6per cent
• India: 4.8per cent
• Japan: 3.8per cent.
Soul'Cf!: IGCSE Geography 2nd edition1 P. Guinnli!s.s Sc G. Nagle (Hodder Education. 2014) p.206

Figure 12~3 The regional! pattern of energy oonsurmp'ti,on; 2012

Ill 12 Enviro n mental management

 Tonnes of o ii
equ ival,e nt
0--1i.5
1.5-3.0
3.0i-4.S
- 4.5-6.0

' /
_ __
' . 11111 > 6.0_____,

5oLrCe: IGC5£ Geogr:~pb/ 2 rd e<lition, i:! Guirmes~ & G. Nage (Hocllja- Education, 2014) p.109

Figure 12.5 Worfd m,a p showing energy consumption per person, 2012

Wealth is the main factor explaining the energy gap. The Figure 12.6 shows the change in daily oil
use of energy can improve the quality of people's lives i.n consumption by world region from 1987 to 2012.
so many ways. That is why most people who can afford From just over 60million barrels daily in the mid-
to buy cars, televisions and washing machines do so. 1980s, global demand rose steeply to 89.Bmillion
However~ there a.re other influencing factors, VJith climate barrels a day in 201.2. Satisfying such a rapid rate of
at the top of the list. increase in demand requires a. high level of investment
and exploration, and has. environmental and other
Oil: global patterns and trends consequences . The largest i.ncr~ase has been in the
Oil is the most hnportant of the non~ renewable sources Asia Pacific region (Figure 12.7) which now accounts 1

of energy. Even though investlnent in new sources of for 33 .6per cent of consu mption. This region now
energy is increa s:i:ng rapidly; the global economy still relies uses more oi] t h an North.Americai which accounts
on oil to a considerable extent. Oil clearly has significant for 24.6 per cent of the world total. In contrast, Africa
advantages as a source of ene~ otherwise it v.rould not be consumed only 4.0per cent of global oil.
as important as it is today. However, its disadvantages have
gained incn:asing recogni'tion in recent dee ades (Table 12.2).
Table 12.2 llhe advantages and disadvantages of 100
Co nsum pti on by region
(million bar rel'5 daily)
• A compact~ portabls • Non-renevi,ablQ- takes mlII Ions of ysars
sou~e of e1ergy: relat,lvely to form 80
easy to transport and store • BJ mlng ongenerates CX) 2 , a greenhouse
• Used ·for most forms of gas
mechanical' transportatl.on • OIi contains sulp,ur, wt!bh When burnt 60
• FlexJbk:!t use - can :be dlstl lled fo~ sulphur dbxioo and SLJ lpnur trloxlda;
Into dtff€Cenrt fi.Jel products these oom~ne with atrrosp,ooc molstu re
• Cleaner and easier to ourn to fonn sulphuric ack:t leading to 'eck:'J rain·
than coa~ • Not a.s clean or emc lent In use as 40
• Compared,to most other natural gas
fUel sou roes, It remains one • serious onsprns 'from supertankers arid
of the most econom lcal plpellnes 20
sou1 1'CQS of em~rgy • Locating a.ddlUonal rgsQrves 1 ~ ulroo a
• The olJ Industry has been very high lev9~ of Investment
the source of much
advancoo teen 1101:ogy
• Po lltlcal lnstabll lty of some major olI
prod uclng, countrtes and concern about
o---~~~~~~~-r--~~~..--~~~..--~--,
• 0 11 refln1ng produces the the vulne ra'b II lty of e,,erg,y pathways 1987 1992 1997 2002 2007 2012.
wo r1'd's su pp:ly of elemental • Concerns that 'peak oll' Is not far away
1

Asia rPac,ific Middle East South & Central Amerira

sulphur as a by-product, • The price of o111has varla:11sign lfloantly Africa • l:urope & Eurasia North Arner~ca1
used for many Ind ustrlal over me 'last deoaae
appllca tlons • Some 011 Is now being strlp-m lned In Soute@: BP Stafistirnl ~'MW of Workf E~rgy 201 l 1 p.12
• Has a well-establ lshed the term,of tar sands1 creatl ng1serious Figure 12.6 Oil consumption by world reg~on, 1987-2012
global lnf,rastructure
1
erivlronmental conce·ms

12.1 Sustainable energy supplies •

 takes 6years an average from :first discovery for a very
]arge-sca]e project to start producing oil In 2010, the
International Energy Agency expected leak ·1 ·ttd ion
somewhere bet\vee.n 2013 and 2037 vrith a. fall by 3per
cent a year after the peak. The United States Geological
Survey predicted that the peak 1nas SOyears or more a.way.
Ho,veve~ in complete contrast, the Association for the
Study of Peak Oil and Gas (ASPO) predicted in 2008 that
the peak of global oil production could com-e as early as
2011, stating 'Filiy years ago the ,vorld was consuming
4billion barrels of oil per year and the average discovery
was around 30billion. Today we consume 30 billion barrels
per year and the discovezy rate is now approaching
4billion barrels of crude oil per year, . ASPO 's dire warnings
ha.ve not (yet) materialised. This is at least partly down
to new developrnentsi particularly the rapid growth in
production of shale oil and gas in the USA, \Vhlch has
Figure 1 2. 7 Fuel station on the IM ekong R~ver, V1iemam changed the global energy situation. The current period
of slow growth mthe global economy has also eased the
In 2012 the Middle East accounted for over 48 per
1 pressure on energy resources.
cent of global proven reserves. Political instability in
the Middle East is a major concein to the countries that Shale oil
import oil from this region. Table 12.3 shows the res rv s- The exploitation of ~1 I oil has been a Vf!rj recent
to ..productio 1 a ·o for the world in 2012. V/hile the RIP development. It has been concentrated mainly m.the
ratio is over 78years ln the Mddle East and even higher United States. Shale oil is extracted from reserves,
in South Bnd Central America., it is only 13.6years in .Asia sometimes descnbed. as ~tight oil reserves, held in sheles
1

Pacific. and other rock formations from which it will not naturally
flow freely. Shale oil has become more accessible due to
Tab le 12.3 Qj~ reserves-to-production ratiro at the end of 2012
advances in technology.
'·Region Reserves/production ratio (yea~) The rapid increase in the scale of production in the USA
L •. _ --- I
has fundam.e ntally changed global energy markets as
- - - -

North America 38.7

the USA has quickly regained.much of its self-sufficiency
123.0
-soutn and Central America in energy. Gas can also be obtained from shale, and the
Europe and Eurasia 22.4 exploitation of shale gas has led the exploitation of shale oil
MJddle East 78.1 by a few years. The exploitation of shale deposits has had
Af.rlca 37.7 a massive impact on US gas and oil production in recent
As·1a. Paclflc 1'3 .6 years. Further significant production increases of shale oil
World 52.9 and gas are forecast for the us~ a.ndthe 'shcale revolution'
is likely to spread to other parts of the world, albeit with a.
Source: BP Statistica] Review of World Energy 2013 tim.e lag. The speed of this grographical spread (diffusion)
vli.11 depend on a number of factors, including the extent of
The price of oil increased sharply in the early years of
opposition to this process on environmental grounds.
the new century causmg major financial problems in
1
Although the basic technology was originally developed
rnany importing countries. It rose from $10 a barrel in
in the USA in the 1940s, the recent shale revolution' was
1

1998 to more than $1:30 a barrel in 2008, before falling

m
back sha1:ply the global recession of 2008-09 . .AE the
the result of technological breakthroughs in horizontal
drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fra.cking), which have
global economy has slowly recovered, the price of oil has
fluctuated considerably and was at a. price of a.bout $40 a
made shale deposits economically viable. In the USA,
oil production peaked in 1970 at 534million tonnes,
barrel in late 201S.
falling to 30Smillion tonnes in 2008. The subsequent rise
When will gl,o bal peak oil production oocur? t o 499million t onnes in 2013 has been a phenomenal
There has been growing concern about when global oil turnaround. Most of this increase has been due to the
production VJill peak and how fast it 'Will. decline th.ereafter. rapid rise in the production. of shale oil. The full extent of
There are concerns that there are not enou.gh large~scale recoverable shale oil in the USA is still to be determined as
projects underway to offset decJiningproduction in well- exploration continues. A recent analysis by the EIA put the
established oil production areas. The rate of major new
a total at nearly 8billion tonnes, a very considerable energy
oil-field discoveries has fallen sharply in recent years. It resource base indeedl

• 12 Environmental management
The geopolitical impact of changes in patterns and Table 12.4 Natural! gas production by world reg~on, 2002'-12
trends in oil .. .. -:~
2002
~ ~ion Ii •

Energy security depends on resource availability-

I • j :

North America 763.6 896.4 117

domestic and foreign- an.d security of supply. It can
South & Central Amet1ca "107.9 il77.3 64
be affect~d by geopolitics, and is a key issue for many
Europe & Eurasra 966.5 1035.4 7
economies. Because there is little excess capacity to ease
Middle East 247.2 548.4 122
pressure on energy resources energy insecurity is rising 216.2·
1 1
Attica i38.2 56
particularly for non-renewable resources.
J\s la Paclftc 300.5 490.2 63
The USA, gravely concerned about the political Total wor1d 2523.9 5363.9 33
leverage associated with imported oil, began in 1977 the
Source: BP StatisticaJ Revlew of World Energy 2013
construction of a strategic petrol um reserv . The oil
was to be stored in a string of salt domes and abandoned On an individual country basis~ natural gas production
salt mines in southern Louisiana and Texas, which could is dominated by the USA (20.4per cent of the globa] total)
be linked up easily to pipelines and shipping routes. The and the Russian Federation (17 .6per cent). There is a very
initial aim was t o store 1billio.n barre.ls of oil that could
- - - substantial gap betw~en th~se t\vo natural gas giants and
be used in the event of supply discontinuation. The SPR the next largest producers, which are Iran (4.8per cent),
currently holds 700million barrels. Qatar {4.7per cent) and Canada (4.6per cent).
The Middle East is the major global focal point of oil There is a much stronger correlation between
exports. The long-runnmg tensions that exist in the Middle consumption and production of natural gas th.an for
East have at times caused serious concerns about the oil due mainly to the different ways these two energy
1

vulnerability of oilfields, pipelines and oill-tanker routes. The products are transported. Global consumption of
destruction of oil wells and p~pelines during the Iraq War natural gas in 2012 was led by Europe and Eurasia
showed all too clearly how energy supplies can be disrupted. (32.6per cent), North America {27.Sper cent) and Asia
Middle East oil exports are vital for the functioning of the Pacific (18.8per cent).
global economy. Most Middle East oil exports go by tanker During the period 2002-12! proven reseives ofne.tura]
through the Strait of Hormuz, a relatively .narrn,v body gas increased substantially. The global share of proven
of ,vater bet~Neen the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. reserves in the Middle East fell sbightly while the share
1

The strait at its narrowest is SSkilometres wide. Roughly held in Europe and Eurasia increased. On an individual
30per cent of the world's oil supply passes through the country basis, the largest reserves in 2012 were in Iran
Strait, making it one of the world's strategically important (18per centt the Russian Federation (17. 6per cent) and
chokepoints. Iran has at times indicated that it could block Qatar (13.4per cent) . In 2012j the global reserves·- to-
this vital shipping route in the event of serious political production ratio stood at 55.7yea.rs.
tension. This could cause huge supply problems for many
~porting countries. Concerns about other key en gy Coal
pathway have also arisen from time to time. Coal production is dominated by the .Asia Pacific region,
accounting for 67 .8 per cent of the global total in 2012.
Much of this coal is produced in China, which alone mines
47.Sper cent of the world total. The next largest producing
1 Explain why tl.e !locations of global oi1II product~on and countries were the USA (13 .4 per cent), Australia (6.3 per
consumpt~on vary so wldefy. cent)~ Indonesia (6.2 per centt India (6.0per cent) and the
2 Define the term rese,ves-to-production ratio. Descnbe how Russian Federation (4.4per cent) . Like natural. gas there 1

this vartes around the world. is a stron g relationship between the production and
3 a Why ~s the predfction of peak oi~ production so consumption of coal by world region. Consumption is led
important? by J\.sia Pacific (69.9per cent}, Europe and Eurasia (13.9per
b Sugrgest why dte predictions of when peak oil production
wi'II occur vary so wfde~y.
cent) and North .America {12.6per cent}. China alone
consumed S0.2per cent of world coal in 2012.
Figure 12.8 shows the proven reserves of coal in 2002
Natural gas and 2012. There is a fairly even spread between three
Global production of natural gas increased from regions: Europe/Eurasia, Asia Pacific and North America.
2524 billion m3 m2002 to 3364billion 1n3 in 2012 (Tuble Howeve~ total. global reserves declined by 12.5 per cent
12.4). All six world regions showed an increase in over this ten-year time period. In terms of the reserves-to-
production. However, the largest producing world regions, production ratio (figure 12.9), the figure for J\sia Pacific at
Europe/Eurasia and North America, recorded the lowest 51years is significantly-below that for other world regions.
percentage increases benveen 2002 and 2012. The highest The global reserves-to-production ratio fell from 119years
relative change was in the Middle East. in 2009 to 109 years in 2012, a significant decline in such

12.1 Sustainable energy supplies II

 Eiut:'ope & Eurasia As,ia, Pacific North America Mi.ddle East & Africa S. & Cent. America I
2.2 o/o
1- -
5.8%

2002 36.1 o/o 2012 35.4o/o

26.2% 28.4 o/o
Total 984453 Tota I 860 9 38
mi Hi on miUion
tom,as tonties

29.7% 30.9 CK,

Source: Sunie'j' of fnel'Q')' Resources 2010, World Energy Cound I

Figure 12.8 Distribution of proven coal1reserves, 2002 and 2012

300

250

200

150

100

50

North South & Europe & Mi dd Ie East As1 a

Amerka C~ ntrat Eura.sia & Africa Padfh: Figure 1 2.10 A f orm,er coal mmne 1n the Massif Central region of
America France, which was dosed ~n the early 1990s - ~t is now a museum
Figure 1 2.9 Coal: reserves-10-pr:oduci~on ratios~ 2012 to the coal! i1ndustry

a sh ort time period. Coal res-e rves can become exhaus ted is more expensive than that from traditional power plants,
within a relatively sh ort time period. In the nineteenth and but if more stringent pollution laws are passed in the
early twentieth centuries, countries such as Germany, the future this situation could change significantly.
UK and France were significant producers. Today, there are The coal industry in a number of areas may
vezy few operational coal mines in these three countries be on the point of a limited comeback, with the
(Figure 2.10) . development of clea 1 coa] t1:cc:hnology. This new
technology has d~veloped farms of coal that bum
Extending the 'life' of fossil fuels with great er efficien.cy and capture coal s pollutants 1

There a.re a number of t echnologies that can improve the before they are emitted into the atmosphere. The
use and prolon.g the life of fossil fuels. These incltide coal latest supercritical' coal-fired power sta tions
I
1

gasification~ clean coal t echnologi:es and the extraction of operating at higher pressures and temperatures than
unconventional natural gas. Such techniques may be very t heir predecessors, can operate at efficiency levels
important in buying time for more ren ewable energy to 20 per cent above those of coal-fired power statio.ns
come online. constructed in the 1960s. Existing power stations can
r:o 1gasificati is the techno]offit that could transform be upgraded to use clean coal technology.
the situation. At present, electricity from coal ga si.fic ation

II 12 Environmental management
 Conventional natural gasi which is generally found to a virtual halt No new nuclear power plants have been
within.a few thousand. metres or so of the surface of the ordered in the USA since then, although public opinion has
Earth~ has accounted for most of the global supply to date. become more favourable in recent years, as memories of
However, in recent years cunconventional, deposits have the Three Mile Island a.nd Chernobyl incidents recede into
begun to contribute more to supply. The main categorie·s the pa.st, and as worries about polluting fossil fuels increase.
of unconventional natural gas are: The big advantages of nuclear power are:
deep gas • there are zero emissions of greenhouse gases -this
tight gas has become increasingly ilnportant as concerns about
gas-containmg shales climate change have increased
coalbed. methane • it means reduced reliance on imported fossil fuels
geoprassurised zones (which can help ease concerns about .energy security}
Arctic and sub-sea hydrates. it is not as vulnerable to fuel price fluctuations as
oil and gas - uranium, the fuel 'for nuclear plants, is
Unconventional deposits are clearly more costly to
relatively plentiful and most of the main uranium
extract but as energy prices rise and technology advances~
mines are in politically stable countries
mare a.nd more of these deposits are attracting the
• nuclear po1Nerplants have demonstrated a very high
interest of governments and energy companies.
level of reliability and efficiency in recent years.
Nuclear power: a global renaissance? The next major consumers of nuclear energy after the
Until a few years ago the future of nuclear power looked
1
USA are France (17.2 per cent of the 2012 world total) 3

bleak -with a number of countries apparently 'runrnng

1
Russia (7.2per cent) and South Korea (6.1.per cent).
down their nuclear power stations and many other nations
1
France obtains over 75per cent of its electricity from
firmly set agamst the idea of introducing nuclear electrtcity. nuclear. Table 12.5 shows all the countries where nuclear
However, heightened fears about oil supplies, energy power accounts for more than 30per cent of electricity
security and climate change have brought this controversial production. Glob a.l nuclear power production declined
source of power back onto the global energy agenda. slightly between 2002 and 2012J from 185 .8 million tonnes
N·o other source of energy creates such heated oil equivalent to 183.2 million tonnes . The current decade
discussion as nuclear power. The main concerns about will be crucial to the future of nuclear energy, with many
nuclear power are: countries ma1dng final decisions to extend or begin their
nuclear electricity capability.
power plant accidents, which could release radiation
into air, land and sea Table 12.5 The contribution of nu:o1ear power to electric~ production
radioactive waste storage/disposal - no country has yet
implemented a long-term solution to the nuclear-waste
problem France 76.9
rogue state or terrorist use of nuclear fuel for ·weapons Sloval<la 66.8
high construction and decommissioning costs Hungary 53. 8
the possible increase in certain types of cancer near Ukraine 49.4
nuclear plants. Belglum 47.5
In addition because of the genuine risks associated with
1
Sweden 41 .5
nuclear power and the level of security required, it is seen Switzerland 37.9
by some peop}e as less 'democratic' than other sources of Sloven,ta ~7.2
po\ver. Czech Republlc 35.8
By early 2015, 30 countries around the world were
Fln'land 34.6
operating 443 nuclear reactors for electricity generation, -

with 66 new nuclear plants under construction. Nuclear Bulgarla 3i.8

power accountsd for almost 11 per cent of the world's Armenia 30.7
electricity production in 2012. South Korea 30.4
With 99 operating reactors] the USA leads the world
in the use of nuclear electricity. This amounts to 32.7 per A few·countries have developed fast breeder
cent of the world's total producing about 20per cent of
1
reactor technology: These reactors are very efficient
the US~s electricity. At one time, the rise of nuclear power at manufacturing plutonium fuel from their original
looked unstoppable. However, a serious incident at the uranium fuel load. This greatly increases energy
Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in.Pennsylvania production - but it could prove disastrous should the
m1979, and the much more serious Chernobyl disaster plutonium get into the wrong hands as plutonium is the
1

in Ukrame in 1986, brought any growth in the industzy key ingredient for nuclear weapons.

