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The environment is the complex set of physical, geographic, biological, social, cultural and political conditions that surround an individual or organism and that determine its form and the nature of its survival. The environment influences how people live and how societies. For that reason, people, progress, economic development and environment are closely linked. More Info: http://crowncapitaleco.tumblr.com/ Environmental economics is a sub-field of economics concerned with environmental issues. Environmental economics undertakes theoretical studies of the economics effects on natural or local environmental policies around the world, particular issues include the costs and benefits of alternative environmental policies to deal with air pollution, water quality, toxic substance, solid waste, and global warming (National Bureau of Economic Research). Environmental issues in Pakistan threaten the population's health and have been disturbing the balance between economic development and environmental protection. The environmental conditions in Pakistan are a matter of great concern. A number of serious environmental problems present in our country, which are of great ecological concern in terms of sustainable economic future. These are water pollution from raw sewage, industrial, limited natural fresh water resources, solid erosion, pesticide misuse, deforestation, desertification and urban pollution. Environment has never been matter of concern for Pakistan and the tendency goes further chronic as all mainstream political parties, bracing for participation in the forthcoming polls, have placed environment issues at the bottom of their draft manifestos. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), adopted in 1992 and entered into force in 1994 and as a result the adoption of Kyoto Protocol initially in 1997 (which later entered into force on February 16, 2005) has dubbed it necessary for all to have more vibrant climate change policies at

Crown Jakarta Management Nacogdoches is one of the world's largest purpose-built biomass-fuelled power generation plants Credit: Southern Company In the UK, biomass electricity generators have been required to report annually on their performance against sustainability criteria for the biomass feedstocks they use. The reporting was intended to develop knowledge ahead of the introduction of European sustainability standards, which have yet to materialise. The two sustainability criteria are: a minimum 60-per-cent greenhouse gas lifecycle emission saving for electricity generation, using solid biomass or biogas relative to fossil fuel restrictions on using materials sourced from land with high biodiversity value or high carbon stock (primary forest, protected areas, peatland and wetlands) From April 2013, generators are required to meet the sustainability criteria in order to receive support under renewable obligations. The UK government says that further work is underway to include sustainable forest management criteria in future. Calculating emissions The RSPB report says that the payback period for electricity generated from using whole conifer trees is 80 years, but other studies come up with lower figures. The difference lies in the assumptions used in making life-cycle assessments. Establishing the life-cycle emissions of biomass fuel is a complex calculation. It must take into account such factors as: location of the source, location of combustion, the type and derivation of the source material, treatment or preparation, and transport of the material. If the biomass comes from an energy crop planted specifically to produce biomass fuel, then the calculation may need to incorporate a calculation of the indirect land-use change impact of the biofuel if net carbon loss occurs when forests and

By Kim Brinck & Susanne Wellington Hansen Again and again we hear the message that resources are scarce, and that we have to ensure that they are not lost in our waste. Explanations as to which resources we are talking about and how we avoid wasting them, however, are in short supply. Waste may contain many different resources depending on origin and prior use. The resources of waste may be considered a material resource, an energy resource or a nutrient resource, and typically a waste fraction will comprise a mixture of these in varying quantities. When evaluated from a materials and nutrients point of view, however, many waste fractions do not contain any significant recyclable resources without them first being subjected to thorough sorting and cleaning processes - processes which both economically and in terms of energy are very costly. At modern waste to energy facilities with combined heat and power production a highly efficient recovery of the most important resource of these waste fractions - energy - can be ensured. When material resources are recycled, an actual environmental benefit only occurs if it results in savings of virgin materials. Similarly, for it to be an environmental benefit, the recovery of energy has to supplant other energy production whereby the consumption of fuels and/or materials is spared. Despite global efforts to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels by developing alternative renewable energy production, the production of both power and district heating, will in the coming 20 years continue to be broadly based on the use of fossil fuels. This is why the utilisation of the energy resource present in waste both saves the consumption of fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Even though many European countries are planning a conversion of their energy production from being fossil fuel based to being biofuel based, energy recovery from waste will continue to be an environmental benefit as it will save bio resources, w

One of the major conflicts of the era that is not often highlighted for public debate is whether we want an economy that privatizes government services and public resources and continues to concentrate wealth; or whether we want to develop an economic democracy that invests in the public interest and creates shared prosperity. Journalist Ted Koppel summarized the privatization trend: "We are privatizing ourselves into one disaster after another…. We've privatized a lot of what our military is doing. We've privatized a lot of what our intelligence agencies are doing. We've privatized our very prison system in many parts of the country. We're privatizing the health system within those prisons. And it's not working well." RELATED SITES: http://thecrownmanag.livejournal.com/ https://groups.diigo.com/group/the-capital-crown-management/