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Development of a modelling system for prediction and regulation of livestock waste pollution in the humid tropics

Das Projekt "Development of a modelling system for prediction and regulation of livestock waste pollution in the humid tropics" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Tropische Agrarwissenschaften (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institut), Fachgebiet Pflanzenbau in den Tropen und Subtropen (490e) durchgeführt. Introduction: In Malaysia, excessive nutrients from livestock waste management systems are currently released to the environment. Particularly, large amounts of manure from intensive pig production areas are being excreted daily and are not being fully utilised. Alternatively, the excess manure can be applied as an organic fertiliser source in neighbouring cropping systems on the small landholdings of the pig farms to improve soil fertility so that its nutrients will be available for crop uptake instead of being discharged into water streams. Thus, there is a need for better tools to analyse the present situation, to evaluate and monitor alternative livestock production systems and manure management scenarios, and to support farmers in the proper management of manure and fertiliser application. Such tools are essential to quantify, and assess nutrient fluxes, manure quality and content, manure storage and application rate to the land as well as its environmental effects. Several computer models of animal waste management systems to assist producers and authorities are now available. However, it is felt that more development is needed to adopt such models to the humid tropics and conditions of Malaysia and other developing countries in the region. Objectives: The aim is to develop a novel model to evaluate nutrient emission scenarios and the impact of livestock waste at the landscape or regional level in humid tropics. The study will link and improve existing models to evaluate emission of N to the atmosphere, and leaching of nutrients to groundwater and surface water. The simulation outputs of the models will be integrated with a GIS spatial analysis to model the distribution of nutrient emission, leaching and appropriate manure application on neighbouring crop lands and as an information and decision support tool for the relevant users.

ERA-NET - Development of test methods for non wood small-scale combustion plants

Das Projekt "ERA-NET - Development of test methods for non wood small-scale combustion plants" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Höhere Landwirtschaftliche Bundeslehranstalt Francisco-Josephinum durchgeführt. Non wood fuels for small-scale furnaces have attracted increasing interest in several European countries. New technological approaches are on the way, but the verification of any such developments is difficult and there is a large uncertainty about testing procedures and equipment. While for wood combustion standardized European measuring regulations are available and broadly applied, the testing of cereal fuel combustion is generally not following a commonly accepted procedure. Consequently the results of such measurements are not fully comparable. This applies particularly for the international level, which is here of particular relevance due to the fact that a combustion technology development for a niche application can only be economically viable if a sufficiently large marketing area can be taken into focus. The overall objective of the proposal is therefore to contribute through research to the development of uniform and comparable European procedures for testing of small-scale boilers up to a power out of 300 kW for solid biomass from agriculture like straw pellets and energy grain. The driving forces and barriers will be worked out; existing legal regulation for the installation (approval by the local authorities) in the participating countries will be collected. The state of the art of the non wood biomass boiler technology will be identified; the need for standardized tests for type approval tests and the measures to establish a European Standard will be shown. Measurement methods with special emphasis on efficiency and emissions will be worked out and the requirements and specifications of test fuels will be proposed. Test runs will be carried out following preliminary test procedures based on existing European standards for wood boilers. Based on the results of these test runs a draft for a Europe-wide uniform test procedure will be proposed. Preparatory work for a European standardization process including a round robin test will be done.

Improving the value of maize as livestock feed to enhance the livelihoods of maize-livestock farmers in East Africa

Das Projekt "Improving the value of maize as livestock feed to enhance the livelihoods of maize-livestock farmers in East Africa" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Pflanzenzüchtung, Saatgutforschung und Populationsgenetik durchgeführt. This ILRI and CIMMYT collaboration proposes a new multidimensional approach to maize improvement to provide maize cultivars that better match the needs of resource poor mixed crop livestock farmers for food and fodder. It aims at improving our understanding of where food-feed maize cultivars have potential from both a farmer and agro-ecological perspective, alongside research to develop dual purpose cultivars for diverse and often marginal environments in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania that produce higher grain yield under conditions of biotic (gray leaf spot, stem borer) and abiotic (drought, low fertility) stress than currently used cultivars while providing good stover quantity and quality for livestock fodder. The goal of this project is to investigate the potential of dual-purpose maize to enhance the livelihoods of resource poor crop-livestock farmers of East Africa where the concentration of mixed smallholders is highest and agricultural systems are undergoing further intensification.