12.1 Sustainable energy supplies •

 HEP locations are already in use, so the scope for more
large-scale development is limited; In many countries
1 Compar,e the changes iin productiron of the firve tradiitjonal though, there is scope for small-scale HEP plants to supply
fo:nms oi energy between 2002' and 20112'. local communities. However, global consumption of
2 Using1Tai11e 12. 4i des cnibe how the global prodluc1ron of hydro-electricity increased from 598.Smillion t onnes oil
natural gas changed between 2002 and 2012. equivalent in 2002 to 831.lmillion tonnes in 2012.
3 Outline the extent of the world is coa.11reserves. In 2012~ the countries with the largest share of the world
4 What are tlh e m,a~n advantages and disadvantages of total were: China (23.4per cent) Brazil (11.4per cent)
1

nuo1ear power? (figure 12.11), Canada (10.4per cent) and the USA (7.6per
cent). Consumption of hydro-electricity in China amounted
to 194.8mi1lion tonnes oil equivalent m. 2012.
D Renewable energy resources
Table 12.6 compares renewable energy capacity at the
beginning of 2004 to the end of 2013. For both years,
hydra-electricity dominated renewable en ergy production
but m ost other sources of renewable energy have grown
at a faster rate. Overall rene1.vable power capacity almost
doubled :in the time period covered by Table 12.6. The
newer sources of renewable energy making the largest
contribution to global energy supply are wind p ower and
biofuels.
Table 12.6 Capacity of renewab1e energy sources 2004 and 2013

Investment
:New lnvestm ent (annual) In Bllllon US$ 39.5 214.4
renevrable ~wer aJ1d fuels
Figure 12.11 linside 1he ltaipu hydro -eiectr1c power plant~ Brazi1~
Power
Henewable power capacity gigawatts 85 660 Although HEP is generally seen as a clean form of
(total~not IF1c[ud Ing hydro) energy, it is not without its problems which include:
1

Renewable f;)Ower capacl,ty glgawatts 800 1560 • Large dams and pov1er plants can have a huge negative
{total. ln.c1ua Ing n.yctro)
visual impact on the environ·ment.
Hyd ropOVt1er capac lty (tota:O glgawatts 715
1
1000 • They may obstruct the :d.ver for aquatic life.
s 10-power capacity
1 glga'NS.ttS <36 88 • There maybe a deterioration in water quality~
810-povler general Ion
1 tera watt 227 405 • Large are as of 1and m ey need to be flooded to form the
hours reservoir behind the dam.
G eotherm al power capa.oJty
1
glga'WattS 8.9 12 • Submerging large forests without prior d .e arance can
Solar PV capac lty (tota~ glga.watts 2.6 i,39 release significant quantities of methane, a greenhouse
Conoon,tratlng solar thermat glgawatts 0.4 3.4 gas.
power (totao
Wind power capacity (total) glgav{atts 48 318 Newer alternative energy sources
Heat The first major wave of interest in new alternative energy
solar hot water ca_paclty (tota~ glgawatts 98 326 sources resulted. from the n r ., c ·sis of the early 1970s.
Transport HO'wever, the relatively lo\v price of oil in the 1980si 1990s
,e thanol p·roductlon {ar,,nuaij bllllon lltres 28.5 87.2 and the opening years of the present centuzy dampened
down interest in these energy sources. Then, renewed
BlodlOOQI productlon {an nuao bll llon Iltms 2.4 26.3
concerns about energy in recent years and corresponding
Source: Renewables 201 4 Global Status Report price increases kick-started the alternative-energy
industry again. The main drawback to the new alternative
Hydro-electric power energy sources is that they invariably produce higher
Of the traditional five major sources of energy; HEP is the cost electricity than traditional sources. However the 1

only one that is renewable. It is by far the m ost important cost gap with non ~renewable energy is narrowing. Figure
source of renewable energy. The big four' HEP nations of 12.12 shows the sharp increase in the consumption of
China, Brazil, Canada and the USA account for almost renewable energy (other than HEP) in the last decade. In
53per cent of the global total. However, most of the best 2012, this accounted for 1.9per cent of global primery

• 12 Environmental management
energy consumption. The newer sources of renewable Wind power
energy making the largest contnbution to global energy Vlind power is arguably the most important of the
supply are \Vind power and biofuels. new renewable sources of energy (Fig 12.13). The
worldwide capacity of wind energy is approaching
Asia Pacific 250
...,
C
400000megawatts, a very significant production mark
Europe & Eurasia 225
(Figure 12.14). The wind industry set a .new record for
• South & Centra I America
200
-~
::,
annual installations in 2014. Global wind energy is
North America CT
CV
dominated by a relatively small number of countries.
175
·-0 China is currently the world leader, with 31 per cent of
150 global capacity~ followed by the USA, Germani Spain
"'
Q,J
125 .:
C: and India. Together, these five countries account for
0
100 almost 72 per cent of the global total. In the last five
=
$11

·--
75 0
iiillii
years, for the first time ever, more new wind power
50 capacity was installed in LICs and MICs than in the
25
== d.~veloped world.
I
0 Wind energy has reached the 'take-off stage, both
Nllll:d'U,COON.
m o,
q"U)CQON
m o o o o o ...- - as a source of energy and a manufacturing mdustry.
°'°"
,- ..- ,- ..- o
en a. N o
N o o o o o
N N N N N As the cost of VJind energy improves further against
Source: lGCSE Geography 2nd edition, P. Guinnes-s & G. NaQle conventional energy sources more and 1nore countries
1

(Hodder Education, 2014) p.112

wil} expand into this sector. However, projections
Figure 12.12 Renewabf,e energ~ consumption regarding the industry still vary considerably because of
by world region, 199,2-2012 the number of variables tha..t mll impact on its future .

,Brazil. Rest of
Italy . the world

PR China
Canada
UK--

Spain USA
Germany

Country Megawatts Share{%)

PR Cnina 114 763 31.1 1

USA 65879 17.8

Germany 39165 , 0..6
Spa1n 22987 6.2
India 22465 6.,,

Un~ted Kingdom 12440 3.4

Canada 9694 2.6
France g,2ss 2.5
ltaily 8663 2..3
Brazil 5 939 1.6
1

Rest of the wo rid 58275 1' 5.8

Total Top 10 311279 84.2

World total 369 553 100

Source: GWE
Figure 12.13 Wind farm in no~hern Spa,n Figure 12.14 G1obal w~nd power capacity, end 2014

12.1 Sustainable energy supplies II

 Costs of generating electricity from wind today are As wind turbines have been erected in more areas of
only ab?ut 10per cent o~ what they were 20years ago more countries! the opposition to this form of renewable
due mainly to advances 1n turbine technology. Thus, at energy has increased:
well-ch.o sen locations, wind power can now compete
• Peopl@ are concerned that huge turbines loc:a.ted. nearby
with conventional sources of energy. Wind energy
could blight their homes and have a significant impact
operators argue that costs should fall further due to
on property values
a further technological advances and b increasing
Concerns about the hum of turbines disturbing both
economies of scale. One large hrrbine manufacturer
peopJe and \Vildlife
has stated that it expects turbine costs to be reduced
• Skylines in scenically beautiful areas might be spoiled
by 3.Sper cent a year for the foreseeable future .
forever
Table 12.7 summarises the advantages and disadvantages
Turbin.es can kill birds - migratory flocks tend to follow
of wmd power.
strong winds, but 'Wind companies argue they steer clear
Table 12.7 The advantages and disadvantages of wind pO\!Ver of migratozy routes
Suitable areas for wind farms are often near the coast
- - - - - - ~

Advantages : Disadvantages
where land is expensive
• A rsneweble sourcQ of energy • Growing concerns about th,9
that can produce rm.sonable Impact on landscapes as the
• Turbines can affect TV reception nearby
levels of electric lty wm1 cu rren.t number of turbines and wind • The opportunity cost of heavy mvestment mwind
technology farms increases compared to the alternatives.
• Advances ,In wind tu nb lne • NilMBY (not In my back yard)
technology over 1h e ,1ast protests wm, poople concemed1 The recent rapid increase in demand for turbines
d·ocade have roouoed the cost about the Impaot of local turbl nes has resulted ma shortage of supply. New projects now
per un It of energy conslderablry adversely affecting the value of have to make orders for turbines in large blocks up to
• Su Itable 1
locatlons with their pro parties several years in advance to ensure firm delivery dates
sufflclent wlnd,con dltl ons can • The ,hum of turbines can be from manufacturers. Likewise, the mvestment from
be found In 'most countr!GS dlstunb,lng for both people and m_anufacturers is having to rise significantly to keep pace
• Wind energy has reached wlldllte
\Vlth. such buoyant
demand
the take-off s1ag e ooth as a • Debate a.bout the number of b irds
source of a, ergy and as a KIi ioo by tu rblne b1ades New developments mwm.d energy include:
1man ufacturlng lndu stry • 1V roceptlon can be airectEd by • in 2008] a Dutch company installed the world s first
1

• flex IbII lty of location with wind farms

offshore wind farms gaining In
floating wind turbine off the southern coast of Italy in
• 1rn d9Vebprmnt of wind msrgy
populanlty has r~u lroo sign lflcant govern moot water 110metres deep - the technology is known as the
• Rep;JWer1n g. can 1lnc rease the sUbs'ICfes - some people argue tria.t Subm~d Deepwater Platform System.
capacity of BX!lstlng wind farms this money ccuti nave been t:;etter
1
the Swedish company Nordic has recently brought a
• Significant public support for spent ~sewtiere (opportun lty cost) two-bladed turbine onto the market
a 'renewable source of pO'Ner • Many wlnd' farms are sited In
although this may be wan Ing to coastal locations vmere Ian d. Is Biofuels
an GXtent often very Qxpenslve
Biofuels am fossil fuel substitutes that can be ma.de from
a range of agri-crop materials including oilseeds, wheat]
Public :finance continues to play a strong role in the
corn and sugar. They can be·blended with petrol and
economics of the industry and this is likely to continue
diesel.
in the foreseeable future, particularly in the light of the
In recent years~ increasing amounts of cropland have
current global financial situation and the fragility of
been used to produce biofuels. Initially~ environmental
commercial banks.
groups such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace were
Apart from establishmg new -wind energy sites,
repo\vering is also beginning to play an important role. very_ much in favour of biofuels, but as the damaging
This means replacing first generation wind turbines Vlith envrronmental consequences became clear, such
modem multi-megawatt turbines that give a much better environmental organisations \Vere the first to demand a
performance. The advantages are: rethink of this energy strategy.
The main methods of producing biofuels are:
more wind power from the same area of land
fewer wind turbines • crops that are high in sugar (sugar cane sugar beet~
1

higher efficiency, lower costs sweet sorghum) or starch (corn/maize) are grown and
then yeast fermen tation is usedl to produce ethanol
enhanced appearance as modem turbines rotate at a
plants containing high amounts of vegetable oil (such as
lower speed and are usuaUy more visually pleasing due
oil palln, soybean andjan·opha) are grown, and the oils
to enhanced design
derived from them a.re heated to reduce their viscosity;
better grid integration as modem turbines use a
connection method similar to convention al power plants. they can then be burned directly in a. diesel engine, or
chermcally processed to produce fuels such as biodiesel

• 12 Environmental management
 wood can be converted into biofuels such as woodgas, Global biodiesel production and capacity have
methanol or ethanol fuel risen significantly in recent years. Biodiesel is the
cellulosic ethanol can be produced from.non-edible most common biofuel produced in Europe, with the
plant parts] but costs are not economical at present- continent accounting for over 60per cent of ·global
this method is seen as the potential second generation production. Germany and France are the leadin.g
ofbiofuels. producers within Eur~pe. Biodiesel can be used in any
Ethanol is the most cormnon biofuel globally, diesel engine when mixed with mineral diesel, usually
particularly mthe USA and Brazil (Figure 12.15) . It up to a limit of 15 per cent biodiesel. Rapeseed oil is
accounts for over 90per cent of total biofue1 production. the major source of Europe's biodiesel. After the EU,
Ethanol can be used mpetrol engines when mixed the USA is the second most important producer of
with gasoline. Most existing petrol engines can run on biodiesel. In the latter~ soybea.n oil is the main source
blends ofup to 15per cent ethanol. Global production for production.
of ethanol has risen rapidly in recent decades, although Increasing investment is taldng place in.res.earch
since 2010 it ha.s levelled off to a considerable extent In and development of the so-called csecond generation 1

the USA, about 40per cent of the maize crop is used to biodiesel projects including algae and cellulosic diesel.
produce ethanol. The USA and Brazil are by far the largest Other important trends in the industry are a transition
producers of ethanol in the world Together, these t~No to larger plants and consolidation among smaller
countries produce 87per cent of the world total. Howeve~ producers.
production in the European ·u nion and Chm.a is growing
Geothermal electricity
significantly.
In contrast to the USA Brazil uses sugar cane to produce r. oth r1nal energy is the natural heat found in the
1

ethanol. More than half of Brazil's sugar cane crop is now EarthJs crust in the form of steam, hot water and hot
used for this purpose. Sugar cane-based ethanol can be rock. Rainwater may percolate several kilometres below
produced in Brazil at about half the cost of maize-based the surface in permeable rocks, when: it is heated due
ethanol in the USA. This difference is due to: to the Earth,s <:1 th _nnru gra.die t. This is the rate at
which temperature rises as d.e pth below the surface
climatic factors increases. The average rise in temperature is about 30°C
land availability per kilometre! but the gradient can reach 80°C near plate
the greater efficiency of sugar in converting the Sun"s boundaries.
energy into ethanol. This source of energy can be used to produce
The USA has set a target of increasing the use of electricity, or its hot water can be used directly for
biofuels to lSbillion gallons by 2015. subsidies are an indus~ agriculture bathing and cleansing (Figure
important element mencouraging biofuel production. 12.16} . For example, in Iceland hot springs supply
w·ater at 86 °C to 95 per cent of the buildings in
and around Reykjavik. At present~ virtually all the
World total geothermal power plants in the world operate on
11 fi.5 billion litres steam resources, and they have an extremely low
111 120
environmental impact. -
--~
• Hydrog.enated vegetab!le oil: (HVO)
Biodiesel
.§ 100
Ethanol
m Stea·m control' valves Natura,! f·issore: steam
80 in geotne rma I p Iants from the h e-ated
groundwater rises u,p

60 Permeable
rock containi,ng
4-0 hot water or
steam under
pressure
20

o N m b oo o N m lmperrneab le
g O
a 8 8 8 8 8 a g g 5 a a 5 rock

t
N N N N N N N N N N N N N Surface water runs Heat fro.· m volcanic
down f~ss ure into hot a·ctiv~ty and other
Year
permeable rock processes
Sou re~: REN21. 20 14, Re.newables 20 t4 Globaf Sourct: IGCSE [email protected] b', P. Guinn@S'S
Status Repon (Pariis: REN21 Secretariat) &. G. Nagle (H oela@r Education, 2000), p.144
Figure 12~15 Globa~ btofue1 production, 2000-13,
1

Figure 12.16 Geothelimall power

12.1 Sustainable energy supplies

II .
 only 1275megawatts. It grew to '5085 megawatts in 2005
and 40183 in 2010. Global solar power capacizy passed
the milestone of 100000megawatts in 2012 and was
close to 137000 by the end of 2013. This is a. rapid rate of
increase that is likely to continue. Current solar electricity
generation amounts to about O.Sper cent of all globa]
electricity generation. Germany; Chlnai Italy,Japan, USA
and Spain currently lead the global market for solar power.

Figure 12 .17 G eo~hermal power plant, Wa,rakej, Naw Zealtand

First begun in Lardercllo, Italy, in 1904 total world

1

installed geothermal capacity passed 12 ooo·mega\vatts

by the end of 2013. This is enough electrtcity to meet the
needs of over 70 million people. About 700 geothermal
projects were under development in 76 countries in
2013, amounting to a.bout 30000megawatt capacity. The
USA is the world leader in geothermal electricity, with
plants inAlask~ Ca.lifomia Hawaii Nevada and Utah. Rg u re 12.18 Safar electncrty generated by photovolta~c pane1s
1 1
~n Spain
Total production accounts for about 0.4per cent of the I .

electricity used mthe USA. Other leading geothennal- Solar electricity is currently produced in tvro ways:
electiicity-us:ing countries are the Philipp:ir1es, Indonesia 1

Mexico, Italy, Ne\v Zealand (Figure 12.17), Iceland and • Photovoltaic (PV) systems - solar panels that convert
Japan. sunlight directly in to electricity.
The advantages of geothermal po"Jler for those countrtes Concentrating solar power (CSP) systems - use mirrors
that have access to this form of energy are: or lenses and tracking systems to focus a large area of
sunlight into a small beam. This concentrated light is
extremely low environmental impact then used as a heat source for a conventional thermal
plants occupy relatively smell land areas
power plant. The most developed CSP systems are the
generation is not dependent on weather conditions (like solar trough, parabolic dish and solar power tower.
wind and so1ar power) :Each method varies in the way it tracks the SUn and
relatively low mamtenance costs. focuses light In each systemi a fluid is heated by the
The limitations of this form of energy are: concentrated sunlight, and is then used for power
generation or energy storage.
there are few locations world·wide where significant
amounts of energy can be generated Another idea being considered is to build solar towers.
total glob al generation remains small Here, a large glassed-in area \Vould be constructed
some of the best locations are far from where the energy Vlith a very tall tower in the middle. The hot air in this
could be used 'greenhouse' would rise rapidly up the towe~ driving
instellation costs of plant and piping :are relati.velyhigh. turbines along the way.
Traditional solar panels comprise arrays of photovoltaic
cells made from silicon. These cells absorb photons in
Solar power
light and transfer their energy to electrons, which form an
From a relatively small base~ the :installed capacity of solar electrical circuit. However standard solar panels:
electricity is growmg rapidly. Experts say that solar power
1

has huge potential for technological improvement which 1

• are costly to :install
could make it a major source of global electricity in years • have to be tilted and carefully positioned so as not to
to come (Figure 12.18). In 2000 global solar capacity was shade neighbouringpanels.

