Environmental management

Environmental
Management System
(EMS)
I N T R O D U C T I O N
Priodeep Chowdhury; Lecturer; Dept. Of CEE; Uttara University.// Environmental Management System

What is an EMS?
• An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a set of processes and
practices that enable an organization to reduce its environmental impacts and
increase its operating efficiency.
• It includes the organizational structure, planning and resources for
developing, implementing and maintaining policy for environmental
protection.
Environmental Management System

What is an EMS in ‘layman’s “ term?
• An EMS is really just a formal planning tool to help an organization
organize priorities and pursue goals.
• It focuses mainly on continual improvement of the system .
• Provides a systematic way of managing an organization’s environmental
affairs
An Effective EMS means:
• Supports a variety of goals
• Ensures the impact “owner” is responsible
• Is in harmony with mission
• Recognizes continual improvement

Sustainable Development
• is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while
preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the
present, but also for generations to come.
• The development initiatives be initiated in such a way that the future
generations can enjoy the benefits of Nature without any compromise.
• Using the resources to the extent to which it is sustained.
• Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs

EMS MODEL
P L A N - D O - C H E C K - A C T

POLICY
• An environmental policy defines our organization’s commitment to the
environment through continual improvement in environmental
performance.
• A strong, clear environmental policy can serve as a starting point for
developing our EMS.
• The policy should be evaluated regularly and modified to reflect changing
environmental priorities.
• In the planning phase of EMS, we will identify impacts the environment,
and determine which of those impacts are significant, set objectives and
targets to minimize environmental impacts and improve environmental
performance, and establish action plans to meet the objectives and targets.
EMS consist of:
– Environmental Impacts and Aspects
– Compliance
– Objectives and Targets
PLANNING

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS & ASPECTS
” According to ISO 14001 definitions:
• An aspect is an element of an organization’s activities, products, or
services that can interact with the environment.
• An impact is any change to the environment…wholly or partially resulting
from an organization’s activities, products, or services
Compliance
• All EMSs must address compliance with applicable environmental
regulations.
• To comply with the laws and regulations we must know what the
regulations are and implement procedures and install equipment to comply
with those regulations.

Objectives & targets
• An objective is a goal that is consistent with environmental policy, priority
environmental aspects and impacts, and applicable environmental regulations.
• A target is a more detailed performance goal related to and supporting a specific
objective.
• Specific targets must be met to achieve an objective of an EMS.
• The objectives and targets will drive many other EMS elements, particularly
measurement and monitoring activities.
Implementation and Control
• The implementation phase of EMS involves systematically executing plans.
Review & Improvement
• Regular reviews are key to continual improvement and to ensuring that EMS
will continue to meet needs over time.

Conclusion
• An environmental management system takes time and commitment from
the entire organisation.
• Effective running of an EMS will provide ongoing environmental benefits,
cost savings and contribute to building an attractive work place culture.

Environmental
Management System
(EMS)
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SUPPLY

TERMS
• Sustainability - is how biological systems remain diverse and productive
over time. Long-lived and healthy wetlands and forests are examples of
sustainable biological system.
• Renewable energy - energy that comes from resources which are
continually replenished on a human timescale such as sunlight, wind, rain,
tides, waves and geothermal heat.
• Non renewable energy - comes from sources that will run out or will not
be replenished in our lifetimes—or even in many, many lifetimes. e.g.
fossil fuels , uranium
• Energy budget - an accounting of the income, use, and loss of energy esp.
in an ecosystem
• Fossil fuel - a natural fuel such as coal or gas, formed in the geological past
from the remains of living organisms.
• Hydroelectric power - term referring to electricity generated by
hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the
gravitational force of falling or flowing water
• Solar energy - energy from sunlight is captured in solar panels and
converted into electricity.

• Bio fuels - a fuel derived immediately from living matter. e.g. crops , plants
, animal waste .
• Tidal power - is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides
into useful forms of power .
• Wind power - power obtained by harnessing the energy of the wind .
• Nuclear power - electric or motive power generated by a nuclear reactor .
• Technology - the application of scientific knowledge for practical
purposes, especially in industry .
• Are commodities that are useful to people although the value and importance
of individual resources may differ between cultures .
TYPES OF RESOURCES
• Natural resources
• Human resources
RESOURCES

• They take a long time to form and to be replenished , easy to develop and
cheap to use, but have become major polluters of the environment.
NON- RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES
COAL
OIL
NATURAL GAS
NUCLEAR ENERGY

