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The objective of the study is to provide an overview of the impact of recent economic crises and shocks since 2008 on environmental impact, environmental quality and environmental policy in six federal subjects of the Ural Federal District, which is one of the most industrialized and urbanized regions of Russia. These federal subjects differ in sectoral structure of regional economies and the level of Gross Regional Product (GRP). The quantitative analysis undertaken by the study is based on annual dataset which c...

Rare earth elements (REE) are strategic resources, with an elevated risk of supply instability. Significant price fluctuations related to monopoly in REE mining and production increase interest in alternative sources of acquisition. Substantial growth in demand for REE in the next decade is projected. As a potential alternative sources of REE is considered recycling of electronic waste and the processing of ashes from the incineration of municipal waste. Also the reprocessing of mining waste, both from current pro...

According to the European Directive 2002/49/EC, EU members have to draw up a strategic noise map for all agglomerations with more than 250000 inhabitants and for all major airports, roads and railways. A study of environmental impact assessment on Highway A23 in the stretch between Abrantes пїЅ Guarda, conducted under the environmental noise, has as objective the characterization of the current situation, i.e. representation of senses in sound levels surrounding the infrastructure, based on modelling and acoustic ...

The environmental investment programmes are targeted at the implementation of sustainable development activities, maintaining the quality of environment and biological diversity and ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources. In recent decade, Latvia has been one of the most active among the new EU Member States in the acquisition of the EU financial resources and other financial instruments for the implementation of the environmental policy targets in Latvia, especially in the spheres of environmental prot...

In the efforts to improve products and processes, it is getting more and more important to implement integrated management systems in companies to enable comprehensive and synergistic solutions to problems arising in different areas of the business activity. Environmental management is usually the key component of an integrated management system, in particular in relation to improving environmental performance of products and processes. An inherent element of the integrated management system concept is the extent ...

Russian governmental concern about serious problems in a field of health protection connected with environmental protection and safety of Russian Federation is shown based on the analysis of national strategic documents. In this regard, the establishing of scientific basis for environmental protection and environmental safety of population aimed at the correcting of the existing environmental standards and the indicators of permissible anthropogenic impact on environment is given by the federal document "Fundament...

The article presents the material, both on theoretical and practical issues of rational use of agricultural land in the North Caucasus Federal District (NCFD), as well as an analysis of the main reasons that led to their degradation. Assess ongoing processes on agricultural lands with their heavy use. An important feature of the NCFD district is the high proportion of rural population (49.7%) is the highest in the Russian Federation. Revealed major shortcomings in the organization and use of land resources, which ...

Environment Protection is becoming part of the international and national legislation on human rights. The link between the environment protection and human right is the focus of such paper. Alongside, the paper will raise also the question of environment protection as dispensable mean for the protection of one fundamental right such as the right to life. Indeed, the debate about the relationship between the environment protection and human right at international level is going on for more than forty years. Moreov...

To comply with European UnionпїЅs rules regarding the environmental protection it is necessary for the all compound feed factories (CFF) to be fitted with modern and performant working equipments, with a high degree of mechanization, automation and computerization, with high productivity and low specific consumption, but also with opportunities for rigorous monitoring of pollutants and dust removed. Taking into account the complexity of the technological flow that takes place in a compound feed factory (CFF), this...

Determination of soil properties is based on soil sampling with low resolution (1- 2 or more samples per hectare) and their analysis in the laboratory. This method does not provide sufficient data to highlight the significant variability of the soil properties for the analysed parcel. This leads to a uniform distribution of the nutrients that can also be synthetic chemical substances (pollutants). Since the soil properties can influence plants growth, high-resolution mapping is required by the help of some sensors...

Urban green space has different functions in cities, at several levels, such as the environmental, ecological, social, economic, cultural and aesthetic, promoting the image and character of an urban area. In crease the number of residents in urban areas of Kosovo, has directly affected in growth rate of environmental pollution. Air quality is a major problem in many urban areas in the Republic of Kosovo and therefore has a great impact on human health. The objective of this study is to describe the use of urban gr...

Based on the environmental minimum criteria that have just been introduced in Italian legislation, new constructions should consider the environmental impact of used building products by calculating the degree of disassemblability and recyclability. How much will today's Italian buildings be disassembled? What is the degree of recyclability of the used materials? The paper introduces a new instrument, called environmental quantity survey which cares cost aspects but also those who will directly impact on the envir...

Construction and beginning of operation of reservoirs have significant impact on the environment. Resettlement of residents, flooding of a part of the river valley, changes in the river regime and ecosystems as well as mass movements are the most troublesome types of interactions. Such processes may be a little less noticeable when polders are designed. Management of geological resources i.e. mineral resources accumulated in the reservoir basin or in its vicinity is a significant task. It often happens that minera...