• 12 Environmental management
 A number of companies are now developing a new
technique to manufacture solar panels. This involves
using different m.aterials and building them in vezy
thin layers or films, almost like printing on paper, to
produce the photovoltaic effect. The cost of production
is reduced because the layers or films use less material 1

and they can be deposited on bases such as plastic,

glass or metal.

Tidal power
Although currently in its infan.cy, a study by the Electric
Power Research Institute has estimated that as much as
10per cent of US electricity could eventually be supplied
by tidal energy. This potential could be equalled in the UK
and ·surpassed in Canada.
Tidal power plants act like underwater windmills,
transforming sea currents into electrical current. Tidal
power is more predictable than solar or wind power and Figure 12.19 Animal! dung being dr•ed for fuel jn lndja
1

the infrastructure is less obtrusive] but start-up costs

are high. The 240 megawatt Rance facility in north- According to the World Energy OutlookJ 1 .3 billion
western France is the only utility-scale tidal power people were still living without a.ccess to electricity
system in the world. However, the greatest potential in 2012 . This is equal to 18per cent of the world~s
is Canada's Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. A pilot plant population. Nearly 97 percent of those without access
was opened at Annapolis Royal in 1984, which at peak to electricity~ live in Sub-Saharan Africa or in Asia. The
output can generate 20mega,vatts. More ambitious largest populations without electricity are in India,
projects at other sites along the Bay of Fundy are under Nigeria~ Ethiopia, Bangladesh~ D~mocratic: Republic of
consideration, but there are environmental concerns. Congo and Indonesia.
The main concerns are potential effects on fish In LICs the concept of the energy ladder is important.
1

populations, levels of sedim.e ntation building up behind Here; a transition from fuelwood. and arumal dung to
facilities and the possible impact on tides along the 'higher-level' sources of energy occurs as part of the
coast. process of economic development. Income, regional
electrification and household size are the main factors
affecting the demand for fuelwood. Forest depletion is
therefore initially heavy near urban areas but slows down
as cities become wealthier and change to other forms of
1 Suggest reasons for the var~ations and trends 1in the energy. It is the more isolated rural areas that are most
consumpti on of hydro-electir1
idty by world region.
likely to la.ck connection to an electricity grid. It is in such
1

2 Discuss recent changes in the instaJUed ·~paC'ity of wind

energy.
areas that the reliance on fuelwood is greatest. Wood is
3 a What a.re biofrUels? likely to remain the main source of fuel for the global poor
b Why has btofuel production expanded so rap~dly? in the foreseeable future.
c Exam1ine the advantages and d1sadvantages of brofuels. The collection of fuelwood does not cause deforestation
4 a What is Qieothermal energy? on the same sca]e as the clearance·of land for agriculture,
b Exp~mn the greog1raphtoall roca.trons of the main produojng but it can seriously deplete wooded areas. The use of
oountr~es. fuelwood is the main cause of indoor air pollution in LICs.
5 Explain ~e difference between photovdltalc and Indoor air pollution is responsible for 1.5 million deaths
concentrated solar power systemis. every year. More than half of these deaths are of children
below the age of 5.
Fuelwood in LI Cs D Trends in high-, middle- and low-
In LlCs about 2.5 billion people rely on fuelwood
1

charcoal and animal dung for cooking (Figure 12.19) .

1
income countries
Fuelwood and charcoal are collectively called fuelwood, Deindustrialisati n, increasing energy efficiency and
which accounts for just over half of global wood relatively low population growth in HICs in general has
production. Fuelwood provides much of the energy needs resulted in a decrease in primary energy consumption in
for Sub-Saharan. Afrtca. lt is also the most important use aU four HICS con,sideredin Table 12.8. The decrease in the
of \VOO d in Asia. USA is marginai but more significant in Japan, Gennany

12.1 Sustainable energy supplies •

Table 12.8 Priimary energy consu1
mpt~on1 2002- 12 (mmiiorn Japan and Germany in 2002, now consumes considerably
tonnes on equivallent} more than both of these countries. In the same time
-···n1
·c....OU period, South Korea overtook the UK in prima.zy energy
,.. , ....
consumption.
HICs USA 2295.5 2208.8
Although most LICs struggle to fund their energy
Japan 513.3 478.2 requirements, all four countries in Table 12.8 show a
Germany 334.0 31 i .7 significant increase in :primary energy consumption.
UK 221.7 203.6 Energy is vita] for economic growth and to satisfy the
MICs South Korea 203.0 271 .1 basic deman.ds of growing populations. Bangladesh, which
Mafaysla 53.1 76.3 has a considerably higher population than both South
cn1na 1073.B .2735.2 Korea and MalaysiaJ consumed far less energy than both
lndla 310.8 563.5
of its Asian neighbours in 2012 even though its 0~11
1

energy consumption rose significantly in the period under

LICs Bangladesh 14 .8 26.3
consideration.
Pakistan 47.4 6Q.3 Ther~ is a strong positive correlation b~tween. GNP per
Peru i 2. i 22.3 person and energy use. ]n poor countries, it is the higha
Alger1a 28.6 44.6 and middle income groups who generally have enough
9

money to purchase sufficient energy and they also tend to

1

and the UK. There are examples of HICs such as Canada

1 live-in locations wh·ere electricity is available. It is the poor
and Spain, where energy consumption increased during in such count:ties who lack access to the advantages that
this ten-year time periodJ but such increases have been ·electricity brings.
modest. In such countries, there is every prospect that
they will follow the example of the four HICS considered D The environmental impact of energy
in Table 12.8 in due course. Increasing energy insecurity has stimulated exploration
In contrast in the MICs, growth rates were considerable of technically difficult and environmentally sensitive
and consistent with high rates of economic growth. areas. Such exploration and development is economically
feastble when energy prices are high, but becomes less
Consumption in China ·i ncreased at an incredible rate.
In 2002~ energy consumption in China was less than so when prices fall. No energy production location has
suffered more environmental damage than the Niger delta
half that of the USA. By 2012, it ·w as almost 24 per cent
higher~ India , which consumed less primary energy than in West Africa.

The Niger de~ta (Figure 12.2·0) covers an area of 70000km2 1

making up 7. 5 per cent oi Niigeria 's lan d area. ft ,conta~ ns
over 75per cent of Afnica's rematning an rov ...,, A report
published in 2006 estimated that up to 1.5 min~on tonnes
Eenin City
r
•
of o:iI has been spiIt jn fhe delta over the last 50ye ars. The
report, compiled by WWF; says that the delta ~s one of the
five most poHuted spo1s ·O n Earth. P0Hiut1on is destroying the
liveljhoods of many of the 2'0miUi1on peopJe who llve in the
deha. The poULJttion damages crops and fish~ng g1rou1nds,
and 1s a m,ajo:r contr~butor to the upsurge in violence in the
reg~on. P,eople ,in the reg~on are dissatjsfied w1ith bearring1the 0 km 100 1
Port Harcourt
cons1iderabfe ·Costs of the oi,~industry but see,ng very l~ttle in
terms of the benefits. The report accused the oi1I companies
of not us~ng the advanced techno1og1ies avai1lab~e to them • Oi! field • C: ity - Crude oil pipeline Delta area
to combat poULI11on. Howsve,rj SheU cla~ms that 95 per cent
of o:il dirscharges ,in the last five years have been caused by D Freshwater swamp II 1Mangmve
sabotage.
iger De~t.a
Figure 12.20 Map of oill fietds in 1he N1

• 12 Environmental management
 The flaring (burn~ng) of unwanted naturat gas found wtth the • The govemiment has recognised 6817 o:il spins ,n the region
oill 1is a major regional and glrobal environmental protJI em. The slnce thre beginning of 011 productlon. Crwtics say the number
gas found here f8 1 not useful because there is no gas pipe,ine is much higher.
infrastructu1n9 to take it to consumer markets. It is estim,ated • Constiruction and increased shipping have changed loca~
that 70 m'iUion m3 ar,e flared off each day. llh~s is equtvalen1 wave patterns, causing shore erosion and tine mtgrabon oii
to 40 per cent of Africa s natural! gias consumption. Gas frrsh into deeper water.
flaring Ln the Niger delta is the world's s~ngfe Jargest source of • Various types ,o f cortstirucl~on have taken p1ace wi1
t hout
greenhouse gas em~ss1ons. adequate e n~ronmental ~rmpact studies.
One of the worfrd's ,argest wetlan ds, and Aiidca's largrest
The federal enV1irronmenta, pro1ection agency has only
remaiining mang1rove forest ; has suffered an en~iranm,enta.1
,existed S1noe 1988 and environ ental i1npact as eeosments
dFsaster:
were not oompu,sory until 1992.
OU spUls, acid ra4n from1gas flares and the stripping away of ln earlry 2015~the maJ1or oirll company Royal Dutdh Shen
mangroves fo:r pipeline routes have IQUed off ftsh. agreed to a_n $84miUion settfement with the IBodo ,co,mm1unlty
Between 1986 and 2003~ more than 20000hectares of 1n the Niger delta for two oJI spi111s that were among the
1mang1roves disappeared from the coast~ marn1ty due ·t o ~and biggest spms 1in decades ~n N~geria. Thousa;nds of hectares
dearing and canall dredging for oill and gas expbrab on. o,f mangrove were affected. The money wm go to over
• The oUrfi,~ds conta~n ~rg1e amounts of natural ga."9. This 15 OOO fishermen whose fivel1ihoods were affected and to the
,is generaHy lburm: off as flares rather 1han being stored or com1m uni~y in genreral. According to Amnesty internatriorna,,
reinjected into the g1round. Hundreds of flares have burned Royal Dutch Shell and 1he rrtal1ian company ENI have admiUed
corniinuousiy for decades . This causes add raJin and re!eases to 1more than 550 ojll spills i1n the Nig:er delta in 2014. By
greenhouse gases. contras"t, ·o n average, there were onty 10 spms a year across
the who le of Europe between 11971 and 2011.
1

Hug;e oil- nd cl posits i1n ~berta, Canada, and Vene~ueta The envjronmentaJI organisa:tron Greenpeace has caHedl on
cou~d be critica~ over the next 50 years as the wodd 's the Canad~an governm1ent and 1he 0 il companies to stop "the
1

product~on oi conventonal oil faHB. The o:ill sands are a mixture devek1pm1ent of oil sands on enVlironmmta,, healltlh and sodal
of bitumen and sand. The bitumen wiUnot flow unl1ess heated grounds.
or diluted wi1th l'igih1er hydrocarbons to make K transportable VenezueJa's heavy oil production has not kept pace w~th
by pipellines and usab1e by refiner;es. Such synthetic oiili. which ~hat of Canada~but iin 2013 it totaUed over 1.25 mrlllion barrels
can also be made from1coai and natu1ral gas, could provrde
1 a day.
a Viital brrdge to an era of new technotogles. lihe government
of A,berta est~mates that recoveratile ·OU reserves total about
200 biUion barre1s.
ln 2012, the oil sands provided direct empf0Yimen1t1to ,over
22 OOO workers, but ~ndirect emp~oyment ts many iti1 mes h~g1her.
ion berr~s a day. This ~s
Current product~on ~s about 11.3 m1illl1
expected to grow to 3 minion barrels a day by 2020. ,n 2012,
56 per cent of Canada's total oil product~on came from1o~I
sands. AJlberta's ·oil sands are the th4rd iargest oml reserve in ~he
wodd (Figure 1.2'.21).
However, there are ser~ous environmental concerns about the
develqpment ·of o:il sands, wih1ch have a b~g caroon footprint:
• llt takes 2tonnes of m~ned sand to produce 1 barre~ of
synthetic crude~ iea~ng ~ots of waste sand.
• h 'takes about three times as m uoh energ1y to produce a
1

barre1 of A~berta oii-sands crude as it does a conventional

barre1 of .d t Thus! oiil sands are lar,ge sources of greenhouse
g1as emissions.
• 01 sands require 2-4.5barre!ls of water to produce a ~ng1le
barre1of o,t
• The deveiopment of oi~sands has had a huge jmpact on
the landscape, i1ncluding the removal of a significant area of Figure 12.21 Operati:ons in Alberta's on sands
lborea~ forest.

12 .1 Sustainab le energy supp lies II

Pathways crossing difficult environments takes about 6 days to make the 1270kilometre journey.
Energy pa.thways are supply routes between energy Engineers fly over the pipeline every day by helicopter
producers and consumers that maybe pipelines, shipping to check for leaks and other problems. Problems such a.s
routes or E?lectricity cables. As energy companies ha.v9 had subsidence have closed the pipeline for short periods.
to search further afield for new sources of oil~ new energy
pathways have had to be constructed. Some major oil and
gas pipelines cross some of the world's most inhospitable 1 Why is fue1wood a vitat source of energy ~n many poor
terram. The Trans -Alaskan Pipeline (TAP) crosses three courrrtr~es?
mountain ranges and several large rivers. Much of the 2 W1th reference to Tab1e 112.8, desoribe and expllain
pipeline is above ground to avoid the permafrost problem. contrasting trends ~n energy consumption between H~Csi
Here, the ground is permanently froz.en down to about MIICs and UCs.
300m.etres, apart from the top metre, which melts during 3 The Nlger delta has been described as an •enViironm,entaJI
the summer. Buikling foundations and the uprights dirsaster area'. 8rtefly dr~ooss this assertion.
that hold the pipeline above ground have to extend well 4 Outiine the advantages and d~sadvantagres of expfoirting o~l-
b9low th~ melting zone (called the 'a.ctiv~ lay2r'). The oil sand depos1ts.
5 Wha1 are energiy pathways and why am they so ~mportant?

12.2 The management o

er y supply

China's energy mix ~n 201 .2t ·Ohiina 's energy consumption breakdown by energry
source was:
is tihre bi:g gest consumer
Chi1na 1 and produceir of energy in ~he
wortd (rab1e 12.9). It overtook the USA ~n total energy usage 1 in • coar: ,68.4 per cent
2009. The USA had hefd the top position in the energy usage • oil: 17 .6 per cent
feague for more than a century. In 2012, Oh~na consumed • hydro-el ectrioity: 7 .1 per cen1
1

2. 74 bi11
11ion tonnes of otl equivaient, compared wltll 2.2 bUll'ion • natural gas: 4.7 per cent
tonnes in t'he USA The demand fo:r energy in Chiina con11nues • nuclear energy: 0.8per cent
to increase signm:cant1y as the country expands its industria~ • renewable energy (other than hydro-eleciric.ity): 1.2per cent.
base. However, energry usage per person i·n the USA ~s much
hilgiher, with the average Amerrcan using1more than four ti1m,es An evolving energy policy
ithe Chinese average.
Ohina 's energy pollicy has evoivedl ·over time. As the econo'my
China's enrergy consumption rose by 45 per cent ~n ·the expanded rapidly ~n the 19,BOs and 1990s! much emrphasis
7 years to 2013, according 10 data from die National Bureau was ptaced on Chiina~s main energy resource ! coal, in te11ms
oi Statistics. However; in 2014 the Chinese ,g overnment o.f both increas1ng productr.on and build~ng more coal-fired
announced plans to cap itlire increas i11 g rate at which ~t
1 pow.~r s1aoons. However th~ was at the· exp€nse of h ug,e
1

consumes energiY to .2 8 per cent fo:r 1he seven-year period to env.ronmental impact and an afarmingify high casualty rate
.2020. amrong coal m~ners. In 2012 , Oh~na consumed just over half of
the worfd's coaL Between 2003 and 2013, China accouinted
Table 12.9 China's Key 6nergy Statistics
fo:r 87 1p er cent of the growth in g1foba, coal consumpbon. Coal
World rank is 1he dfrtJest ,of the fossU fuels and thus the environmental
consequences of such a heavy re~~ance on coal were aU 100
Total prl mary energy proctucuon 101 .781 quadrllllon
2012 ,British thermal untts
1 predrctaJbie. Acoord~ng to Greenpeace~80per cent of China;s
oari,on dioxide em~ss~ons and 85per cent oi Its siu1phur di,o·x1de
Total pt1 mary energy consu mptIon 105.S92 qµa.drllllon poUut~on comes from bu1 nn1ng coat China is ~he worfd's freadjng
1
2012 8 rltls.h ther,maJ units
energy-refated C0 2 emitter. In N ovemlber 2014, China unvei~ed
Total primary coal pmductron 4 Oi7 920thousand an accord aimed at hmlbng1carbon emissions.
i
2012 shonttons Ch~na was also an exporter of o~I until the eariy 19,9Qs,
Total petrolrum co:nsumptllon 1o480 thousand al1thougih it ~s now a very significant ~mporter (Rgure 12.22).
2
2013 barrels per day China is the world's second largest consurmer of oi1, and
Total erectr1ctty net generation
2012
4 768bllllon kilowatt
hours
, moved from second largest net importer of oill to the ~argest 1n
2014.Thiis tra.nsformaUon has had a major impact on Chinese
energy pdlicy as the country has sought 10 secure overseas
Source: eia. govlbetalinternationaVcountry