Entwicklung eines Konzepts zur nachhaltigen Konservierung umweltbedingter Pigmentveränderungen der gotischen Ausmalungen in der Burg Ziesar und der Marienkirche Herzberg

Das Projekt "Entwicklung eines Konzepts zur nachhaltigen Konservierung umweltbedingter Pigmentveränderungen der gotischen Ausmalungen in der Burg Ziesar und der Marienkirche Herzberg" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Amt Ziesar durchgeführt. Das Projekt bietet die Möglichkeit, eine Vielzahl von Pigmentveränderungen an Wandmalereien unter besonderer Berücksichtigung schädigender Umwelteinflüsse und der Bauwerksgegebenheiten (Klima, Mikrobiologie, Salze) systematisch zu untersuchen. Es sind allgemeingültige Ergebnisse zu erwarten, die auf vergleichbare Phänomene an anderen Wandmalereien übertragen werden können. Der streng praxisorientierte Forschungsansatz dient der Klärung bisher nicht bekannter oder nicht ausreichend berücksichtigter Zusammenhänge zwischen Bauwerksgegebenheiten und Pigmentumwandlungen. In diesem Thesenpapier wird eine Systematisierung der beobachteten Pigmentveränderungen und der vermuteten Schädigungsprozesse vorgestellt. Diese Einteilung basiert auf visuellen Gesichtspunkten sowie auf den Ergebnissen mikroskopischer und mikrochemischer Untersuchungen sowie der my-RFA und der Raman-Spektroskopie. In weiterführenden restauratorischen und naturwissenschaftlichen Untersuchungen sollen die maßgeblichen physikalischen, chemischen und mineralogischen Abläufe unter Berücksichtigung der objektspezifischen Gegebenheiten ermittelt werden.

Lightweight amorphous silicon solar panels

Das Projekt "Lightweight amorphous silicon solar panels" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Stuttgart, Institut für Physikalische Elektronik durchgeführt. Objective: New process route for lightweight, unbreakable and economically feasible solar panels on the basis of amorphous silicon. Results: From a number of canditates enamel-coated steel sheet as substrate and an organic barrier as protective layer was chosen as an alternative to the dual glass panels. Criteria were vacuum compatibility, surface rougness and insulating properties. This concept requires that the production order of the thin film solar cell is reversed into back electrode, active stack, front transparent electrode. Inverted processes and low temperature processes were investigated in parallel. Protection against damage due to permeating water was reduced with an improved organic barrier coating. Also, less vulnerable back electrode materials were studied. Fluorine doped tin oxide, tin-doped indiumoxide and aluminium-doped zinc oxide were studied. However, the best and most economical results were optained with ITO. For monolithic integration mechanical masking and laser scribing were investigated. Mechanical masking failed due to the uneveness of the enamel surface. Laser scribing is possible due to the diminished power need with each consecutive layer. Some concepts for better light capture (texturing, optical coatings) were investigated. Based on the inverted process route small scale and full scale panels were manufactured and tested. Ultimately, the full scale failed due to the built-up of stress which caused delamination and could not sufficiently be reduced. The panel costs of the new route proved very similar to the existing product, but required an additional investment in vacuum deposition equipment. Surprisingly, ITO with recycling proved to be the most cost effective transparent electrode material.