The risk assessment of an organization is stipulated in international standards and in a variety of international and national laws and reglementations. In the context of the obvious environmental problems and incidents with disastrous effects for the environment of the past 50 years, industrial and business environment recognizes the importance of environmental risk management and its applied. In the process of the environmental risk management, the risk assessment and risk treatment plays a crucial role in the c...

The Leningrad Region is a big/one the main subject of the Russian Federation with a highly developed industrial, transport and scientific potential. The article provides an analysis of some environmental problems typical for this region. Based on the aggregation of statistical information, data is provided on the structure and dynamics of total emissions, air pollutants, as well as emissions and sinks of greenhouse gases in various sectors of the economy of the Leningrad region. The features of deposition of subst...

In recent years, the EU Member States experience a significant increase in resource efficiency; however, the environmental resource efficiency indicators in the Baltic States, including Latvia, are significantly lower than the EU average indicators and an improvement in figures is too slow. Environmental taxes serve as an essential fiscal instrument for the increase of resource efficiency. Therefore, the research aim is to assess the application of environmental taxes as a fiscal instrument to increase the resourc...

This paper explores the possibilities of architectural design to benefit human condition, which encompasses physical well-being, environmental quality of life in big cities during the Climate Change era. The urban pollution is rising on a global scale. The present paper is focused on a new possibility to resolve the problem of air purification in highly-urbanized areas. The first part of the paper depicts possible usage of Titanium dioxide (TiO2) technology - nanoparticles of TiO2, as a building materials componen...

The most studied and promising for the biotechnological production among extreme halophiles are archaebacteria Halobacterium salinarum. Food additives for humans and animals based on these halobacteria have an immunostimulating, antioxidant effect, can be used in complex therapy of viral diseases, and contain biologically unique active substances, vitamins and microelements. High-price hydrolysates and enzymatic hydrolysates of high-quality raw materials are used for H. salinarum cultivation. This causes a high co...

Starch is widely used as a biodegradable component in the production of modern packaging materials. Determination of starch is necessary to control the stage of production of starch-containing materials, as well as to assess their biodegradability. The main process leading to the destruction of biodegradable composites is the biological degradation of starch under the influence of enzymes when starch-containing materials are located in the natural environment. Two types of starch-containing packaging materials wer...

REE determinations were conducted for two mineralized lakes of the Ishim steppe, situated between the Irtysh and Tobol rivers in the southern part of Western Siberia, by means of atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). They are of Cl-Na-type but differ in salinity and pH. It was shown that REE distribution patterns for the Zhamantuz and Kishikaroy lake waters were identical. Nevertheless, coherent fractionation from LREE to HREE is disrupted after the equilibrium calculations. Thermodynamic modeling was performed wi...

This article presents the results, obtained from testing an equipment used to obtain biogas and biochar from biomass, developed and manufactured based on a patent developed on a research and development project by the IHP staff. A modern way in order to produce ecological and cheap thermal energy is to utilize biomass through micro-gasification process called TLUD (Top-Lit UpDraft) with high conversion efficiencies and emissions of CO and low PM2,5. A new way for producing energy from biomass is the CHAB concept (...

The development of the small and poor deposits of rare-earth elements can be useful when creating effective, waste-free technology, requiring the solution of actual tasks on the modern stage of development of this kind of industry. The paper presents the possibility of the removal of the Er+3 from dilute aqueous solutions by adsorption-bubble method-Solvent Sublation (SS) using sodium dodecyl sulfate (NaDS). A theoretical and experimental investigation of SS in solutions of the nitrates of Er+3 with NaDS, used as ...

Using interpolation techniques for predicting economic activities such as a movement of cyclist is always vitiated by an error. Therefore, this paper deals with the issue of understanding the error during modelling and compares different assessing criteria for choosing the most accurate method in order to decrease error propagation. The diagnostic of interpolation methods can be calculated with cross-validation approach. In case of kriging methods, we computed the estimated prediction standard errors and we examin...

Drought and associated effects can cause serious damage to crop maize. Breeding drought tolerance by the development of new hybrids, aims at identifying some accurate screening techniques. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the hydrological conditions (with stress - drought year and without stress - normal year) on the yield and other traits for six maize hybrids grown at ARDS ?imnic, Craiova and to investigate drought tolerance of these hybrids using several stress tolerance indices. Analys...

The most direct change of a watershed induced by urbanization is the land use/cover (LUC) change, which will change the flood response of the watershed. To study this effect, long series of LUC change at watershed scale is needed to be prepared. A watershed is usually a large domain even it is at small scale considering its fine spatial resolution, so the traditional way of field surveying is not feasible for mapping LUC at watershed scale. Development of satellite remote sensing technology provides inexpensive wa...