• Provided the basis of industrial revolution in Britain, Western Europe and
USA . Despite its exploitation for almost 2 centuries, it still has far more
economically recoverable reserve than any other fossil fuels 200-400 yrs
• Formed from fossilized plants and consisting of carbon with various
organic and some inorganic compounds.
• Mined from seams of coal, found sandwiched between layers of rock in the
earth.
• Burnt to provide heat or electricity.
COAL
• When burned coal gives off atmospheric pollutants, including greenhouse
gases. e.g. sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide.
• Burning coal produces sulphur dioxide, an acidic gas that contributes to the
formation of acid rain. This can be largely avoided using "flue gas
desulphurization" to clean up the gases before they are released into the
atmosphere. This method uses limestone, and produces gypsum for the
building industry as a by-product. However, it uses a lot of limestone.
Disadvantages

• Like any other fossil fuels, is not even in its distribution and is often found
in areas that are distant from world markets or a have hostile environment,
e.g. the arctic (Alaska), tropical rainforests (Nigeria and Indonesia), deserts
(Algeria and Middle east).
• This means that oil exploration and exploitation is expensive, as is the cost
of its transport by pipeline or tanker to world markets.
• A carbon-based liquid formed from fossilized animals.
• Lakes of oil are sandwiched between seams of rock in the earth.
• Pipes are sunk down to the reservoirs to pump the oil out.
• Widely used in industry and transport.
OIL
• When burned, it gives off atmospheric pollutants, including greenhouse
gases.
• Only a limited supply.
• Most world reserves are predicted to become exhausted within 45 years.
Disadvantages

NATURAL GAS
• Has become the fastest growing energy resource
• It provides an alternative to coal and oil, in 2007, it comprised of a quarter
of the world’s primary energy consumption.
• Methane and some other gases trapped between seams of rock under the
earth's surface.
• Pipes are sunk into the ground to release the gas.
• Often used in houses for heating and cooking.
• When burned, it gives off atmospheric pollutants, including greenhouse
gases.
• Only limited supply of gas.
• Latest estimates suggest that global reserves will last another 65 years
Disadvantages

• Radioactive minerals such as uranium are mined.
• Electricity is generated from the energy that is released when the atoms of
these minerals are split (by nuclear fission) in nuclear reactors.
• A small amount of radioactive material produces a lot of energy.
• It doesn't give off atmospheric pollutants.
Disadvantages
NUCLEAR ENERGY
• Nuclear reactors are expensive to run .
• Nuclear waste is highly toxic, and needs to be safely stored for hundreds or
thousands of years (storage is extremely expensive).
• Leakage of nuclear materials can have a devastating impact on people and
the environment. The worst nuclear reactor accident was at Chernobyl,
Ukraine in 1986

RENEWABLE ENERGY
• With the depletion of oil and gas reserves in the early years of the 21st
century and the unfavorable publicity given to all fossil fuels, renewable
resources are likely to become increasingly more attractive.
• They are likely to become cost- competitive, offer great energy diversity ,
and allow for a cleaner environment.
TYPES
• Continuous sources – are recurrent and will never run out. They include
running water(HEP), the sun (solar) etc.
• Flow sources- are sustainable provided that they are carefully managed and
maintained e.g. biomass, including the use of fuel wood.

• Is the most widely use commercially produce source of energy.
• Its availability depends on assured supply of fast flowing water which may
be obtained from rainfall spread evenly throughout the year, or by building
if dams and storing water in large reservoirs.
HYDRO ELECTRICITY
• Although HEP is perceived as clean, it can still have damaging effects upon
the environment.
• The creation of reservoirs can mean large areas of vegetation being cleared
(Tucurui in Amazonia), wildlife habitats( Kariba in Zimbabwe) and
agricultural land (Volta in Ghana) being lost, and people being forced to
move from their homes (Aswan in Egypt) and (3 gorges in China).
• New reservoirs drown vegetation and , the resultant lake is likely to
become acidic and anaerobic.
• Dams can be a flood risk if the collapse or overflow, have been linked to
increasing the risk of earthquake activity and can trap silt previously spread
over farmland.
Disadvantages

• Is the most successful of renewable technology.
• Wind farms are best suited to places where winds are strong , steady and
reliable and where the landscape is either high or, as on coasts, exposed.
• Can be found singularly, but usually many together in wind farms.
• Potentially infinite energy supply and pollution – free.
WIND
• Manufacture and implementation of wind farms can be costly.
• Some local people object to on-shore wind farms, arguing that it spoils the
countryside.
Disadvantages

• The sun is the primary source of the earth’s energy. Energy from sunlight is
captured in solar panels and converted into electricity.
• Manufacture and implementation of solar panels can be costly.
SOLAR ENERGY
• Biomass, also known as bio fuels an bio energy, is the most dominant form
of energy for most of the world’s population who are living in extreme
poverty.
• Its obtained from organic matter i.e. crops, plants and animal waste, of
which the most important in LDCs is fuel wood. Trees are sustainable
sources, providing that those cut are replaced or allowed to regenerate.
• Many of LDCs have a rapid population growth, which adds great pressure
to their little resources, and lack the capital and technology to develop or
buy alternative resources.
BIOMASS