Umrüstung einer Galvanik auf ein umweltfreundliches Beizverfahren

Das Projekt "Umrüstung einer Galvanik auf ein umweltfreundliches Beizverfahren" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Metallveredlung Emil Weiss GmbH & Co. KG durchgeführt. Im Rahmen des Vorhabens wurden ausgewählte Produktionslinien der Galvanik auf ein neues, umweltschonendes Beizverfahren umgestellt. Dabei wurde erstmalig der Beizzusatz PRO-pHx großtechnisch eingesetzt, um die den Beizprozess störenden organischen und anorganischen Stoffe aus der Beizlösung zu entfernen und den damit verbundenen ökologischen (Ressourcenschonung und Abfallreduzierung) und ökonomischen Vorteil (Kostenminimierung) zu erschließen. In einer Beize erfolgte die PRO-pHx-Anwendung in jeder Hinsicht unproblematisch und zielkonform, ohne negative Auswirkungen auf Beizbedingungen, Werkstück und Beschichtung. Der Verbrauch an Säure und Beizzusatzmittel konnte erheblich minimiert werden. Der Verbrauch an Salzsäure sank um mehr als 90 Prozent während der Verbrauch an Schwefelsäure auf gleichem Niveau blieb. Auf teure Beizinhibitoren konnte gänzlich verzichtet werden. Der Einsatz von PROpHx bei Werkstücken mit glatten Oberflächen und einfacher Formgebung ist offensichtlich problemlos möglich, bietet ökonomische Einsparpotenziale und trägt zur Umweltentlastung bei. Bei Werkstücken mit komplexer Geometrie, z. B. mit Sacklöchern/Bohrungen, oder Teilen mit Schweißstellen führte der PRO-pHx-Einsatz hingegen zu Störungen (unzureichende Beizwirkung bei Schweißstellen, fehlerhafte Beschichtung bei geometrisch komplexen Teilen wegen Rückständen). Die PRO-pHx-Verwendung in diesen Fertigungslinien musste abgebrochen werden. Eine Untersuchung der Ursachen konnte im Rahmen des Projekts nicht durchgeführt werden. Die Abklärung noch offener Punkte wurde vorgeschlagen. Die Anwendung von PRO-pHx in galvanotechnischen Fertigungslinien ist daher nur eingeschränkt zu empfehlen. Es bleibt ein Risiko, mit dem Badzusatz PRO-pHx in die laufende Produktion zu gehen.

VALIUM subproject 3- Tracer Experiments within an Urban Street Canyon - Field Measurements for Establishing a Validation Data Set

Das Projekt "VALIUM subproject 3- Tracer Experiments within an Urban Street Canyon - Field Measurements for Establishing a Validation Data Set" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Ingenieurbüro Lohmeyer GmbH & Co. KG durchgeführt. Objectives: The EU Air Quality Directives include air pollutant dispersion models as instruments of environmental politics. The quality of the models needs to be guaranteed. One part of the control process is the validation, a comparison of the modelled results with especially designed and acquired, trustworthy reference data sets from field and wind tunnel experiments. Activities: Air pollutants and meteorological parameters are measured continuously by in situ stations at different sites within Goettinger street in Hanover and its vicinity. Apart from these long-term measurements three intensive measurement campaigns are planned with additional tracer experiments. In August 2001 and August 2002 tracer experiments have been executed. A line source consisting of 8 pipe sections with a total length of about 96 m has been installed on the median of Goettinger Strasse. A mixture of the tracer gas SF6 and air, monitored by flow controllers, has been released from openings regularely spaced along the pipes. The source has been operated with a sufficient overpressure to avoid a feedback of external pressure fluctuations on the source strength and distribution. At 12 positions within the street canyon and on the roof of a nearby building, air samples have been collected simultaneously for at least 5 hours. Every 30 minutes a sampling bag has been started to be filled by the sampling equipment at each position. Afterwards, the 30 minutes averaged samples have been analysed on SF6 in the laboratory. Results: The experimental layout had been tested in August 2001. With minor reservations it also passed the second measurement campaign in August 2002 successful. The results of both campaigns exist now. As far as they have been scrutinized they show plausible distributions of the concentra­tions in the street area such as the typical windward-leeward-effect for street canyons. The influence of traffic induced turbulence and advection of the concentration field along the street by the traffic seems to be significant because the concentration field is shifted according to the direction of the motion of the traffic. Further measurements will be carried out in October 2002 and March 2003 to test and to corroborate that hypothesis and to complete the validation data set.