• 12 Environmental management
 12 I
111
:: 10 .I .J , -. Linyuan
.,
..
m
8 I •

,,.
\
,I
TreHrig o
..c
C
.e
6
4-
Production Shanshan
0
- .... .6'.-·
""'·
:i: 2
o ~ - . - - . - . -. - ,--r-r--.--.-- . -..-.--.--.---r-_;..._-r-.--.-~~~
O lanzhou
~~~~~~~8888888888655555
-------NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
C H1NA ,loushan
Years
Four existing O Wanzhou
Source: ~IA lntimatlonal Energy Statistics and Short-Term Emn-gy Outlook. Janu.ary 2014 Zhenha
SPR bases
Figure 12.22 Chinese oU consumption and production~ Two confirmed ,
11Q,93-20115, venues for future j
sources of supp~y. As a r.esult, Ch~na has had an increas~ng SPR tanks Guanzhou
influence on the global energy mari<et. Long1-term energ;y Poss ible venues
1

ihanj'tang Shantou
f.o r t he rest of six 'Shenzhen
security rs viewed as ,essent~al if the country ,s to maintain the
SPR tanks to
pace of ~ts jndustriall revolution.
be bu~lt 0
In recent years, Ch~na lhas tri1ed to 1ake a more balanced Yangpu1
appro·aoh to energry supp~ and at the same time reduce its
Figure 12.23 China's strategic petrolreum reserve (SPR'}
enviironmenta~ 1i1
mpact. The 11th Fjve-Year P~an {200~10)
focused on two 1 major energry-re!ated objectives: a to reduce China is foHowjng the USA and other countries iin building up
energy use per unh GDP by 20per cent and b to ensure a petroteum reserve. llhts wm protect China to a certain extent
a 1more secure supp1y of energy. Because of the dom1iinant from fluctuations in the g1obal ·ojl pri1ce, whjch ·Can arise foir a
posftion of coaJ in ,China's ·energy mix, the development of variety of reasons.
dean coal technoiogy 1is central to China~s energy pol~cy
Renewable energy policy
wrth regard to fossil iue 1s. China has e1
1
merg1ed in 1the last two
years as the wo,nld's leading builder of more effident, less Chtina. aims to produce at least 15 per cent of overaU energy
poHut~ng ooaJ power p!ants. Ch~na ha:s begun constructing output iirom renew:abre energy sources by 2020 as the
such clean coal plants at a ra1e of one a mionth. The govemiment seeks to improve env.ronm,ental cond1 ihons.
government has begun to require that power compan~·es !Renewable energ1y curren1ty contributes mare ~han one-
re·t ire an ofder, more poUut~ng power plant for each new one s
quarter of Oh~na total instaUed energy capacity, with hydro~
they b u~lld. elec~dcity by far 1he largest contributor. China produces more
The further development of nuclear and hydropower ~s hydro-eilectrk:Jty1han any other country in the wor~d~wrth
another i1mportant strand ·Of ,Chinese pollicy. The country hydro-eiectndty accouming for more fuan 15 per cent of the
also aims to stabUise and increase the production of oU countr/s total e~ectridty generat~on. The world's latg'est hydro-
whtle au9men1tjng that oi natural ,gas and ~im proving the electricty project. ~he Three Gorges Dam along the Yangtze
natlonall oil and gas network. INludear power reached a R,ver, was completed in 2012. llt has 32 grenerators with a total
capadty oi 9.1 g~giawatts by the end oi 200B, with a ·t arget m,a~imum capadty of 22.5 gigawatts.
capac1ity of 40 g~gawatts by 2020. l8y the end of 2009J China iis now the wodd leader rin wind energ~ currently
Ch~na had 11 oper.a1:1ional nuclear reactors with a further accounting for 311per cent of global installed wind-power
1

17 under consirruction. The Worlld Nuclear Assodati1on capacity. The year 2008 saw the init~a1 develiopment of Oh1na's
(WNA) says tha1 Ch~na has a further 124 nucllear reactors offshore wind farm pol~cy. China's Wind turbine manufactuning
on the dlraw~ng board. Th~s w1lll l eadl to a dtam1abc increase 11ndustry is now the largest rn the world. Chinese p:>l'icy is not just
1in Chjna 's d eman di for uran, um the raw ma1 eri al of nuclear to gain the energy advantages of w~nd energy but a,so 1o deve1op
reacto,rs. n: as a sign~cant industrfa) sector. Oiina ~s now a~so the ~argest
manufacturer of sotar PV. The solar hot-water market in Chfna has
Chinas strategic petroleum reserv afso continued to boom, partly as a result of a new rural energy
As part of China~s concerns about energ1y security end its substdy programme for home apptiances, for whioh solar hot
1increas1ng re~,ence on o~I i1mports , the country ~s developing a water quatifies. China aims 1o increase soJar electric~ capadty
strateg1ic pe1rol,eum1reserve (Figure 12.23}. The p,an is for China from 3gigawatts in 2012 to 35gi~ gawa.tts by the end of 2016.
to bui1~d fa d imes that can ho1d 500 rn;l[Fion barrel!s of crude oil by
The Three Gorges Dam
2020 ~n three phases. Th~s wiH be equivaient to about 90days'
supp~. Phase 1 , completed in 2009', consmsts of -four s~s with The Three Gorges Dam across 1he Ya.ngrtze Rirver i11 China
is 1he world's ~argest ,efectnidty-g,enerating pJant of any kind
a total storage cap,aaity of 103 m1illlion barreJs. Phase 2i to be
completed by the end of 2015, wiiHI add a fiurther 1170mtlliion (Figures 12.24 .and 12.25). The dam 1is over 2kilbme·tres long
lbarre1s of storage capacity. and 100metres high. The ,ake impounded behind It is over
600kJUometres long. All of the originally p,anned ,componentsc:D>

12 .2 The m anagement of energy supply •

 Area affected by the Wu~
lhree Gorges Dam 0
Xingshan
0 City be:foire inu1ndation.
0 New urba n site
o Kaixian Fengjie Wushan Badong . .
00 ;,'\.--- ...oO -..._ -o Z11gu1
a_ - - yat1 gize River .
N Wanzhou ~ ' Yunyang / '
Three Gorges Dam / Vic.hangO
To___ k_m_ __.,
100

Zhongxian
8

a Shizhu RUSSIA
Crumgshou
Yube~ r r:J., ~Fengdu
MONGOLIA
Chongqing 0

Banan Wu long CHINA

Q
0
Jiangjin 0
Shanghai
Ship lift
INDIA

Direction
of flow
2092m

J186m

Sour~: OCR AS" Ge~y b')' M. Raw

{Phirip Allan Lpd~s. l0D8l. p.30~

Figure 1 2. 24 The Three Gorg:es Dam

a lake. allowing shipping to function in this stre1oh of the river. The

darn protects an estimated 110 miUran peop1e from flooding.
However, 1here was considerable opposi1tion to the dam
because:
• over 11m~mon people had to be moved to make way for ~e
dam and the faJke
• much oi ~he resettfement has been on land above 800m1etres
above sea level, which is co1der and has iess ferta!e soiils
• the area is seiismicallty acttve and ~andslides are frequent
• there are concerns that s~lt1ng wm quickty reduce the
effidency of the project
• s;gnmcant archaeo'logicall treasures wer,e drowned
• the dam interferes with aquat~c life
• the 1otal cost r.s esitimaied at $70lbiniron; many peoplre argue
that this money could have been better spent.

Figure 12.25 The Three Gorges Dam

were comp1eted ~n late 2008. The Dami began runn~ng a1 fuU
capaci~ in mid~2012 when ~he ~atSt of its 32 generators became 1 Descdbe Chlna ·s energy mix.
operational. Tota~ generating! capaoity is now 22 .5 gigawatts. 2 Comment on the 1rends in China's production and
One objectiive of suoh a large capadty is to reduce Ohina's cons·ump1~on of o:il shown ~n Rgure 12 .22.
dependence on coat The dam suppiies Shanghai and Ohongqing 3 Why is China d evefop~ng1a strmegic pe1ro~eum reserve?
in particufar w«h e1ecuicirty. This js a mu1tipurpose scheme that 4 Discuss China's renewab~e energy poficy.
also 1ncireases the ri1
ver's navigati'on capacity and reduces 1he 5 a Expla~n the objectives of the Three G org,es Dami.
poten1a:I for floods dbwnstream. The dam has raised water fevels b For what reasons was the construction of tlie Three
by 90 metres upstream~transforming the rapids ~n the gorge into Gorg:es Dam opposed?

• 12 Env iro nmental management

12.3 Environmental degradation 3~7million deaths attributable to ambient air
pollution - 88per cent of those premature deaths
occurred in LICs and MICs
DI Pollution: land, air and water • .4_3 million deaths attributable to household air
Pollutlon is the dominant factor in the envirornnental pollution- almost all of these deaths occurred in LICs
degradation of land!, air and water and impacts and MICs. About 3billion people cook and heat their
significantly on human health. FigUie 12.26 shows the homes using solid fuels (that is wood, crop ·wastes,
1

considerable global variations in deaths from urban air charcoal; coal and dung) in open fires and leaky stoves.
pollution. Compare the relatively low incidence in southern
These findings are higher than previous estimates and
and eastern Africa and western Europe with the very high. confirm that air pollution is the world's greatest single
level in. Chin a and a number of other Asian countries environmental health risk.
(Figure 12.27).A recent report by the World Health A study in China revealed that children exposed to
Organization estimates that about Smillion people died in highly polluted air while in the ,vomb had more changes
.2012 as a result of air pollution. 'This figure comprised: in therr DNAl and a. higher risk of developmental
problems, than thoss whose mothers breathed clea.ner air
during pregnancy. Apart from the direct effects on health
of pollution there are considerable indirect economic
effects, which include:
• the cost of health·care for pollution-related illnesses
interruptions to the education of children, ,vhich may
cause them to leave school Vlith lower qualifications
than expected
lost labour productivity.
Pollution has a considerable negative impact on
ecosystems aU over the world. In some regions, the
changes brought about by pollution have been little short
of catastrophic.
Figure 12~27 Air poUutiion over UlaanbaataFm Mlong,o1ra

Equator
Oeathsfmil Iion
Tropic of
• .... "'"'fa'•"" •••••• - .... - .... ~······ •• ......, ................ -... . ~30
30-60
•"It . . . . . . . . . . . , , . " ' " ' . , .

Capricorn
60-100
100-150
150-200
200-.230
No data

Fig u 12.26 Global diistrrbuoon of dea~hs tom urban ak poUution

12.3 Environmental degradation •

 The INi,ger deha covers an area o,f 70000km2t m,a~ing up ~he oill companies of not using1~he advanced techno~ogtes
7.5per cent of N~g,eria's land area. It contains over 75per cent to combat pollution that are evident in o1her wo~ld regions.
of Africa~s rem:a~ning mangrove. A report pubfoshed in 2006 However~ shell daims that 95 per cent oi 01lr discharges in the
est~mated tha1 up 1:o 1.6mi1Hion tonnes of oill has been spillt in tast five years have been caused by sabotage.
the delta over the- last 50 years. The report, compjled by VVWFi The flaring (burning1) of unwanted natural! gas found vi1ith the
says that tlle deita 1is one of the five 1mos1 polluted spots on 0 il is a major regional and g1obaf errv,i1
1
ronmental prob1em . llhe
Earoh. Pollution is destroying the lwe!rhoods of many oi the gas found here ris not useful because there ~s no gas pipefo1e
20m~llion people who live there. The rpoHution damages orops infrashuct:ure 1o take rt to oonsurner markets. It is est~mated
and fishirng grounds and tiS a m,ajor contrib utor to 1he upsurge tha.1 701 rnimon m3 are flared off ea,oh day. This 1is equivalent
i1n vlotence 1in the region. Peqp!e 1in the region are dissatis~ed to 40per cent of Mi:ca's na1ural gas consumpdon. Gas
with bearing the cons iderable costs of the oil industry bu~
1 1
flaring in tJhe Ni:ger de1ta is the worlld 's s~ng1e largest source of
see,ing very fittJ.e in terms of die benefits. The report accused greenhouse-gas em,issions.

Figure 12.28 Envi1ronmentai probfem,e in the Niger de!ta

"Virtually every substance is toxic at a certain dosage. carry pollution from w~st to east Thus the problems
The most serious polluters are the large-scale processing caused by acid rain in Scanclinavia have been due partly
industries, which tend to form agglomerations as they to industrial activity in the UK. Dry and wet deposition
have similar locational requirements (Table 12.10) . The can be carried for considerable distances. For example 1

impact of a large industrial agglomeration may spread pollution found in Alaska in the 1970s was traced back to
well beyond th·e locality and region, to cross international the Ruhr industrial area in Germany.
borders. For example, prevailing winds in Europe generally Pollution is the major '"temality of industrial and
urban areas. It is at its most intense at the focus of
Table 12.10 The most po11ut~ng industries pollution-causing activities, declining with distance from
FndUEirtafsestor-'J such concentrations. For some sources of pollution, it is
Fusi and power
Eiamp.
.,
1.00<
PowQr sta.tlons, oII rsfl nerles
l possible to map th~ xt rnality crradient and field (Figure
12 .29). rn general, health risk and environmental impact is
Mlneral Ind ustries Cem entt glass, ceramics
greatest immediately around th.e source of pollution] :and
Waste disposal Incineration, chemical recovery
the risk decreases "With distance from the source. However,
Chemicals Pest1cldes, pharmaceuticals, organle and!
lnorgari le cornpounds atmospheric conditions and other factors can complicate
Metal lndustrlm Iron and stool, smelting, non-ferrous metals this pattern. Exposure to pollution can result in health and
OthQ·ra Paper menufacturo, tl mber preparation, environmental effects {Table 12.11) that range from fairly
uranium processing minor to severe.

• 12 Enviro nmental management

 ;, IP---- Mai>timum
In recent decades~ increasingly strict environmental
a_ envl ron men ta I legislation has been passed in. these countries. This is
i:
,Ii
1
impact the beginning of a process to make polluters pay for the
' cost of their actions themselves, rather than expecting
/ Ex1e rnality
< gradient society es a: whole to pay the costs.
• Industry has spent increasing amounts on research
Geographkal and development to reduce pollution -the so~ca.Jled
extent of 'greening of industry .
impact
• The most polluting activities such as commodity

i
' 1

processing and heavy manufacturing, have been

EXlernality field relocated to the emerging market economies.
Distance
The expectation is that after a certain stage of
Location of economic development in a country, the level of
industry pollution and the degradation it causes will decline
Figure 1 2.29 Extemaitty gradli,ent and ·fie~d (Figur~ 12.3 0).

Table 12.11 Ma.1or sources and health and env~ronmental effects 'Inc r.eas ing rate Dec re as,ng rate
of air pollutants oir degradation of degradation

I
,;,;aJotso~r,:;es Health effects
I Environmental
effects
•

Sulphur dIoxide Industry Respiratory and Precursor to acid

(SO~ cardlovascular raln1wh lch damages
Illnesses rakes, rivers and
trees; dam age to Per person income
cuaural rellcs
Nitrous oxide Vsti lcles, ~esplratmy and Nltrogm deposition Figure 12.30 The· en\nronmenta~ Ku2inets curve
(NO.J Industry cardlovascular Isa.ding to
fllnesses overfertlIlsatlon and Types and amounts of pollution change with econo1nic
eutrophIcation development. In low~income econorrries where primary
Partlculate Vetl loles, PartloJes VJ>slblllty industries frequently dominate pollution related to
agriculture and mmmg often predominates. As countries
1
,matter rndustry penetrate deep
Into 1lungs
end can enter industrialise, manufacturing industries, energy production
bl.oodstream and transport become major polluters. The focal points
carton Vehloles Headaches of pollution will be the large urban-mdustrial comple.xes.
monoxide (CO) and fatlguei The NICs of the world are in this stage. In contrast, the
especially HICs have experienced! deindustrialisation. as many
In pe::>plg
of their major polluting industries have filtered down
with weak
cardiovascular to NICs. This has resulted in improved envrronmental
health conditions in many HICs in general, although pollution
Lead (Pb} VEillcles Accumulates KIi is fl sh/an Imals from transportation has often increased.
(bumlng leaded rn bloodstream1 Figure 12.31 sho1Ns the measures advocated by the
gasoline) over time~ World Health Organization to reduce pollution and its
damages
nervous system
multitude of adverse effects.
ozone (03) Formed from Resplrato ry Reduced crop It is important to consider the different levels of impact
reaction of Illnesses production and, between one-off pollution incidents {incid ntal ,1Jlu ·on)
nltrous o~ldes forest grawtn t smog and longer-term.pollution (su~ tainl cl pollu tio11). The
andVOCs precuraor former is mainly linked to major accidents caused by
Vdlatlle organ le Vei lcles, Eye aJi1 d: skin s mog precursor technological failures and human error. Consequences of
compounds lndustrtal rrr1tat1on;
the latter include ozone depletion and global warming.
(VOCs) processes nausea,
headaches·' Some of the worst examples of incidental pollution are
carcinogenic shown in Tuble 12.12..
Major examples of incidental pollution such as 1

Chernobyl and Bhopal, can have extremely long-lasting

Strategies to tackle air pollution consequences that are often difficult to determine in
Considering the intense use of energy and materials~ levels the earlier stages. The effects of both accidents are still
of pollution have generally declined in HI Cs: bemgfelt more than t,,vo decades after they occurred.

12.3 Environmental degradation •

 Tab le 12.12 Maj or examp!les ,of rnddental polllution
"'r h r ar ·m any . a1npl .. f u e ful poH i in
transport, urban planning, po'\\r. r g nera'tion and .- Locarla:n caiises.wii ~.Qns'equandas.
industry that reduce air pollution: s,weso, Italy In July 19,78, a rsactor at a chemlcal factory near
S9VQSO ,1n nortnetTI Italy exp bdro sending a
• For industry - clean techno logies that reduce toxic cbud Into the atmosphere. An a.ma of land
industrial sn1okestack e missions; itnprove d 1,8km2 was contamlnatoo wlth the dioxin TCDD.
manage me nt of urban and agricultural Vt"aste N Toe Im moo late alter-effects, S001 In a smaJ I
including capture of n1e thane gas etnitted from number of ~pie w,lth skin ln11ammatbn~ ware
re1at1vely mlld. However. the ~ong-term 1lmpect has
waste sites as an alternative to incineration (for use t::mr1 much, ~vorse. Toe popua~lon Is suffer1ng,
as biogas) lncreasoo numbers of premature deaths from
• For transport - shiftin o to cl an 111odes of power cancer, cardlovascu lar disease ard dJat:etes.
1

n ration; pri rjti ing rapid urban transit, ,,ralking IBhopal Indla A chemical factory owried ,by Union Garb! de
"r
i

and cycling n ttvork in citi as 11 as raiJ ~eaKoo deadly methyl Isocyanate gas du rtng
int rurban freight and pa nger tra l; shifting th,e nlght of 3 DQcsnn ber 1984. 1ih e ptant was