Time series on quantities, areas harvested and yield average of key global crops in Bulgaria пїЅ wheat, maize, rise and soybean пїЅ are stored in multidimensional database. The developed software modules for statistical processing are embedded into database to give better operability than known software systems with Graphical User Interface. Time series on key global crops production in Bulgaria on national and regional level are studied for the period 2002-2015. Comparative data analysis on two sub-periods with t...

The paper presents the research results of the accuracy of robotic total stations automatic sighting using standard and panoramic пїЅ360пїЅ reflectors, which are used for geodesy and mining surveying purposes. Based on the statistical processing of laboratory and field observation data, the relationships between the automatic sighting precision and the various survey conditions were determined. The hypotheses for the correspondence of the statistical law of the obtained errors to the normal and uniform law are ver...

The main parameter for calculation of waterway openings of bridges and pipes, as well as cross sections of water-draining meliorative ditches, is maximum water flow rate. So, the reliable calculation of this parameter is essential for selection of appropriate design solutions. Snow melt flood volume is mainly determined by the volume of water stored in the snow cover when melting begins, and flow rate пїЅ by the rash of spring snow melt flood. In its turn, snow stock is considerably depends on the degree of covera...

Industrial and social development of mountain regions in the south part of Siberia requires reliable estimation of the river flow. The runoff is mostly formed by rainfalls and melting. Scarce network of hydrometeorological stations and their location in valleys make interpretation of precipitation spreading in high mountains disputable. Therefore, mathematic modeling of runoff volume is of prime importance. Complex approach to mountain small catchments runoff estimation is suggested. River flow modeling is based o...

Considering the fact that the production of 1 kg of output in the pharmaceutical sector has a higher environmental impact than the production of 1 kg of output in the chemical industry, this article examines the way in which the specific legislation of the EU regarding medicinal products is adapted to the legislative instruments for the assessment and control of the environmental risks posed by medicinal products for human use during their life cycle, from production and up to the end of their life cycle. The Euro...

The research paper deals with the issues involved in regulating cooperation between the EU and CIS in their space programs. The environmental factor in exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes has become extremely urgent in the light of intensified exploration. Analysis of the international legal regulation of the use and protection of outer space was therefore carried out with specific emphasis on the environmental factors. While many agreements containing no clearly expressed conservation nature ...

Background: To choose a strategy for its educational and economic activities, an ecological university needs a clear understanding of the competitive situation in the education market. This problem is of great importance for the Russian Federation, which has the largest reserves of natural resources and pollution-free areas. High-quality professional training of ecologists in Russian universities has to ensure preservation of the environment and rational nature management. Therefore, to make the right choice of it...

Various sites with materials resulting from mining activities were investigated, as secondary sources for Rare Earth Elements (REE). The aim of our paper is to present the main methods used for characterizing these materials and the result of extraction processes in order to evaluate the efficiency of RRE recovery processes which are using environmentally friendly methods. The characterization of these materials is a first task aiming to identify the best sites which can furnish the most suitable materials for con...

Gas field redevelopments or rehabilitation projects have become an alternative approach to develop incremental production and additional reserves using new fit-for-purpose technology and concepts. The integrated reservoir study begins with geological characterization and modeling followed by evaluation of the geological gas resources and reserves considering the actual production profile. The redevelopment plan continues with a well by well review and nodal production system analysis to evaluate well performance a...

This paper evaluates the abnormalities in monthly, half-year and annual rainfall totals in the Western Tatras Mts for the period 1994 to 2013, issuing from the values recorded at the precipitation stations Bobrovec situated at 632 m a.s.l., Zuberec at 763 m a.s.l. and ?ervenec with an elevation of 1,500 m a.s. l. These stations have also different exposures as for the dominant wind flow: Bobrovec is situated on the leeward side, Zuberec on the windward side and ?ervenec in the summit part of this mountain range. T...

Widespread use of electronic regulators, in order to correlate the working parameters at sprinkling machines imposes making a study to assess the performances of the regulation process in working conditions. To achieve this objective were pursued the following aspects: adequate choice of system components; the achievement in own conception of a electronic regulator for automatic correlation of liquid flow with displacement velocity; choosing and preparing a sprinkling machine on which will be installed the achieve...

Road infrastructure is a vital system that has a direct influence on economy of states. In this regard, there is a direct relationship between the coating conditions of automobile roads and the countryпїЅs industrial development. This dynamic increases intensity and traffic congestion constantly. Thereby, it is necessary to eliminate the damages and increase the exploitation time of road coatings. This concerns mostly asphalt - concrete pavements which form the basis of automobile road networks in countries. Based...

The air pollution in Polish cities causes the formation of the phenomenon of smog. The reason for this phenomenon is mainly low society awareness of environmental protection and the methods of preventing the use of low-quality fuels in the home fireplaces. At the same time the development of the automotive industry contributes to this negative phenomenon. The air pollution in large and small Polish cities was analysed. The examples of cities fighting against the smog were also given. The research of the air qualit...