Policy Analysis for Sustainable Agricultural Development - PASAD

Das Projekt "Policy Analysis for Sustainable Agricultural Development - PASAD" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Bonn, Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung durchgeführt. Objectives: The PASAD project aims at contributing to a deeper understanding of sustainable rural development. Its major objective is to draw a more comprehensive picture of the rural economy through integrating various determinants of rural development and several methodologies, which allows the evaluation of linkages and interaction effects. Decreasing soil fertility implies decreasing yields over time and hence lowers the real incomes of already poor farmers even further. Sustainability in agricultural production depends on various interdependent aspects that require integrated analytical approaches to address the complexity involved. Smallholder production of food crops in poor countries is particularly vulnerable to hazards that are related to (i) production technologies as well as (ii) factor and commodity markets. The former aspect includes appropriate input use and land management, while the latter particularly considers rural labor markets, intermediate input markets, and commercial output markets. In this context, the project focuses on three crucial aspects, namely (i) institutional and other determinants to foster the degree of commercialization of agricultural small-scale produce, (ii) alternative occupational choices in rural labor markets with respect to agricultural and non-agricultural employment, and (iii) biophysical aspects concerning soil-conserving production technologies. The main hypothesis is that all three aspects need to be addressed sufficiently and simultaneously in order to promote sustainable smallholder agricultural production that is able to contribute to overall economic growth and development and, consequently, to food security. Methodology: The project follows an interdisciplinary approach, which combines several methodologies within economic and social sciences: Computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling, Bio-economic household modelling, Household and labor force survey analysis, Institutional analysis, GIS-based spatial econometrics.

5. RP Harmonirib-Harmonisation of representative river basin data modelling - HARMONIRIB

Das Projekt "5. RP Harmonirib-Harmonisation of representative river basin data modelling - HARMONIRIB" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Umweltforschungszentrum Leipzig-Halle GmbH, Department Hydrologische Modellierung durchgeführt. *The Water Framework Directive (WFD) provides a European policy basis at the river basin scale. The river basin management and planning process prescribed in the WFD focuses on integrated management, involving all physical domains in water management, sectors of water use, socio-economics and stakeholder participation. As such, the WFD poses new challenges to water resources managers. In practise, the preparation of WFD river basin management plans is influenced by uncertainties in the underlying data and modelling results. The preparation of integrated water management plans for the WFD will require making a large number of decisions by operational agencies in Europe. A decision maker has to make decisions based on available information. In most cases this information is deficient, incomplete and uncertain. How should this affect the decision making. Therefore, there is a clear and urgent need for developing new methodologies and tools that can be used to assist in implementing the WFD. In order to support such research and development, it is necessary to have a network of representative river basins with datasets suitable for this purpose. This implies that the datasets, in addition to covering the diversity in terms of ecological regimes and socio-economic conditions found across Europe, must have built-in information on the uncertainties in the data. HarmoniRiB is a research and technological development (RTD) project funded by the European Commission (contract number EVK1-CT-2002-00109) that was initiated in October 2002 and will be completed in March 2006. The overall goal of HarmoniRiB is to develop methodologies for quantifying uncertainty and its propagation from the raw data to concise management information. Thus, the HarmoniRiB project aims to support the WFD implementation, by addressing issues of uncertainty in data and modelling, and by developing a 'virtual laboratory for modelling studies'. This virtual laboratory will comprise of a set of river basins, of which data relevant to modelling and the WFD implementation are readily available for the scientific community. The data can be used for comparison and demonstration of methodologies and models relevant to the WFD. HarmoniRiB is implemented by a Consortium of ten partners from eight European countries. It consists of three universities (UVA, TUC, UCLM), five public research institutes (GEUS, RIZA, CNR-IRSA, UFZ, CEH) one private sector research and consulting company (DHI) and one river basin authority (PM). The British partner of the Consortium is the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH). CEH role in the project is to develop a database design for data required to support river basin management,to populate the database with a dataset from the Kennet river basin, and to conduct a demonstratition case study on that basin.

Standortskarte des Nationalparks Berchtesgaden

Das Projekt "Standortskarte des Nationalparks Berchtesgaden" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Technische Universität München, Fachgebiet Geobotanik durchgeführt.

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