Environmental
Management System
(EMS)
TOOLS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

• Environmental Impact Assessment: A process whereby the impact on the
environment of a project or development is assessed in terms of
biodiversity, geology, water, energy, waste, historical and indigenous
significance (if relevant) and social and economic changes.
• Environmental Effects Statement (EES) or Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS): The report produced as a result of an environmental
impact statement that describes the effects/impacts of the
project/development. This is mandated by planning regulators and available
to stakeholders for consultation.
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) : Also called “cradle to grave analysis”, it is
a technique to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages
of a product's life from-cradle-to-grave (i.e., from raw material extraction
through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and
maintenance, and disposal or recycling).
 LCA’s can help avoid a narrow outlook on environmental concerns by:
• Compiling an inventory of relevant energy and material inputs and
environmental releases;
• Evaluating the potential impacts associated with identified inputs and
releases;
• Interpreting the results to help you make a more informed decision.

• Environmental (or Ecological) Risk Assessment It is the process of
estimating the effects of human actions on a natural resource. It is
comprised of the following steps:
 Planning the assessment by setting the management goals, objectives and
resources available.
 Formulating the problem to determine the scope of the assessment.
 Identifying the ecological values and the likely hazards to these values.
 Analysing the risks to ecological values using qualitative, semi-qualitative
or quantitative risk assessment methods.
 Characterising and ranking the risks, including uncertainties and
assumptions, to make them accessible to decision makers and stakeholders.
 Developing a risk management plan to minimise the risks.
 Implementing the risk management plan.
 Monitoring the system to provide information on the effectiveness of the
plan.
WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH LCA?
1.Product or project development and improvement
2.Strategic planning
3.Public policy making
4.Marketing and eco-declarations

Environmental
Management System
(EMS)
B I O D I V E R S I T Y

Biodiversity
• Biodiversity is the distribution and number, variety and variability of living
organisms over time.
• Biodiversity may be diversity within species (genetic diversity), between
species (species diversity), and between ecosystems (ecosystem diversity).
• Biodiversity includes all ecosystems—wild lands, nature preserves or
national parks, plantations, farms, croplands, aquaculture sites, rangelands
and urban parks too have their own biodiversity.
• Loss in biodiversity has direct and indirect negative effects on Food
security, Vulnerability, Health, Energy security, Clean water and Social
relations.
• Fragmentation of habitats and the sharp decline in small subpopulations of
plants and animals bring them on the edge of decline.
Major problems with biodiversity
conservation
• Low priority for conservation of living natural resources.
• Exploitation of living natural resources for monetary gain.
• Values and knowledge about the species and ecosystem inadequately
known.
• Unplanned urbanization and uncontrolled industrialization.

Major biodiversity threats
• Habitat destruction.
• Extension of agriculture.
• Filling up of wetlands.
• Conversion of rich bio-diversity site for Human settlement and industrial
development.
• Destruction of coastal areas.
• Uncontrolled commercial exploitation.
Causes of biodiversity loss
Poverty
Macroeconomic policies
International trade factors
Policy failures
Poor environmental law/weak enforcement
Unsustainable development projects and lack of local control over resources

Environmental
Management System
(EMS)
D E M A N D & S U P P L Y O F E N E R G Y

TERMS
• Demand- consumer’s desire and willingness to pay a price for a specific
good or service.
• Supply- amount of something supplied or available for use .
• Resource endowment- natural resources within the borders of a country.
• Technology- the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes .
• Energy gap- improvement potential of energy efficiency or the difference
between optimal and actual level of energy consumption.
• Globally , energy supplies are distributed unevenly. This means that energy
sources are often long distances from the point of consumption.
• In the modern world, fuel often travels vast distances to reach its
consumers. These distances create many challenges, from the environment
risks of long-distance pipelines to oil related problems linked to political
instability in the middle east.
• Fossil fuels are not present in great quantities in LDCs
The supply of non- renewable resources of energy.

• It has been estimated that the very poorest countries in the world contain
14% coal, 8% natural gas and 5% oil.
• The middle income countries including many middle eastern states such as
Iran and Iraq and other NICs posses 45% coal, 70% oil, 68% natural gas
reserves.
• In total the developed world has fewer fossil fuels than the developing
(42% of coal, 25% of oil and 24% of natural gas.)