Many informatics tools have been developed based on extensive databases related to terrain modeling and technical objects of the existing hydropower developments. Among them, VAPIDRO-ASTE can be distinguished as a powerful and demonstrated tool, which can be used either for the evaluation of the hydropower potential and the optimization of the complex hydropower development of a river sector, or for the evaluation of an existing hydropower development in order to establish the need of the refurbishment and/or reha...

The aim of this study was to analyzed the effect of calcium ions from gluconate and lactate salt at the level of 100, 150 and 200 mg/100g addition on empirical dough rheological properties from the wheat flour type 1250. Dough empirical rheological properties were analyzed using the Farinograph, Amilograph, Glutograph, Alveograph, and Rheofermentometer devices. These devices allow us to obtain complete informations about dough rheological properties during mixing, pasting and fermentation process of wheat flour do...

The article presents a novel approach to the evaluation of the economic potential of grasslands. The economic potential of grasslands is evaluated by assessing the heat energy potential of grass (both in energy and monetary terms), based on two products пїЅ methane (biogas) and grass pellets. This approach provides an alternative to the assessment of the economic potential of grasslands, and it is specially intended for situations when grasslands are unmanaged due to low demand for grass biomass as a fodder. The e...

Economic development of the world is closely linked to the consumption of electricity. Energy is central to improved social and economic well-being, and is indispensable for industrial and commercial wealth generation. But however essential it may be for development, energy is only a means to an end. The end is a sustainable economy and a clean environment, high living standards, prosperity and good health. Energy indicators for sustainable development represent an important component in the national analysis and ...

Tarnow region is supplied with water from intensively exploited groundwater and surface water intakes located in the small area between Dunajec and Bia?a rivers. Three groundwater intakes are a part of the Tarnow Municipal Water Service, i.e. ?wierczkпїЅw, K?pa Bogumi?owicka and newly constructed Zbylitowska GпїЅra intake, as well as the intake of surface water in Zbylitowska GпїЅra. The chemical company Zak?ady Azotowe in TarnпїЅw has groundwater intake located in TarnпїЅw-Mo?cice, and one of surface water locate...

The article presents the way of conducting a forecast of leverages of underground mining run by longwall fronts in three deposits of hard coal on the area. The forecasted values of subsidences, inclinations and curvatures of mining area were calculated by the Budryk- Knothe theory with the use of typical values of its parameters, namely, a coefficient of subsidence of floor rocks equal to 0.8 and tangent of scope angle of main leverages amounting to 2.0. The forecasts of indicatorsпїЅ values of area deformation we...

The study focusses on an evaluation of the forest changes in the Low Tatras National Park. The used methods are based on the time series of the satellite Landsat images. The impacts of disturbances on the health of vegetation, particularly forest ecosystems, are investigated using time series methods. The main data source is the archive of satellite Landsat data. The selected vegetation indices are used and tested for the purposes of the detection of land cover changes and evaluation of the health of forest. From ...

Several spatially distributed soil moisture estimates of different origin, spatial and temporal resolution are currently available for Europe or individual countries. These estimates range from gridded observations and satellite products to the estimates of large scale and/or spatially distributed water balance models. The estimated soil moisture is potentially useful for improving the water balance assessment with hydrological models in gauged and ungauged basins and reduction of uncertainty in the estimated para...

To evaluate hydrological drought in small basin was used minimum flow parameters like percentiles from the flow duration curve, mean annual minimum flow, base flow index and recession index. Water deficit was estimated based on threshold level method and the sequent peak algorithm. Each method was exemplified using data from hydrometric stations from small basins included in Bahlui drainage basin. The results show that in the period between 1950 and 2014, the average drought duration of the cold season is over 20 ...

The problem of stress state evaluation is really actual for the underground structures been exploited for a long time. Stress and deformation monitoring give opportunity for hazard prevention and planning operation mode of the underground facility. One of the most common methods of deformation control is convergence measurement, but transformation of measured data into stress state of underground structures is quite difficult. A technique for stress state evaluation of underground structures on the base of the ana...

Slovakia with regard to its small size (approximately 49,000 km2) is relatively rich in mineral water sources. This fact also applies to conditions of eastern Slovakia, which is mainly in the northern part concentrated numerous mineral springs in addition to several spas and bottling plant minerпїЅl waters. Eastern Slovakia is part of the Western Carpathians, which are of geological terms divided into five structural-facial zones. In addition to the front to the west of Slovakia interventions on its east: - Flysch...

An open source toolпїЅs popularity has increased considerably, as well as micro aerial vehicles (MAV) technologies based on open source hardware. An open source software and hardware delivers a wide variety of applications and technology. The worldпїЅs most successful open source projects have their roots in the academy, and now its participation includes a wide variety of academic programs and research. Based on open source technology, a case study has been designed and performed, in order to prove this technolog...