to cleaner h eavy-duty diesel vehicles and lol\r- operated by a SEParate ,1ndl an subsidiary th.at
worked to much IC'NQr safety standards t:han
etnissions vehicles and fuels including fuels ·w ith those req ulred In the USA. It has boon estlma.too
reduced st1lfur content that 8000 people died wlt:hl n b.vo weeks, and a
• For urban planning - in1proving the e nergy further 8000 have since died from gas-relatoo
e fficiency of buildings and 111.aking cities 111ore dtsea.ses. Toe NGO Greenp:aace puts the total
fatality figure at over 20000. BhopaJ, Is rE£Cgnlsed
cotnpact, and thus e nergy efficient
as the world's worst Industrial: disaster.
• For powe.r gen.eration - increased use of lov,,r-
Chernobyl, Ukraine The won d~s worst nuc Iear power-p~ant
nlission fuels and t-en wabl combustion-fr e accldent occurred at Chernobylj Ukraine, ~n
pow r ur (lik olar, wind r hydr p Vl r); Aprll 19.86. Reactor number four explod!ed,
o-g n ratlon of h at and pow r; and distribut d send,lng a plume or hlgh,ly radl!oactilve fallout
nergy generation (for ex.a1npl n1ini-grids and Into tne atmosphQrQ, wnloh drifted ovQr
rooftop solar-power generation) 9Xtensl,ve parts of Europe and ea.stern
North Ame:rlca. Two peopl'e died ,In the Jnlt~a'I
• For municipal and agricultural waste explosion and over 336000 people were
n1anageinent - strategies for wast.e reduction 1 evacuated and resettled. In total', 56 d,lrect
waste separation, recycling and reuse or waste deaths and an estimated 4000 extra cancer
reprocessing, as well as ituproved me thods of dsattl,s h,ave been attributed to Chernoby,I. Toe
biological waste manage1ne nt such as anaerobic estimated cost of $200 blilllon makes Chernobyl1
the most expensive disaster in rncdern nlstory.
,vaste digestion to produce biogas, are fi asi ble,
lo~l- ost a lt rnatives to th op n incin ration of Harb In r Ohl na An exploslon at a large petroohemlcal p1,ant Jn
the north-east cn1nese city of Harbin released1
. olid v.1 a te; wh r in in ration i un v· ida. l , toxic pol'lutants Into a major r,lver. Benzene
th n combustion. te hnologi s with strict emission ~evels wen~ 108 times above natl'onal safety
controls ar _ critical. levels. Benzene Is a hIgh ly pol,sono us toxin
1

that Is atso carclnog enfc. Water supplles to

1

Figure 12.31 lihe Wo:n1d Health Organiza.t~on - reducing air pollution the city were suspended!. Five people wGre
kll led in the 1blast and more tlhan 60 ln}urnd;
i OOOO residents were temporarlly evacuated'.
It is usually the poorest people in a society who are
exposed to the risks fron1 both incidental and sustained • social equity, which refers to the role of race and class
pollution. mthe USA the geographic distnbution of both in environmental decision -making.
minorities and the poor has been found to be highly
correlated to the distrlbution of air pollution, municipal Ironically, some government actions have created and
land:fi1ls and incinerators, abandoned toxic wa.ste dumps exacerbated environmental inequity. More stringent
and lead poisoning in children. The race correlation is even environmental regulations have driven noxious facilities
stronger than the class correlation. Unequal environmental to follow the pa.th of least resistance towards poor;
protection undermines three basic types of equity: overburdened communities where protesters lack tbE?
financial support and professional skills of more affluent
procedural equity which refers to the extent that
1
areas or where the prospect of bringing in much-needed
1

planning procedures, rules and regulations are applied jobs justifies the risks in the eyes of some residents.
in a non-discriminatory way
geographic equity1 which refers to the proximity of Sustained pollution:: ozone depletion and skin cancer
communities to envtronmental hazards and locally The ozon I yer in the stratosphere prevents most
unwanted land uses such as smelters, refineries, sewage harmful ultraviolet (UV) radia don from pas g through sm
treatment plants and incinerators the atmosphere. However, chlorofluorocarbons {CFCs)

II 12 Enviro n mental management

and other ozone-depleting substances have caused an substantial ·impact on human populations then incidental
estimated decline of about 4per cent a decade in the pollution, but it is likely to affect many more people in the
ozone layer of the stratosphere since the late 1970s. 1ong term. Likewise, tackling the causes of sustained pollution
Depletion of the ozone layer allows more UV radiation will invariably be a much more difficult task, as the sources of
to reach the groundJ lead.mg to more cases of skin incidenta.1pollution are much more localised compared with
cancer, cataracts and other health and environmental the more ubiquitous nature of sustained poHution.
problems. Widespread global concern resulted mthe
Montreal Protocol banning the production of CFCs and
related ozone-depleting chemicals.
Skin ca.11cer is the fastest-growing type of cancer in the
USA. In the UK, it is the second most common cancer in On 20 Ap~U 2010; a ,arge explosion occurred on fue BP~Ucensed
young people aged 20-39. Overexposure to trV radiation is drm'ing r~g1Deepwater Hotiizon slt·ed in the Gu1f of Mexico {Figure
the major cause. Skin cancer generally has a 20- to 30-year 12.32). Eleven oil workers died and a b!owout preventer, intended
latency period. There is a significant relationship betw·een to prevent 1he reJease of crude oJI, iai'led to activate. Tore rig1 sank
skin cancer and latitude in the USA and Canada. Howev9r 1
in 1500 metres of water~ vvith reports of an ol~ sltck alkflametres
the use of tanning salons has also been criticisedi with long1on the surlaoa. Od leaked from,the weU at sea~floor level for
a number of studies linking the use of artificial tanning 87 days unti115 July when IBP seated it with a cappjng1stack
to cases of skin cancer. The World Health Organization's
estimates on UV-related mortality and morbidity are that
annually about 1.Smillion DALYs (disability-adjusted life
years) are lost through excessive UVexposure.
Sustained pollution, such as that caused by ozone..
depleting substances, usually takes much longer to have a
· ---~ .. · ·- ·-·. -... .... - -- --·- ~··
.. . .. . -; ·,·._ . ·- .
q·.~·-;;~Qbl irn.t te..·,: .~
ic$rnce.r.;:viJ.1.~--g-~s~:-~
.... ),

.:.
Ca$.~~Stµ_ - ··
Chinas rapid economic growth has led to wjd~pread
environmental probfems. PoHubon probtems are so severe 1 in some
areas that the teinm •cancer vlllage' has become·,commie1nplace.
ln the v1illage of Xidtou, south-east of Beij1ng, the cancer rate ~s
30 ti1mes the na~onal average. This has been bfamed on water
and ai1r contaminated by chemical factories. Tests on tap water Figure 12r32 Deepwater Horizon ~ lod1ng
have found traces of highly carciinogenrc benzene that were 60per
cent above national, safe timits. 11n the rush for econo,mic growtl\ Estimates .of the amount of oU gushing from the weU
loca! governments eagerly built factories, but they had very limlted reached up to 40 OOO barrels a day. The US government
experience of environmental controls. SO'me facts support ~his: Mtimatedl ~hat 4.9m,m~on barrels of oil were spilfed 1n total~
malking Ft the largest accidental oi'I spin 1n h1story. h was
• The Chinese .government adm1~ts that 300 m~mon people
sU1rpassed on~ by the 1991 Persi1an Gulf spiU jn which Iraq
drink polluted water.
intenti1onally spmed twice this amount.
• Th~s water comes from poUuted rivers and groundwater.
The envfronmental impact occurred in i our
• 30 OOO d1~Jdren in Ch~11a die of djarrhoea or other water-
ecosystems: the offshore waters, ~nshore coastal waters ,
borne mnesses each year.
seabed and shoreUne wetlands and beaches. The
• The RNer Uao i,s 1he m,ost poll uted, foUowed by waterways 1

sp~I aiso infl~cted serto·us econom~c and psycho·log1ical

around Tianjin and the River Hua~. damage on comm1unirties a long the Gulf Co,a st that
In 20131 the Chinese g1overnm,ent promised to tackle depend on toudsm f~shing and dri1l~1ing. President Obama
'cancer Viinages' , after a huge sodal medra bacldash irom both caUed the BP oH spllU 'the worst env,ron1mentall d~sas·t er
ordinary Oh~nes·e people and globaJI camp~gners. This related Amer~ca has ever faced'.
1m ainly to Huangjlawa, a \nllltage in Shandong1province, after h Most of the oi1IIhas now evaporated or djsso!lved, but an
emerged that the area has one of the highest rates of stomach estimated 10 mi11J1ion gallons remain on the sea ffoorj and gobs
cancer rn the wor~d. tt is thought the weUs in the V1iUage have of oi1Ican stiU be found nest,ed into, marshes aJlong the coast
been oontam~nated with toxins ftrom a neBJrby a1urruntum1 There ~s still debate about ~he impact on w~tdllife. 8P has
smelter! whidh al!so pumps poUutton into the sky: News of this daimed that ~here is no ev.dence of any 'si,gnfficaint long1-
1inctdent spread raptdl,y across We~bo, .a Chinese s ocaall media term populati1on-leve1 impact to any species' . However, other
srt:e similar 1o Twitter. Greenpeace East Asia esttjm1ate tha.1 sdentists have cauhoned 1hat the full scope of the rmpact
320m,illion people are without access to dean drinking1water w~U not be known for some time. There ~s evidence that
1in Ohiina and 190miUion peopte are drin~ng water severely lbotdenose dolphins in the Gulf of Mex,co have been dying at
contaminated with hazardous chemicaJls. more tlran t\lvjce the norma~ rate ·over the ~ast five years.

12.3 Environmental degradation •

 What is "'TJ..i ~~lY ~, 1"°'~"'l~ I:! •'4
qu1ntt1 o1 J1~~:ltly w
)t:«l :1r,t;i11J,L..i~, i :idJq•J.lflO
F-9r ,l.lbtil~ lh,J(~,i,et, llim;in
w,ell.J..:AIIJ ..,d c,tld,Ut,l),:llllk d ~ t f, ~Ill• f"'!Dllt!l«-o ~LJllrr.1

1 Define a pollution and b environmental degradation. Water ecur·~? WJt:Nli:lrflll pol(uwn JM .,.;,tot-1,bt:.d d111;ui:cr.. .11.! oft:iJ f,f..:.1!1"1 1~
or
~¥trm, In .:r i:.1mi111 (;t,,l.x411NI pohl~ n::hhi •
..,.,,u--,v11.w.-.~
2 a With reference to Fi,gure 12.261 dlescdbe ~he g1oball A

di1s1rrbuoon of deafhs from urban air pollution.

b Suggest reasons for the spa1i1a~ var,ations you have GOOD ~
iden1ifi ed. r, I #~f 50'.!11r,;jgn rt.ims dlscl.lSS and
criord Irma tluil r ;idla ns tu m;,;t
1h; ...x111d .n:I Sl:lffllll: m,;i;
Ad;q..a.m !,;gal r<igl m11
3 Which indus1rtres are the larg,est poUuters? hit ltutla 1"11, complltlr13 lntllf'llm
'b- mutwl blmllflt
nfran.ict1.n
4 Write a bdef exp~nation of FJgure 12.29·. ;;n;I It.a p.atl~
JII hpbai.
5 Exp1ain tl1e rela1Jonship 1illlustrated by FJg;ure 12 .30.

D Water: demand, supply and quality

The global water crisis

According to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring

Progratruue for Water Supply and Sanitation, at least
1.8 billion people l\'-orldvlide are estitnated to drink
water that is faecally conta1ninated. An even greater
nu111ber drink water that is delivered thtough a system PEACE
without ad quat prot ction aaain t ·anitary hazards. AND
1 ~OLrnCA~
UN 'Wa:te,· 2014 '
Th!I ~'IM! (J~ 0~ c;c,mtlm ;!Ill!
;,.ocl~ ln(!11dl119 ~il!Y~·}Y
,mdi'o rq u;a lJIJt)l ,eeff'f>~S Qll w.it,lr ,nt;;i l'll'!J ct.11111,
1-urur, -.rms, r~ill:.ad geNllffllr-. ;and s«t.a1 ~, !IHl~ l~a, ,yrt.-
The longest a person can survive \Vithout water is about
10days. All life and virtually evezy human activity needs
water. It is the 1Norld's most essential resource and a pivotal
element in poverty reduction. But for about 80 countries, Ad1 ll'i11'13 ~ r me url"t:¥ raqul ro Ib b,:,r;itt,:o .auo ss sactu rs,
chdplln..;s; and pallU~I bard;,r~ to f'Qduo;, th11 .Mk of pct11rrH.il canfkts
Cl:(11 m I.I'll tlm,

Mth 40per cent of the world's population, lack of ,Nater is DW4"~r r-.,ns. bcrtw1111n 5.Qdors and blltW'IIQn l.lllQIS cw st:ita.

a constant threat And the situation is getting worse Vlith

demancll for water doubling every 20years. In those parts of
the world where there is enough wat~ it is being wasted, Figure 12.34 What is water seourilty?
mismanaged and polluted (Figure 12.33) on a grand scale.
In the poorest nations, it is not just a question of lack of Securin.g access to clean water is a vital aspect of
water; the paltry suppliss available ar12 often polluted. development.
The quality of drinking W:;}ter is a major environmental More than 840 OOO people die each year from a Water-
detemrinent of health. Water curity (figure 12.34) has related disease. While deaths associated liNith dirty
become a major issue in an increasmg number of countries. water have been virtually eliminated from HICs] in LICs
most deaths still result from water-borne disease.
• At any one tim.e , half of the world's hospital beds are
occupied by patients suff@ting from wa.ter-oorne diseases.
750million people around the world lack access to safe
water- approximately one mnme people; 82per cent
of those who lack access to improved water live in rural
aieas, while Just 18per cent live in urban areas.
• In LICs, 70per cent ofindustria.1waste is dumped
untreated into rivers and other water sources which 1

pollutes the usable water supply.

• Women and children spend 140:m illion hours a day
collecting water.
Water scarcity has been presented as the 'sleeping tiger'
of the world's envtronmental problems, threatening to
put world food supplies in jeopardy, limit economic and
Figure 12.33 PdHuted wate:r -Chriistchurch~ New Zealand social development and create serious conflicts benn,een

• 12 Environmental management
neighbouring drainage-basin countries. In the twentieth
century, global water consumption grew six-fold~ tvrice
the rate of population grov.rth. Much of this increased
consumption was made possible by significant investment
in water infrastructureJparticularly dams and reservoirs
affecting nearly 60pe:r cent of the worldis major river basins.
The UN estimates that two~thirds of world population will
te affected byesevere water stressJ by 2025. The situation will
te particularly severe in Africa, the Middle East and South
1\siarThe ill'J notes that already a. numter of the world's
great livers such as the Colorado in the USA an: running
d!1' and that groundwrlt _r is also being dramed faster than
it can be replenished. Many major aquifi rs have been
seriously depleted, which will present serious consequences
in the future. In an effort to add impetus to global ,vater
advancement, the UN proclaimed the period 2005-15 as the
International Decade for Action] 'Water for Life·. Rgure 12.36 Water colllecli·on/dishibution ;n central Asia
The Middle East and North Africa face the most serious
problems. Since 1972, the Jvliddle East has withdrawn more Since 1930 global population bas increased from
1

water from its rivers and aquifers each year than is being 2billion to over ?billion~ putting ever-increasing pressure
replenished. Yemen andJordan are withdrawing 30per cent on the ·world~s water supplies. However it is n ot just the
1

more from groundwater resources annuaUy than is being increase in population that is influencing the demand for
naturally replenished. Israel's annual demand exceeds water, but also rising per person usage in many countries.
its renewable supply by 15per cent. ]n Africa, 206million As households become more affluent, they use more
people live in water-stressed or water-scarce areas. water in a·n increasing number of different ways.
The Pilot Analysis of Global £cosystems (PAGf), Millennium Development Goal 7, target 10, st ated:
undertaken by the World Resources Institute calculated ·Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without
1

water availability and demand by river basin. This analysis sustainable access to safe water and basic sanitation'.
estimated that at present 2.3billion people live in water- Although this goal has been achieved, much remains to be
stressed are s , with 1.?billion resident in water- carce done to nnprove water security in many parts of the world.
areas. The PAGE analysis forecasts that these figures vlill
Water utilisation at the regional scale
rise to 3.Sbillion and 2.4billion people respectively by 2025.
The link between p:,verty and water resoun:es is very Every year, 1100ookms of precipitation falls onto the Earth's
clear; with those living on less than $1.25 a day roughly land surface. This would be ·more than adequate for the
~qual t? the number without a.cces s to safe chinking water. global population~s needs, but much of it cannot be captured
lmprov1ng access to safe water can be among the most cost- and the rest is very unevenly distributed. For example:
effective me a.ns of reducing illness a.nd mortality (figure • Over 60p ~r cent of the world's popul.ation live in area.s
12.35)~In LICs, it is common for water collectorsl usually receiving only 25 per cent of global annual precipitation.
women and grrls1 to have to walk several kilometres evezy • The arid regions of the world cover 40per cent of the
day to fetch water. Once filled, pots and jerry cans can weigh world's land area, but receive only 2per cent of global
as much as 20 kilograms. In urban areas in LICs~ water is still preci.pit ation.
often distnbuted by donkey and cart (Figure 12.36) . • The Co_ngo River and its tnbutaries account for 30per
cent of i\ftica s annual run.off in an aiea. con taming
1

10per cent of Africa s population.

1

Figure 12 .37 shows what happens to the predpitation

reaching 1and surfaces. creen ter is that part of total
pr~cipitation that is absorbe:i. by soil and plants, then
released back into the air. As such, it is unavailable for
hum.an use. However, green water sca:rrity is the classic
cause of famme. Green water accounts for 61.1 per
cent of total precipitation. The reina.ining precipitation,
known as blu qater1 collects in rivers1 lakes, wetlands
and groundwater: It is available for human use before it
Figure 12.35 The narrow irrrgati1on z,one aforig the banks of the evaporates or reaches fue ocean. As Figure 12.37 shows, only
R1iver Niie Egypt
i
1.5per cent of total precipitation is directly used by people.

12.3 Environmental degradation •

 E:3 Green water (61 .1·% of total precipitation absorbed by soU and plants,
:NJ ) :
Total prepkitation then released back into the air, unavailable for vmhdrawal
100%
1

Blue water (38.So/a of total! precipttat11on*): coHected in rwers. lakes, wetla1nds

and groundwater; available fOf' withdrawal before rt evaporates or rea1ches the ocean
'*"Figures may not acid up to 1OD% becam~ of rou nofng
WHERE DOES THE RAIN GO?