Factors affecting demand for and supply of energy.
• Demand is primarily governed by the size of the country’s population and
its level of economic development.
• A country’s energy policy can have a significant impact on demand if it
focuses on sustainability and efficiency as opposed to concentrating solely
on building more power stations and refining facilities . High levels of
pollution can be a strong stimulus to developing a cleaner energy policy.
• The key factor in supply is energy resource endowment. Some countries are
relatively rich in domestic energy resources while others are lacking and
heavily reliant on imports.
Physical factors affecting supply.
• Deposits of fossil fuels are only found in a limited number of locations.
• Large scale HEP devp require high precipitation, major steep sided valleys
and impermeable rock.
• Large power stations require flat land an geologically stable foundations.
• Solar energy needs a large number of days with strong sunlight.
• Wind power needs high average wind speeds throughout the year.
• Tidal power stations require a very large tidal range.
• The availability of biomass varies widely according to climatic conditions.

• The most accessible and low cost deposits are invariably developed first.
• Onshore deposits of oil and gas are usually cheaper to develop than
offshore deposits .
• Potential HEP sites close to major transport route and existing electricity
transmission corridors are economical to build than those in very in
accessible locations.
• In poor countries foreign direct investment is often essential for the devp of
energy resources,
• When energy prices rise significantly, companies increase spending on
exploration and devp.
Economic
• Countries wanting to develop nuclear electricity require permission from
the International Atomic Energy Agency.
• International agreements such as the Kyoto protocol can have a
considerable influence on the energy decisions of individual countries.
• Potential HEP schemes on international rivers may require the agreement
of other countries that share the river.
Political

• Government may insist on energy companies producing a certain
proportion of their energy from renewable sources.
• Legislation regarding emissions from power stations will favor the use of,
for example ,low sulphur coal, as opposed to coal with a high sulphur
content.
Political
FACTORS LEADING TO THE CHANGES IN USAGE OF
ENERGY.
• Technological development – e.g. nuclear electricity has only been
available since 1954. oil and natural gas can now be extracted from much
deeper waters than in the past. Renewable energy technology is advancing
steadily.
• Changes in demand – at one time in all of Britain trains 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.
• Increasing national wealth- as average incomes increase, living standards
improve which involves the increasing use of energy and the use of a
greater variety of energy sources.

• Changes in price- the relative price of the different types of energy can
influence demand. Electricity production in the UK has been switching
from coal to gas over the past 20 years mainly because power stations are
cheaper to run on natural gas.
• Environmental factors/public opinion – public opinion can influence
decisions made by governments. People today are much better informed
about environmental impacts of energy sources than they were in the past.
• Energy policy- is the manner in which a given entity (often governmental)
has decided to address issues of energy development including energy
production, distribution and consumption. The attributes of energy policy
may include legislation, international treaties, incentives to investment,
guidelines for energy conservation, taxation and other public policy
techniques.
Energy policy

• Level of development
• Capital
• Environmental concerns
• Targets
• Energy policy
Factors influencing energy policy

Environmental
Management System
(EMS)
E N V I R O N M E N T A L D E G R A D A T I O N

• Environmental degradation- is any change or disturbance to the
environment apparent to be harmful or undesirable causing a decrease of
quality. This can happen naturally e.g. erosion, landslides, forest fires ,
floods or man made pollution .
• Pollution is the contamination of the earth/atmosphere by people disposing
of wastes.
• Pollution is a dominant factor of environmental degradation of land ,air and
water and impacts significantly on human health. There is a considerable
global variations in death from urban air pollution. According to the WHO
,diseases caused by air pollution kill 650000 Chinese every year.
• Land pollution – includes rubbish dumps, spoil heaps and contaminated
land.
• Water pollution- by the discharge of waste water from industries, domestic
sewage, acid drainage, toxic salts from mines, pesticides, pesticide
fertilizers, farm effluents and thermal change.
• Air pollution- the release of chemical particulates into the atmosphere.
Common gaseous pollutants include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide,
CFCs.
Classification of pollution

Land pollution
• Derelict land – land which has been so damaged by industrial or other
development that its incapable of beneficial use without treatment. e.g.
worked out mineral excavations, abandoned industrial installations,
contaminated land- leakages or dumping of waste on site.
Air pollution
• Emission from industries and manufacturing activities- manufacturing
company’s chimney erected into the air.
• Burning of fossil fuels release carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen
dioxide and carbon monoxide which increase acid rains and
eutrophication.

Causes of Rural Environmental Degradation
Rural environments have been degraded due to
• Population growth
• Increasing pressures on land
• Urban activities through processes such as climate change- by huge urban
industries and untreated waste water in major rivers, which can
contaminate estuaries and coastal fishing areas, and pollute drinking water
supplies of rural communities downstream.
• Population pressure also operates through other mechanisms. Improper
agricultural practices, for instance, occur only under constraints such as the
saturation of good lands under population pressure which leads settlers to
cultivate too shallow or too steep soils, plough fallow land before it has
recovered its fertility, or attempt to obtain multiple crops by irrigating
unsuitable soils.

Environmental management

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