1More tha:n ha If of the prec ipttat ion
that fails on land is never avaHable
for capture or storage because it
evaporates from the grou:nd or:
transpites from plants; this fraction
is c:all'ed green water. lhe remainder
56% flows through landscape 36 % ends up in oceans channels i1nto so<a~led blue-water
sources - ,r1vers, lakes, wetliands a,nd
aquifers - that peop l.e can tap
0, 1o/o used by di.rect:ry. Farm 1irrig·atio,n from these
cith?s a,nd indwrtriies free,flowfng bodies is the biggest
Crops, :livestock and Tapped from Evapora,t ed sing,le human use of freshwater..
1

natural i1rrigation1 irri~Jation from open water C~ies an.d industries consume on1y
tiny amoun:ts of tota I freshwater
S.1 o/o 1.4% 1.3o/a resources, but the intense Ioca I
v demand they.create often drains the
0 n ly 1. 5o/o is directly used by peop'le suirrou nd i ng s of 1ready sup p'ies.
Figure 12.37 Where does 1he rain ,go?

Total world blue water withdrawals are estimated at and ground\vater. However, this varies considerably by
3390km3, with 74per cent for agriculture, mostly inigation region. In the Middle East and North Africa, where rainfall
(Figure 12.38).About 20per cent of this total comes from is low and unreliable, more than 60per cent of crop
groundwater. Although agriculture is the dominant evapotranspiration originates from irriga.ti.on.
water user industrial and domestic uses are growing at Figure 12.39 contrast s water use in HICs and 1ICs/MICs.
faster rates. Demand for industrial use has expanded m the latter:, agriculture accounts for over 80per cent of
particularly rapidly. total water usel with industry using more of the remainder
The amount of ·w ater used by a population depends than domestic allocation. In the HICs agriculture accounts 1

not only on water availability but also on levels -of for slightly mo:re than 40per cent of total water use. This
urbanisati n and econo1nic development. As global is lower than the amount allocated to indusb.y. AB in LICs/
urbanisation continues, the dernand for pot ble mtP.r in MICs, domestic use is in thlrd place.
cities and towns Vlill rtse rapidly. In many cases, demand As LICs industrialise and urban-m.dustrial complexes
will outstrip supply. expand, the demand for water grows rapidly in the
In terms of agriculture! more than 80per cent of crop industrial and domestic sectors.As a result, the
evapotranspi tion com~s directly from ra£nfall, 'With competition with agriculture for water has intensmed in
the remainder from irrigation water diverted from rivers many countries and regions. This is a scenario tha.t has
already played itself out in many HICs, where more and
more difficult decisions are having to be made on how to
'"i::' 4000 allocate water.
>,
;:.;- Mun 1c ip al' use
E 3SOO -
=S. lndustria~use HICs
"i 3000 Ag ri cultu ra,
1

use
-G 2500 I I
-5
i 2000 0
I
20 40
I I
60
I

80 100
1'500 %
LICs/MICs

1000

SOO
I I
0@-1-~---~--~--~~--~--~--~--~-----#~ · ~@ .
0

D
I
20
Agriculture D
40
I

Domestic
I
60
I
80
Industry
100
%
~ ·
I
Figure 12.38 G~obaJ water use (agriiculture~industryt domest~c);
1
Figure 12.39 Water for agnculturall, iindustr1
i~ and domest~c uses
1900-2000 1n HtCs and UC~ICs

• 12 Environmental management
 Large variations in water allocation can also exist \Vithin
countries. For example, irrigation accounts for over 80per
cent of water demand in the west of the USA, but only
about 6 per cent in.the east.

The environmental and human factors affecting

water scarcity
The world's population is increasing by about 80million a
year. This converts to an increased demand for fresh,vater
of around.64 billion m1 per year, which. equates to the total Figure 12.4 0 The dded-up lbed of tiie Hio Oja, northern Spa~n
annual flo\v rate of the River Rhine.
A country is judged to experience water stress when significant region al differences.Analysis of the supply and
water supply is below 170oms per person per year. \Vhen demand situation by river basin can reveal the true extent
water supply falls below lOOOm.3 per person a year; a of such variations. For example the USA has a relatively
1

country faces water scarcity for all or part of the year: high a.verage wster-sufficiency figure of 8838ms per person
These concepts were developed byth.e Swedish hydrologist a year. However, the Colorado river basin has a much lower
Malin Falkenmark. figure of 2000 while the Rio Grande river basin is lower
1

Water scarcity is to do Vlith the availability of potable still at 621m3 :per person a year.
water. Physical water scarcity is when physical access to However; in increasing areas of the worl~ physical water
water is limited. This is when demand outstrips a region's scarcity is the result of human activity; la~y overuse.
ability to provide the water needed by the population. Examples of physical water scarcity include~
It is the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. that
Egypt has to import more than half of its food because it
are most associated with physical water scarcity. Here,
does not have enough water to grow it domest1:caUy.
temperatures and! evapotranspiration rates are v·ezy high The Murray-Darling basin in Australia has diverted
end precipitetion low. In the worst-affected areas, points of
access to safe drinking water are few and far between
large quantities of water to a.griculture.
• The Colorado river basin m the USA once had an
However annual precipitation figures fail to tell the
1
abundant supply of water but resources have been
whole story. Much of the freshwater supply comes in the
heavily overused, leading to very serious physica] water
form of seasonal rainfall (Figure 12.40), as exemplified
scarcity downstream.
by the monsoon rains of Asia. India gets 90per cent of
its annual rainfall during the summer monsoon season Figure 12.41 shows these regions and other parts of the
from June to September. National figures can al.so ma·sk world that suffer from physical water scarcity.

Little or no water
scim::fty
Phys ica I water
sca rcity
D Not estimated
IEconom ic water
scarcity
Approach iing
p nysl Ca;I water
sca rcity

Figure 12,.41 IPhysioaJl water scarcity and economic water scarofty

12.3 Environmental degradation •

 Eco11on1ic rater scarcity eidsts when a population flow of ten Nile Rivers. Greater liberaJisation of trade in
does not have the necessary monetary means to utilise agricultural products would further increase virtual water
an adequate supply of water. The unequal distribution of flows.
resources is central to economic water scarcity, where the
crux of the problem is lack of investment. This ocrurs for a
number of reasons includmg political and ethnic conflict.
1

Figure 12.41 shows that much of Sub-Saharan Africa is 1 How far do you think you coul1d wallk carrY1ng water
affected by this type of water scarcity. weighing 20 klilogra1ms?
Scientists expect water scarcity to become more severe, 2 Write a brief e>qJlana1tron of the i1nformation presented rn
largely because: Ftgure 12. 37.
3 Draw a table 1o show how global water use changed for
the world's population continues to increase muntdpal, h,dusbiaJ and agr1cult:ural uses for ~he fo11ow,ng
signific an.tly years: 1900, 1940, 1980, 2000 (Fi gure 12.38).
1

increasing affluence is inflating the per person demand 4 Describe and ~pfain the different ways ~n whtch water 1s
for water used 1
in a H~Cs and b UCs.
there is an increasing demand for production ofbiofuels 5 a Exp,a~n the diifference between phys1ical water scarcity
- biofuel crops are heavy users of water and econom1ic water scarcity.
b Describe and attempt to exp1ain the spatia1 va~iations
. is increasing aridity and reducing supply
.climate change shown in Frrgure 12.41.
m many regions
many,~ater sources are threatened by various forms of
pollution.
The Stockholm International Water Institute has
D The degradation of rural
estimated that each person on Earth needs e minimum environments
of 1000 m3 of water per year for drinking hygiene and Rural environments suppl~ humankind 'w ith most of its
gro\Ving food for sustenance. Vvhether this VJ"ater is food and gene pool and contain the vast majority of the
available depends largely on where people live on the world's forestsd }and. Hmvsvsr, rural arsas all around
planet, as water supply is extremely inequitable. For the world have been degraded at a. rapid.rate over the
example major rivers such as the Yangtze, Ganges and
1 ]ast century. Thls has been due primarily t o population
Nile are severely overused and the levels of underground growth and increasing pressures on the landl although
aquifers ben.e ath major cities such as Beijing and New urban activities through processes such as cfunate
Delhi are falling. change can also have profound consequences for rural
In many parts of the world, the allocation of water environments.
depends largely on the ability to pay.A recent article in The UN Food and Agticulture Organization defines soil
Sden.tifkAmerkan, entitled 'Facing the freshwater crisis'! degrade tion as 'a eh enge in the soil health st a.tu s resulting
quotes an old saying from the American West: 'Water in a diminished capacity of the ecosystem to provide
usually runs downhill but it always runs uphill to
3 goods and services for its beneficiaries'. Soil degradation
money' - meaning that poorer people and non-human involves both the physical loss (erosi on} and the reduction
consumers of water, the fauna and flora of nearby in quality of topsoil associated with nutrient decline and
ecosystems~usually lose out when water is scarce. contamination. It impacts significantly on agriculture and
also has rrnplications for the urban environment, pollution
Virtual water and flooding.
The importance of the concept of lirtua water is being Globalli it is estimated that 2billion hectares of soil
increasmgly recognised.. Virtual water is the amount of resources have been degraded. This is equivalent to about
water that is used to produce food or any other product 15per cent of the Earth s land area. Such a scale of soil
1

and is thus essentially embedded in the item. One degradation has resulted in the loss of 15 per cent of world
ldlogram of wheat takes around lOOOlitres of water to agricultural supply in the last SOyears. Some scientists
produce, so th2 import of this amount of wheat into a. consider this to be a. ~slow-m otion disa.ster'. ln temperate
dry country saves that country this amount of water. areas, much soil degradation is a: result of market forces
According to Scientific American. (August 2008, page 34) fThe
1 and the attitudes adopted by commercial farmers and
virtual water concept and expru1ded trade have also led governments. In contrastl in the tropics much degradation
to the resolution of 1nany inte1national disputes caused results from high population pressurem land shortages
by water scarcity: Imports of virtual water in products by and lack of awareness. The greater climate extremes
Jordan have reduced the chance of v,ater-based conflict and poorer soil structures in tropical areas give greater
\Ni.th its neighbour Israel, for example.' potential for deg-radation in such areas compared to
The size of global trade in virtual water is more than temperate latitudes. This difference has been a significant
800billion m3 of water a year. This is equivalent to the factor in development or the lack of it.

• 12 Environmental management
 The main cause of soil degradation is the removal J Soil begins to erode when ba.re patches appear.
of the natural vegetation cover, leaving the surface Trampling will have compacted the soil and damaged its
exposed to the e1emen ts. Figure 12.42 shows the structure.
human causes of degradation, with deforestation and 6 Loose surface-soil particles are the first to be carried
overgra.zing as the two main problems. The resulting away; either by wind. or water.
loss of vegetation cover is a leading cause of wmd and 1 The loss of soil structure means that less water can
water erosion. infiltrate to the lower soil horizons. The growth rate of
plants is reduced and it is more difficult for damaged
l,ndustry & urbanisation 1 % plants to recove.r:
I Agricultural 111ismanagement is also a major problem
due to a combination of lack of knowledge and the
pursuit of short-term gain against consideration of
longer-term damage. Such activities include shifting
Agrkultural cultivation.without adequate fallow periods, absence
mismanagement
Deforestation/ of soil conservation mea.suresi cultivation of fragile or
27%
fuetwood consumption marginal lands, unbalanced fertiliser use and the use of
37% :poor irrigation techniques.
Soil degradation is more directly the result of:
• erosion by wind and water- these two agents of
erosion account for approximately 80per cent of the
Overgrazing 35 o/o
world;s degraded landscapes
physical degradation - loss of structure, surlace sealing
and compaction
chemical degradatio·n - through various forms of
Figure 12.42 Causes of land degradatton
pollution; changes in pH: adification and s alinisation
1

a.re exrunples of chemical degradation

Deforestatlon occurs for a number of reasons, including
the clearing of land for agricultural useJ for timber and • biological degradation - throuw:i loss of organic matter
and biodiversity
for other activities such as mining. Such activities tend
to happen quickly, whereas the loss of vegetation for • climate and land-use change - which may accelerate
the factors above.
fuelwood a massive problem in many LICsj is generally
a more gradual process. Deforestation means that ram
1

The environ·mental and socio-economic consequences

is no longer mtercepted by vegetation vJith rainsplash of soil degradation are considerable. Such consequences
loosening the topsoil and leaving it vulnerable to removal can occur v.,ith little warning as damage to soil is often not
by overland flow. perceived until it is far advanced.
Overgraz1 g is the grazing of natural pa. stures The incrE?asing world population and th~ rapidly
at stocking intensities above the livestock carrying changing diets of hundreds of millions of people as
capacity. Population pressure in 1nany areas and they become more affluent are placing more and
poor agricultural practices have resulted in serious more preBsure on land reBources. Some soil and
overgrazing. This is a major problem in many parts of agricultural experts say that a decline in long-term
the world, particularly in marginal ecosystems. The soil productivity is already seriously limiting food
process occurs in this way: production in LICs.
Trampling by animals (and humans} damages plant The loss of the ability of degraded soils to store carbon is
leaves. receiving significant attention. Over the last SOyears or so,
Some leaves die away, redudng the ability of plants to global soils have lost about lOObillion tonnes of carbon, in
the form of carbon dioxide, to the atmosphere, due to the
L

photosynthesise.
depletion of soil s tiucture.
3 No,v there are fe\\rer le aves to intercept rainfa.ll a.nd the
ground is more exposed. The UN~s Food a:ndAgriculture Organization lists five
root causes of unsustainable agricultural practices and
4 Plant species sensitive to trampling quickly disappear.
degradation of the rural environment (figure 12.43 J.

12.3 Environmental degradation II

 • PoHcy failure
· ading atnong th caus s of unsu tainabl
agriculture ar inadequate or inappropriate
policies, which include pricing, subsidy a.nd tax
JX)licies, which have encouraged the excessive
and often uneconotnic use of inputs such as
fertilisers and pesticides and the overexploitation
of ]and. They 111ay also include policies that favour
fartning systen1s that are inappropriate both to the
circun1stances of the farn1ing conununity and to
ava ilabl resou r--c s.
• Rural inequaliti s
Figure 12.44 Gobi desert - o1~miate chang1e has resulted ~n further
Rural peopl oft n knO'w be t how to cons iv th ir
fand degradation
nviron m n t) but they nmy n _d to overexploit
resources in order to su1v ive. Meanwhjle, • landscape change
cormnercial exploitation by Jarge landowners and • declines in biodiversi~
cotnpanies often causes environtnental degradation
in pursuit of higher p1·ofits. About a third of the world's farmland is already affected
• Resource in1balances by salinisationl erosion or other forms of degradation
i\.hnost all of the future growth in the 1votld's The global cattle population is currently around
population will be in U Cs, and the bigg st incteas s 1.Sbillion. The pasture required amounts to about a third
will b in the poorest ountri of ~Lll - tho - lea. "'t of all the world's agricultural land.A further third of
· quipp d to 1n t th . ir own n or inv .t in th this land is taken up by animal feedcrops.An estimated
futur . 1.3billion people are employed in the livestock industry.
• Unsusta·in.ahl.e technologies The balance bet\.Veen. livestock and grass is sustainable
New technologies have boosted agricultural at presentmbut a.s the demand far meat increases the I

production worldwide, but so1ne have had harmful pressures that cattle make on the land may well soon
side-effects that n1ust be contained and reversed exceed supply. More cattle means more manure. Manure
such as resistance of insects to pesticides., land is often used to restore depleted soil, but can lead to
degradation through wind or water erosion~ nutrient pollution byheavymetals such as cadmium nickel
' '
depletion, poor irrigation 1nanagement and the loss chromium and copper.
of biolo~ical d iv rsity. In 20001 annual globaJ meat consumption was
• Trade r lations 230million tonnes. The forecast for 20SO is 46Smillion
th value of r-aw n1at riaJs ·p.Jrt d by LI tonnes. There is a strong relationship between meat
has fall nj th ir gov rnm nts ha, sought to boot consumption and rising per person incomes (Figure 12.45)
incon1e by expansion of crop production and tin1ber although anomalies do occur due to cultural traditions. It
sales that have dan1aged the environn1ent.
is no coincidence that many committed environmentelists
are vegetarian. A study at the University of Chicago
Source: l,l)UJW. jao.org calculated that changing from the average American diet
to a. vegetarian one could cut annual emissions by almost
Figure 12A43 Firve root causes of u1
nsusta1nabJe practtrees
1.Stonnes of carbon dioxide.
The environmental impact of capital-intensive farming

- .
- 110
There is a gro1Ning realisation that the modes of I USA
production~ processing, distribution and consumption that 0
120
J Russ ian;
1
•
•
prevail - beceuse in the short- to medium-term they are Federatidn
the most profitable - aie not necessarily the most healthy t
:l
100
•
i
i
·!
Brazil • I

or the most enwanmentally sustainable (Figure 12.44). In Iii

iu 80 • ----=-=-=~l-:----c=--==-1
many parts of the world, agroeindustrialisation is haVJDg a ....ffJ
I

i
I
60
devastating impact on the environment, causing: GI
Japan
!
E
I

i
C 40 •-=---1r= ==-i.==='I
deforestation 0 I
l'.? - -Thailand !
land degradation and desertification QI
'2.. 20 I

i
s~lmisation and contamination of water supplies t 11ndia ' !
o ~~-:--:t-~~~~~~.,.....-~-,-~-.--~--~---i
au pollution 0 5000 10 OOO 15 OOO 20 OOO 25 OOO 30 OOO 3 5 OOO 40 OOO
increasing concerns about the health of long-term farm Per person income (US$ PPP)
workers Figure 12.45 Meat consump1ton and income

• 12 Environmental management
 Large-scale farming has been expanding
geographically into a number of fragile en'Vironments,
particularly into areas of rainforest. The State of the
World's Forests 2007, published by the FAO, reported that
between 1990 and 2005, the world's tota.l forest area
was reduced by 3 per cent. This is a: rate of 7.3 million
hectares per year.
Mainly because of the uniformity required by
large food companies, important breeds of livestock
a.re becoming extinct. Th·e FAQ's State of the World's
Animal Genetic Resources report stated that at least
Figure 12.46 land degradati,on i1n southern ~tafy
one livestock breed a month had been lost over the
previous seven years. Food scientists are concerned
about this trend as genetic resources are the basis of Poverty and rural degradation
food security. The mteractions shown mFigure 12.47 illustrate certam
Agro-industrialisation is characterised by large areas poverty-envrronment processes where poor households are
of monoculture that among other things, leaves crops
1
'compelled' to degrade environmental resources. However,
more vulnerable to disease due to the depletion of this should not hide the fact that mu.e h environmental
natural systems of pest control. Monoculture results in degradation is caused by ]arge-sca1e commercial operations
reliance on pesticides, which in turn causes a downward and government :policy. There are also an increasing number
envrronmental cycle (Figure 12.46). of sustain.able schemes being practised in poor rural areas.

Ag ric u,ltu rail lneq,uitabl\e 1land External shocks

Ra,pid population
growth modernisation hi distrrbutlon, (e.g. drought) and
hig h,..potent ial. areas insecure tenure macro~economk i1m,pacts

Limited non-farm,
/
Rural population w irth
mcome Limited access to productive ,Ian ds
opportunities Limited credjt technology, for resou n: e
management
Reduction in common piroperty resources
(CPRs)

Urban Rural stagnatron

Greater exp~o itat ion Pressure to open
m1igrafion i 11 dry areas
of steep h11 lstop es forested front ier areas
and graz1ng ~ands

Frequent eoolog ica I

l J
c.on:sequenc.es: Drought condit~ons !Destrud:ion of vegetative: Large-scale deforestation
exacerbated cover i,n watersheds f Iood ing., silrtatron etc.
Dese rtifi catton and l,arnd Silta~on etc.. downstream downstream
degradation Soil erosion Loss of soi I f ert il,ity
Destruction of vegetative Threats to biological
1
Threats to biologica~
cover diversi1
ty dtversi1.y
Threats to biologi cal Contrib utes to globa l
dive,rsity wa,rrning

Reinforcement of
! l J
poverty/loss and Fuelwood s hortages Declining piroduct~vity Dec ri n in g land ,prod uctiv~ty
Ii vel i hoods: Dec:l~ni·ng land rproduct:iv,ity Fuetwood shortages Loss of potentia:Iforest-
Fo odr i,ns ec urirty Oownstrea m, fl ooding_ etc. based producti on
1

Figure 12.4 7 1Poverty-envJronmer1t 11nks

12.3 Environmental degradation II

 Poor households can suffer significantly from the through. urbanisation industrial development and
actions of large-scale rural operations. They may be inadequate infrastructure. Few urban residents can escape
pushed onto more marginal lands by logging! ranching the effects of poor air and water quality, inadequate
or rninmg operations. Government policy can also ha.ve a sanitation, a lack of proper solid waste management
significant negative effect on the poo~ for example if land and the improper storage and emission of hazardous
or t ree tenure rights are insecure. substan ces. Figure 12.49 shows how urban environment al
problems can act at different scales. affecting households,
Urban/rural impact co1nmunities and cities.
Urban areas can affect the env:ironmental degradation
of their rural surroun.dings in a number of ways. For
example, untreated wastewateris a major pollutant of
rivers, which can contaminate estuaries and coastal fishing
areas, and can pollute the drinking-water supplies of rural
communities downstream. Urban use of groundwater can
result in a depletion of the a.quifer to the detriment of small
farmers who rely on shallow wells. In arid areas cities 1

many kilometres in1a.nd can cause saltwa ter intrusion

under coastal areas as a result of groundwater pumping.
On a larger scale, the huge urban-industrial complexes of
the world are the main cause of climate change which is 1

having an adverse impact on the entire plauet.

1 D~scuss die firve root caus·es of unsusta~nab~e practices set

out in Ftgure 12:.43.
2 Descdbe· and exp~a~n the refa1t~onsh~p between per person
4ncome and per person meat consump1i1on mustrated in
Figure 12 .45. Suggest reasons for significant anomalies.
What statistircal technjque could you use to assess the
reia1ionship between 'ihes e two variablle s?
3 Produce a 100-ward su,mmary of the r~at'~onshjps
1iUustratedl ~n F,igure 12 .47.

D The degradation of urban environments

The ~nvironmental quality of urban a.rsa.s has a.
hug~ impa.c t on their po:pula.tions (Figure 12.48}. The
degradation of urban envirorunents occurs mamly
Figure 12.48 London's ~ow-emission zone

l oss of heritage and Reduced property

Amenity loss. Traffic congresti on City
historica I buiIdin gs an-d build in.g va1ues

Community ,Inappropriate and

Ace idents a,ndl PoiJI urted Iand in adeq:uate
tnadequate
disasters technology ,use tax/iii nanci aI' revenues
Household -
Ho useho Id hea lrth, Lack of. and
FIoodi ng. andl garbage g~nerat['On, Lack of understanding iriap propri,ate,
surface drain a,ge Garbage dumping airr/water/noisi of environm~ntal, laM a:n d ileg isl1atio n
pol'l ution, spread of problems
diseases
Toxic and naza rdous
wa s1:es/d urn ps hiooding
-
Natu:r~I disasters
- Hign l1iving d~nsit1es
Noise pol:l'ution

Loss of agrk uhurraI lnadequa,te supply Misguided urban,

!a(ld and A1r 'poHu tion Water po Ilution arnd tra nrS missk:>n loss government and
dese,rtification of electricity manargernent practices
-
Figure 12.49 The soaJes of urban environmentall problems

II 12 Env iro nmental management

 The relationship between the urban poor and the affected by poor envrronmental services such as sub-
environment is different from that between the rural poor standard housing! a lack of sanitation and other aspects of
and the environment. The urban poor are particularly urban poverty.

Case Study: Urban degradation in Delhi

In 2014, 1he Wo,r,ld Health Organie:ation stated that De~h1 was that have signifi:caintly increased iin nurmber, but a,so taxiis 1

the most ak-ponuted city in 11he world. The WHO rank~ng1was autor,ickshaws, buses and business vehicles of aU kinds.
based on the concentration of PM 2 .5 parttdes in a s1udy of There are now· an est,mated 7 .2 mi1Uion vehrcles on Delh~'s
1·600 entries across 911countries. These very 'fine particles r roads - about twtce ·the number 1n 2000. Traffic speeds
~ess fuian 2 .5 m1~crometres 1 in d~a.meteir, are Unked to in creased have faUen as the oirty has struggled to imiprove irts road
1

rates of heart disease; ~ung cancer and chroniic bronchlt~s. i nfrastrructure ·to mee1: rincreasing demand. As traffic speeds
According to the WHO~ De:lhi had an average PM2 .5 ~evell of have faUen idl~ng1·t i1me has 1increased, resu1triing in h~grher levels
153, about ·ten t~mes that of London, UK. The WHO says of air poUutton.
that ai1r polllubon is the fifth btggest cause of de.a.di ~n lnd~a. Pdhi~an levels are parttouiariy high duriing w~ntetr due to:
However, Indian and Delhi officia~s have d~uted the WHO
findings, feet1 ing1that the anallysis has overest~mated the • night-ti me hea.ting :needs -the poor jn De~h1 use open
1

probJ em in ID elhri compared to pollluted oities in other countrr~es fires 1o keep warm un wsnter
such as Beiji1ng1. • seas.onal weather conditions -whkh 1:rap po111utan1s very
The Na1icnal Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi1has grown raipidly dose to the ground.
11n recent decades. Delhi 1110w covers an area of approxi1mately Delh~ also suffers from dust bf.own 1n from the deserts of the
900~m2. The popu1ati'on of fue NCR. wh,ch was estimated at western s1ate of Rajasthan.
17.8million in 2014; 1is expected to reach 22.5mimon ~n 2025. Water poUurt~on and a ,ack of so1idawaste ·treatment
Such a fast rate of expansion has increased the enViironmental facillritfes have caused sedous damrage to the Yamuna Riiver.
~mpacts of transportation, industriiaJI activity~ power generation, Rough~y half of an the cny~s raw sewage goes strai,ght into
construction t dbmest~c acbvities and waste generation. Thus, the river: 22 dra~ns fliow into ·the Yamuna from the crtyt
Delhi1's pdluti,on prob~ems have a w~de vaniety of causes, as co.ntain~ng indusir~al waste as weH es do,m est1ic waste.
Tabf,e 12.13 shows. P~ckl~ng, dye1ng and electropiatJing factor~es are major
sources of water poUutto n.
• Transport is the ma~n source of PM 2 .6 NOx and VOC
Surveys have shown that pe opJ e ~n ID elhi .are also
m

em1ss1ons.
concerned about nolse and light poUution. Residents
Road dust is the· ma~n source ,of PM10 emissi:on.s.
perceive l·evels of both to be high. A study publ•shed in 2013
• Power pfants are respons1ib,e for over half of 802 e1m1
issi'ons
warned 1hat very hEgh leve1s of nojse poUution were causi1ng
and a~most 30per cent of C02 em'issions.
age-tela1ed hear~ng1loss 15 years ·earlrier ·than normal. Among
Econo m~c g1rowth has created an increasingi number of
1
other envi1ronmental jssues, residents are a~so extremely
people ~n the m1iddie-dass ~n oom e bracket who have aspired cntica~ of garbage disposal ~n the cjty - with very good
to own the~r own car. Howevert 1it ~snot just pri~ate cars reason (F~grure 12 .50).

--·.·-- -.----.- -----·· -~

Table 12.13 The sources of em~ssions in De~hi ~onnes/yeaJr and percentage)~ 2010

PM2_5
- - - - - - - .1. - - - - - - - -
PM10
_ _ _ _: _
I s~ NOx
' ---
co
--·--r- ··--
·--------·
voc
ltansport 177f0 {26%} 23800 {18 %) 950 {2 %) 329 750 (67 %) 421 450 {28 %} 208900 (63%}
Domestic 7300 (10%) 8800 ff%) 2050 (5 %} 2350 {1 %) 161 200 (10%) 118300 (6%)
Diesel 3200 (5%) 4300 (3%) 1050 (3 %} 81 300 (16 %)
1
851100 (6%) 3 1 600 (9. 49 %)
Brick kilns 9250 (13%) 12 400 {9 o/o) 4 OOO (11 o/o) 6750 (1 %} 171850 (11 %} 24 200 (7%)
Industries 9000 (13%) 1 2 650 (9 o/o) 8500 (23%) 41 500 (8 %) 219600 (14 %} 1'3250 (4%)
Construction 2450 (3%) 8050 (6 %) 100 (1 %} 2150 (1 %) 2700 {1 %) 50 (0.01 %)
waste burning 3850 (8%} 5 450 (4 %) 250 (1 %} '1 450 (1 %) 20050 (1 %) 1 SOO (0'.5 o/o)
Road dust 6300 (9%) 41750 (.31 %)1
- - - -
Power plant 10 150 (15%) 16850 (13%) 20250 (54 %) 27200 {5%) 442150 (29 %) 34 900· (10 %)
Total 69050 (100 o/o) 133900 (100 o/o) 87000 (100 %) 1
492 250 (100 '% ) 1 524 050 (100 %) 332 700 {1 00 o/o)

Source: ww-w. urbanemissions .info

12.3 Environmental degradation •

 D L I A DROW IN IT Delht's non-dump~ng op1~·ons to manage waste have a1ls,o shrunk
drastically. Burn~ng waste no, ioniger seems viabie because of
OWN WAS environ1m1entai c,oncerns, and poor segregation of waiste.
Compost plants are not doing weU because manure, doesn't seU,
Adapted (slightly) from Darpan Singh, and ag1ain becornes garbage.
Hindustan Times, 30 April 2013 As much as 50per cen1 of the waste is fitior composting. About
Growi1ng by heaps and mounds, Delhi's ,giarbage cns11s m,ay s,oon 30 per cent of it can be recyded. Effective segr,e gation .a t source,
reach its breaking po~nit. in trans~t and dur,ng d~sposait w~U mean ,o n~ 20per cent of the
r,ef use needed to be sent 1o the landfill sirte. This wHII also
Three of -the four stinldng1 wa_ste m,ountai1ns (faincttms) are tong mean a deaner dty with fewe,r dha~aos. garbage trucks and
overdue i,or dosure and there are no fresh landfins available to take longer 1 lirfespa1n for landfills. But ~ns1ead of pr,oper segrregatio:n 1
in the ieurrent da~ty discatd of 9000tonnes. By 2020, the Capital only randorm pkk~n g cont,n ues.
needs an addmonal area of 28sq km to dumip 15000tonnes oi
garbag,e da~lo/. Either private sweepers, who snap up the most sought-after
refuse. or residents themselves take waste "to dhalaos. There.
S~nce as much as 8S per cent of the cdy doesn't have a f,ormat rag-pk~ers sllog through the muck to hunt forr recydabte
door-to,-door t-r.ash pick-up system, the emerging scenar•,o i1s mat,er~ aJs.
both wonisome and scary.
When waste ~s taken from d ha!aos t,o land'fiHsi ano1her set
The 2500-odd filthy c:o,mmun~ty b~ns (dhalaos) that serve as of trash ptckers co,Hect what the:fr str,eet counterparts m~ss.
9

secondary colllectjo,n centres f,o r the three munki pa~ b-odaes ,completing a cyde ,o f 1i1 ~egal' seg regatta n.
1

i111 thousands of colonies wiU start ovenftow~ng, and garbag1e

wm .spin on to the streets. Residents wm have no o pdon but C~vic bod~es blame res~dents fo r not S:egrieg.a1ing waste but
to start throwing waste, out, making DeJhi drown fn ~ts own what's the po,~nt when eveirythjng willl eventuallly be mixed~
dis,card . up? Segregat~on by resi1den1s wUi only work when the
,corpo,r.ations have a ,co,mplete door-to-door waste coUecbon
Peopfre jn Delhi1are bitterly opp-osed 10 new landfiUs co1m1~ng up system1and trash pickups have separate conta~ners for dry
iin the1ir neighbou1rhood as they have seen the authorit~es d11d no1 and wet was1e.
maintain the past ones scient~fiicaUyj tuming them ~nt,o mass1 ive,
polllutiing1heaps. The ~ack thick t~quid, ,eacha1e. crea1ed when Delh~ has miserab~ fa~led to mainag.e ~ts waste load. Onty 15per
rainwater filters down through the landrfu It 1h as made fhe soj I cen1 of Rl350,crore that ihe three corpor,at~ons spend on waste
higMy toxic. Rainwater irunoff goes into surf.ace water draijns, manag1emient and san~1ation is spent on actua! disposal. The rest
while methane poisons 1he .air. goes 1into collecti1o n and 1ranspo,rtation.

D,esp~1,e, court ,ntervention. the ,g,overnment and dvic The aiuthonbes mus1 ,ensure segrega11 ion aind promo,t e
agendes have fa~ied to find a way forward. The dvic bodies ,c,omposting and recydjng. They must quan1:~fywast,e g,enerati1on
have now tolld 1he Dellhi high court that 1 sjnce there's no ior setting effectirve reduction targ,ets. But don1t wait for the
o,t her ,o ption, we have been forced to put human Ufe and authorirtjes to do, everyth~ng. From segregation, recychng to
property at risk· . composting - you can maike a1difference. And, yes, consume
,and waste lless. Now ~s the time.

Figure 1 2.50 De!hj's domesttc waste probiem

Thousands of peoplle l~ve without adequate water suppll y l nvestment i1n publ~c transport has been slow to
and sanrtatiio n. Many parts of 1he ci1ty have no p~ped water develop 1in Delhi. The Oelhi1Metro Rail (DMR) only opened
connections and depend on tankers 1o delliver water. This in December 2002 w~th an 8.3 kJHometre rail liin1e, a.rnd
affects aJmost 25 per cent of Delhj 's popiufabon. About has s~nce been extended to 190 k~~omietres w~th the
haH of 1he water fiowingr through Delh~'s water pipes 1
is ilost compledon of Phase Il in 2011 . Construction of Phase 1111
through !leakage. A study publrished i n 2012 stated that is now underway, to add a further 103 ~ l ometres. Ano1her
neariy 60 per cen1 of DeU1i1's slums d~d not have sewe:rag,e signnf~cant deve~opm1
ent has been the Delhi bus rapid
·f adll s. transit (BRD, which opened ellong a 5.6 kirl,ometre ~ntial
corr~dor ~n 2009.
Tackling air pollution Shutting coa~power plan1s, pramnting motoness
~n 2014, the llndian env~rionment m~njstry ~aunchedl a Nationa~ transport and imposiing s1:ri1ct penalties for those violatin g
Air Quality Index that wm rank 66 lndtan dtfes. ft willl gwe poUution contrdJ norims are among the suggesoons ~hat the
rreal 1im,e ~nformai:ton of air qua~rly to put pressure on iocal
1 g:overnm,ent is looking at to improve the aiir quality ~n the city
autho:rft~es to take concrete st~s to reduce pollution. The
1
over the next five years.
index wiJI provide associated health risks 1 in a col,our-coded
manner that can be understood by everyone.

II 12 Environmental management
The impact of rural areas • Environmental hazards, often made worse by
Runofffrom fertilisers and pesticides can contaminate climate change, present an increasing eh a.llenge
downstream urban water supplies. Deforestation, in some world regions . In many regions,
watersh~d dsgra.dation and soil eroding- practices can natural haza.rds have increased in scale and
exacerbate flood-drought cycles. Deteriorating conditions u n predict a. bility.
in rura] areas can give added impetus to rural-urban • Poor knowledge about the environ1nental impact
migration, placing additional.pressures on the urban of human actions is a significant factor in many
environment . This is part of a process known as the locations where perhaps moderate adaptation of
urb amsa
- . ti_",on of paverty'
. .. human behaviour could bring about beneficial
changes.
• Poor management at both central and local
government leve]s may result in problems that can
1 Drscuss the scales of unban environmental probJems
at lea.st be partially rectified not being addressed. The
miustrate d by F~gure 12. 49. quality of governance has been recognised as a key
2 Ou~l1ine one example of urban degradla.t1ion ,jn Delhi.
1 factor in the genera] development process.
3 How can the activ,itfes of rural areas have an ~m1pact on • Many degraded environments require substantial
unban enV1ron1mental deg1radation? investment to bring in realistic solutions. Such finance
is beyond the means of many poor countries. Howeve~
there 1nay be a choice between low-cost and high-cost
schemes~ as Table 12.14 illustrates.
D Constraints on improving degraded • Civil war has put back development by decades
environments in some countries. Land min.es that have yet to
There are numerous constraints on improving the quality be cleared have put large areas off limits in some
of degraded environments: countries.
In many LICs, population growth continues at a high Corruption and crime can also reduce the
rate, putting incr-easing pressure on already fragile effectiveness of schemes to reduce environmental
environments. degradation. An article in The Guardian newspaper in
High rates of rural-urban migration can lead to rapidly October 2009 stated that a revolutionary UN scheme
deteriorating environm.e ntal conditions mlarge urban to cut carbon emissions by paying poorer countries
areas at least in the short term.
1
to preserve their forests was a recipe for corruption,

Table 12.14 TechnrcaJI and institutiona~ costs in resource manag,ement by and for poor peo:p~e

/fi1(9.11':_m~~1,~µt~-9i\~:.f:~:s·~:· ,.~~~;.t_n·s_iJ!~QO:~·:·C:.C?S~ _'.

_____._ - _._. _ - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Relatively high • Large-scale Irrigation • Smam-scal'e hiII: lr.ngatlon

t.echnlcal costs • AJ:,ld or semi-and land reforestation or pasture • Fooct crop systems on dlflcu It sol ls
Improvement • Locallssd water hal'VSS11ng strucru res
• Sodie or sall ne land recramatlon
1
• Centrallsoo provision of energy services
• Mangrove rnforestatlo n • so.lar energy for Indlvldual :households
• Integrated river-bas In management • PI pe sewer systems
• Many transboundary resourcas, e.g. lnternatlonal • Em iss lo ns !'Eduction devices
rivers, air quall'ty • Improved publlc tram,p:Jrt
• Resettlement schemes
• V\rater-po11ut10 n reduct Ion p.rog ram mes
• ·Rura1roa.CI maintenance
• O:;eari fisheries management
Relatively low • Aquifer management • Treadle pump lnr1gaUon
technlcaJ costs • Protection of crttJca~areas • Hum.Id tropics rsfor9statlon
• Coasta'I flsher.les management • Small. VJater harvesting systems
• Coral-reef management • Jolnt fo·rsst manag,emeit regimes
• Pasture management • improvocl, cooking stoves and coo'klng energy 'for poor families
• Land-reform programmes • Sloping a.grloultural land toohnology' (SJ\Ll)
1

• Integrated pest: management • Small'-saale quanylng:

• Wlldagame management • Housefl old~basSJ san ltatlon systems

Soi.tree: UNDP

12.3 Environmental degradation II

and Vlithout strong safeguards could be hijacked by outcomes - how successful have these policies been
organised crime. Many countries and organisations at different stages of their implementation? Have
have strongly backed the UN plans to expand the global policies been.modified to cope with mitially unforeseen
carbon market to allow countries ta trade the carbon circumsta.n ces?
stored in forests . An example of an endangered envrronment is Ecuador's
D The protection of environments at risk Andean cloud forests . The Andean Corridor Project aims
to protect the vital ecosysteins of this diversity hotspot.
Environments at risk can be protected in various ,vays. Four reserves totalling 142000hectares have already
At the most e-Xtreme, human activity and access can been created and there are plans to add more reserves to
be totally banned, such as in Wtldemess Areas; or protect the forests and wildlife from human activity.
extremely limited, as is usually the case in National Sometimes degraded environments cross international
Parks. However, in many areas it is usually necessary to borders and effective action requires close cooperation
sustain significant populations and rates of economic betw'een countries. Degradation in one country; for
activity. particularly in L!Cs. In these cases~ various example the large-scale rem.oval of forest cover in Nepal
types of sustainabl~-development policies nssd to be can have severe implications for a country downstream of
irnplemen ted. Individual environments can be assessed a river system, in this case India.
mterms of:
needs - what needs to be done to reduce environmental
degradation as far as possible without destroying the
livelihoods of the resident population? 1 Disouss the constraiints on ~m,proving the qu~ity oi
measures -what are the policies and practices that can degraded env~ronm ents. .
be imple·mented to ach.ieve these aims at various time 2 Write a br~ef summary of the ·framework presented i1n
scales? Table 12.1 4.

managem nt of a
en i o ment

Case Stt1dy-; Namibia - community deyelopment

INamibi1ai rin south-west Ah'ica~ 1 is a very sparsery populated
country whh a g1enerallliy dry di1 mate. A~most 29 per
cent of irts 2.3 imrnion peop~e live bellow the internati-ona~
poverty line of $1.26 a day. Envfronmental degradation
and su sta~nabHrlty are signifjcant issues in lts m,arginai
~andscapes. with th e government attempting1to tacide
these ~ssues and reduce poverty at the sam1e t1 i1me. The
causes of degrada11on have been mainty uncontroUed
explo~ta1io:n by a low-~ncome popula1ion forced to think
only in 1he short term in order to surv~vemand lack oi
rm anag1emen1 at all ileveis of g1over111ment ~n earli er years .
As the deg1radat~on process intens1 ified; the government
assisted by international agencies1 1 iden1ified the prob,e1ms
and put ~n place a stgnificant strategy.
1
Nam~lb1a s Comim unall Conservancy Programme
(F,guire 12 .511) ~s regarded as a successful 1m od el ·Of
communtty-based natural resoU1rce 1management! w~th an
~mprovi1ng record for ·wi~dllife numbers and poverty reduct~on.
T'hs program1me gives rural communities. unprecedented
managem1ent and use rights over wi1ldllife, whtch have
created new incent~ves for corn11muinit1es to protect 1his.
valuable resource and develop e,conomiic opportunitiies
~n tour~sm.

Figure 12.51 Wildiwe in a community conservancy in Namibia

• 12 Environmental management
 The Conservancy Programm1e began ~n 11996 and there miore than doub1ed bet\lveen 1982 and 2000~and poputattons
are now 64 community conservandes covering1over 17 per of oryx~springbok and mountain zebra rose tenfdd. Thts
cent of ttie country and embradng one i1n four of ruraf ~miprovement results from a deortne in tinega11 hunti1ng1and
Namib~ans. Community cons rvanci (Figure 12.52) are poadhi1ng1due to the econo:m ~c va,ue that c-onsenrancy
f,egaJllly recogn~sed com1mon property re.source·manage:ment com'munitijes now place on heaWhy wJld~tfe popu1a1tons.
organ~satfons in Nam·ibia's communal lands. The use nigihts The conservandes bene'fit from a number of '1new'
g~ven to conservandes 1indude t:he rights to hunt capture cuH 1 econornic actruiuiesl indud~ng:
and sell •niuntable game' . However, the government determ·ines
contracts with tourism compari,es
the overaH oullring raie and estab,ishes quotas for proteciJing
• selling hunting ,c oncess1ions
game Ursed for trophy hurrting.
• manag11ng campsn:es
An obv.ous s~gn of success js the sign~ficant 1increase 1in
• selling wi'I dl1rfe to game ranchers
the numbers o-f w1fd"fe jn the conservancles aiter decades of
selling crafts.
decline. l n the north-west conservancies~·el1~phant numbers
Thes·e acthAt~es are 1in additton to tradtti onal farming
1

AN!GO LA pradtices, which were usuaUy at the subsi,stence ,eve!.

The di1versiication of economitc activity made poss~ble by
Katlmo Mtdllo
oO~hakatl 0 , the Conservancy Programme has increased ernp!oyment
t-1·- I ")- ..._ - . _ ,,;'
where iew ~sted beforehandf and also ra~sed
L•I \
.1opportun1t~es
'.
I 11comes.
'·... The s~gnifican1: participat~on of conservancy poptdlations has
been central to the design of the Programme·. Conseirvandes
are bui11t around 1he wm1ngness ·o f oomm1unmes to work
'I. \

N A MIBI A ~.
'

., colleoti.ve!y. Often, they for1m when neigrhbounng villages

Wlndhoak
0
BOTSWA NA and 'triba~ authodties agree to ·trace a boundary around
WI lvls: Bay 1
the~r shared borders and manage the wildlite within thts
1
• .. • ........ · • • ..... • .. • .. • .. • .. • • .. • -~R•hoboth .. ··· ····... ·.. ·.. ·~~pi~· .. ·.... · .' , area. The Conservancy Prog1ramme has inbuilt fleXJibmty diat
' aDows oomm1un1iti:es to choose d~erse strategies.fo:r wHd,tfe
N
... manag:e ment and di1stributing benefits.

f
, .. -. Support from and cooperation between a number of d~fferent
t' ........ ....
, mnsttutions has been important to the devefopmen1 of fue
0 km 200 D Stam protected programme {Figure 12.53). Such institutions bning substan1iai
areas expe·rience and skills ,n helping oonservandes to devebp.
D Conservandes IRunni1ng s!kiilts tra1n~ng progrannmes has been an irnportant aspect
@stablished
... before2003 of such support. For exermP1e~communal oonsen1andes are able
SOUTH D Cons@rva nci@s to caJIII on the experience of vanious NGOs for hefp and advJoe.
Eistablist-i-t d aifur l lhiis enables good practice 1in one area to be appNed in other
AfR IICA 2003
areas. l he Namibiain Community-based Toudsm Assocra1ian has
\ been instrumental ~n helping1communities negotrate ~evies and
Figure 12.52 N0Jmib1as community conservancies i1ncome-sharing agreements with tourism co,mpani,es.

'
Organ i!Satio n Sup·po rt activitie s
Legal Ass is~n c:e Centre Suppl~es lega,1advice and a,dvoc:acy on lssues refatedl to commun,ity-based natural, resource mana1gerrnen:t
(CBNRM}
Nam ib1ia Corn mu n,ity-B ase d Serves as an, umbrella o rga.nisati'O n andfsupport p rovi d e:r for co mmu:n ·ity-ba,sed ·t o urisrn in,iti atives
Tour1sm Associatio.n
Na,mib1ia1NGO Forum :Re,p,resents a broad range oi NGOs and co mmu,nirty-based organisations
Na mibija Nature Fo1J.J ndatio11 IProv1des ass,ista nce th ro ug1n grants, ·fin anciail administration, techn ica I s up,port, fund ra isi119, aod mon ito ri,n g
Rossirig 1Fou ndat ion and eva Iu at.ion
Mult i~disdpllinary Research Centre Prov~de; tr.;ah1 ingi and materi,a ls for CBNiRM partners
1

Nam1b ia, Devefo pme nt Trust Centre of t he Un iversi ty of Namtbia provides research-related st1pport
1

Centre for Res-eaird, 1nformabon Provides assistance to establi shed and emerging conservandes in southe·m Namibia
Action in Africa - Southern Afri,ca Provides researdh; devek:~pmentaf assistance, .and mairket lrnkag,es for natura·I plant products
Deve lopment and Consulfting,
1

12.4 Th e m anagement of a degraded envi ron ment •

 !NARA Conducts cap adty tra i1niri g in pa rtic ipa to ry, democratk man a91eme,nt for co nse,rva ncy co mmuin iti es and
institutions sup,port~ng com munirties
Desert Resea,rch Foundatku, of Rese~rches arid land ma,na,gement, conducts participato·ry 1lea.rni ng projects wi1
th communiti es about
Namibia sustaiinab!le management. and engages polkymak~rs to improve regulatory framework for .sustarna,ble
development
s
Ru ra,I, Peop'le h1stitute for Sod aI Prov ides assistance to est.abHsh.e d and emerg ing conservancies in sout hern Kunene and Erongo reg,ions
Empowerment
Integrated Rural Deve lop ment
1
A-fie ld~based organisation work~ng to support consetvancy devel.opment in Kunene and C::aprrivi ,r~gions
arid NatU're Conservation
Nyae Nyae DeveJopment S1upports San communities in, the Otjozondjupa1regrion in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy
Found ati·on
M in·istr,y of En,vironment a,nd
1
MET i,s not a form.a t membe~ but attends meetin,gs and pa,rtidpates in NACSO wor:ki1ng grou:ps .
Tourism Prov~des a broad spectrum of support rill terms of polky, wild1ife 1mon,itori',ngi and ma nag,ement. and
pub liid ty.
Sources: MET 2005; NEEN 2004 a, b, c; Weaver 2007~ Jones 2008 in Update 'Scaling up Namibia's comm unity oonsel'\lancies', p.32

Figure 12.53 Namjb.ian Assodat•on of CBNRM Support Organisations (NACSO),

Allthougih rural poverty remains si·g nifi can1 in Nam~b~ a, An i1mportant aspect of deve~op:m ent has been the
the Conservancy Pr.ogramme has resulted i1n substanba~ invol~ement of women in the employment benefnts. Such
progress, with income r1is1ing year on year. Table 12.15, jobs have inc~uded beiing game guards and natural! resource
shows the detailed breakdown o·f conse,rvancy-related monitors, as wen as serving1toU1rists in campgrounds and
,nco:m·e ~n 2006. In 2006~cons·ervancy i1ncome reached lodg1es.
neady N$19,m~H~on {US$'1 .4m~mon). jncom·e from small R~sing fncome trom conservandes has made possible
b usinesses as.soc~ated w irth the conservandes but not investment in soda~ devetopm,ent projects. This he~
increas~ng1 1
diirectly owned by the1m bro,ught ~n another N$8 m111io-n made conservandes an tncreas•ng1y important e1ement ln F'urell
(US$580000). devefopment.

Tab le 12 .15 Conservancy-related income, 2006

~~.· Jr~ _
1
.%,0notal.
~:~#ry.~iic·
¥ "-'~~-o~~~: I
Scaling-up resource management
Following the perceived success of community consel'Vancies
the Nam~bian government has extended 1he concept to
J

Mlsc-ellaneous 34788 0.1 community for sls (Rgure 12.54}. Estabi~hing a community
Premium hunting 43600 0.2 forest ris sirmUar to the process of forming a conse1rvancy. llhia is
Veld products 39000 0.1 a good exampte of the .>C Iin g .. up process from one natural
resource system to ano~her. Based on the Forest Act. cl 2001
Thatching grass 2450481, 9.1
t:h e project hejps l oca~ communrbes to estab!l~sh ~hetr own
St:loot and selI 504883 1.9 commun1ity forests! to manage and utmse them in1a sustainable
hunting manner. Because many rural Namibi1ans are poor, 1 it js important
,Interest ea.moo 161 807 0.6 that they have a greater say in how fo,r est resources are
managed and share the benefits of propedy managed forest
Craft sales 474343 1.8
resources.
Oampsltes and 37464811 14 .0 !Forest fires and urncont-rdlled cuttfng1have been two o.f the
·Commun lty-based
main problems facing forest~protection efforts ~n Namibra for
tour,lsm enterprises
somre time. About 4mimon hectares of forest and ve~d are
Trophy meat 870.219 3.2 burnt annuaU~ mostly as a result of ftres started denberateiy to
dlstrlbut1o n improve grazing and to dear huntiing1grounds.
Game donation 860950 3.2 The advent of commuintty forests hes led to 1imiproved forest
Use of own game 739629 2.8 resource manag,ement It has also ~mproved the livellihoods of
focal peopfe based on the empowerment of locat communit ~es
Trophy hunting 6 1"1 3923 22.8
Wlith iorest use rlghts. Vmagers ~n community forests derive
J olnt-venture to ur,lsrn 10794668 40.2 an income by marketing forestry products such as t~mber
Total 26834772 100.0 and i 1rewood, poles! wild fruitsi devWs daw, thatching grass!
toudsm! honey from beekeepjng1, w ~~dlrte , woven baskets and
Source: WVVF et al 2007: 113 other crafts.

Ill 12 Env iro nmental management

 Base-din large part on the success of CBNRM in the
1
Country Pilat artnership for Integrated
conservandes, the Nam~b~an governmen1 enacted ~egislaoon Sustainable Land Management
in 2001 allowing ihe formatlon of co,mmunhy iores.ts-areas The Govemment oi Namibma ~dentmed land degradation as
1

within the countrys communal lands for oo~ch a community a seri ous prob!em that demanded 1
1
remedtall intervenTion.
has obtained management rights over forest resources Five government d epartments together wiith in1ernatk, nai
1

such as timber. f irewood, w~ld frurts, thatch grass. honey, agendes, established a Country Pi~ot Partnership for integrated
and even some· w iidhf,e (MET 2003). The establfshment of Susta~nabie Land !M anagem ent. The acti~hes were funded
the co1mmun~ty forest program shows how 1he sca!ing~up through the G~obaJI Environment Fad~ity (GEF} in partnershjp
proc,e ss can reach across natural resource systems aff.ecting
1
w~th the United Nations Development Program1me (UINDP) as
na1uraJ resour,ce policy at the broadest level. Although the ~mpJement,ng lead a.g:ency. Other orgian~sations ~ndudjng the
communi1y forest program and 1he conservancy program European Unton were rinvoived.
are ino,w administered separately by different m~niS1riest The pilot project began in ea~ly 2008 and ran untlt !late
some groups have expressed interest ~n m,er,gi n g the 2011. llhe project obJectiive was to develop and pUot a range
programs to aU ow a more ~ntegrated approach 10 manag,ng
1
of cop~ng mechan~ms for redudngi ~he vu1nerability of farmers
natural reso,urces at the commun~ty level (Tjaronda 2008). and pastorail'ists to d~1mate changeti 1ndudl~ng veriabil1ity. It
took place both w~hin and outs~de communa~ conservancies.
Establ~sh~ng a commun~ty forest js s,mdar to t he process of Its organisa1ron was at leas.t part:ly based on what Nam~bia
forming a conservancy. Communit~es must: has !earned from the estab[ishment of cornrmunal and forest
'
• Submmt a formal application to the, governm·en1; conse:rvanctes.
• Elect a forest management commjttee from the
community;
• Deve~op a const~tut~on;
• Se~ect map. and de:man< a community f.ofes,t area:
• Submit a fores1 manag,ement plan describing how 1he 1 Why was the Community Conseruanoy Programme
community wUl harv,est forest resources sustajnably and
1 introduced?
manage other activrtjes such as grazi1ng and fanning 2 ~ .o w have employment opportunities expanded under
with ~n the f o re,st area; ~he conservancy progiramm1e?
• Specify use rights and by~a.ws necessary to act on the~r 3 Comm,e nt on ~he ~mportance· of the Nam1iibian
m anagement ptan;
1
Assoda.1:jon of CBNRM Organ1satiions to the success of
• Craft a plan to, ensure the eq u,table di:str~but~,on of
the Communal Conservancy Programme.
4 Comiment on the diistdbution of conservancy-reJated
revenues to aH commun1ity members; a1nd
rnco me shown in Tabl e 12.15.
1 1

• Obtain permi1ssjon from the area's tradh~onal authority

(MET .2003).
5 Descdbe and exp~ain the extens1on of the conservancy
concept 10 forests Jn Namibia.
As of AprH 2008iJ a to,tai of 45, community forests had
been formed (altho·ugh only 13 wer,e offidaHy gaze1ted),
1

enc,ompassing 2.2 mUlion ha and benefitung some 150,000

Nam ;b~ans, In "the north-eastern reg ion alone, 16 r,egis1ered
forests have generated moire 1:han N'$300,000 (US$38,000)
since· 2005 (The Namiio~an 2008.~ Tjaronda 2008) .

Figure 12.54 Extendjng the conservancy concept - com1m un1ty

f crests 111 Namib,a

12.4 Th e m anagement of a d egraded envi ron me nt II