Jonathan Vause

Urban water metabolism efficiency assessment: integrated analysis of available and virtual water.

Resolving the complex environmental problems of water pollution and shortage which occur during urbanization requires the systematic assessment of urban water metabolism efficiency (WME). While previous research has tended to focus on either available or virtual water metabolism, here we argue that the systematic problems arising during urbanization require an integrated assessment of available and virtual WME, using an indicator system based on material flow analysis (MFA) results. Future research should focus on the following areas: 1) analysis of available and virtual water flow patterns and processes through urban districts in different urbanization phases in years with varying amounts of rainfall, and their environmental effects; 2) based on the optimization of social, economic and environmental benefits, establishment of an indicator system for urban WME assessment using MFA results; 3) integrated assessment of available and virtual WME in districts with different urbanization levels, to facilitate study of the interactions between the natural and social water cycles; 4) analysis of mechanisms driving differences in WME between districts with different urbanization levels, and the selection of dominant social and economic driving indicators, especially those impacting water resource consumption. Combinations of these driving indicators could then be used to design efficient water resource metabolism solutions, and integrated management policies for reduced water consumption.

An integrated system for urban environmental monitoring and management based on the Environmental Internet of Things

There have been a growing number of environmental problems associated with the rapid development of cities. Common environmental monitoring methods are unable to meet the dynamic needs of urban environmental management. The emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) technology provides a new way to improve urban environment monitoring and management. The Environmental Internet of Things (EIoT) makes it possible to sense, acquire, process, and transfer environmental information over a large area in real time. In this paper, we present an integrated system for urban environment monitoring and management by referring to the EIoT concept. We developed and tested the system by monitoring water, soil, air, noise, and some other environmental factors on the campus of our research institute. The system can obtain real-time environmental information in situ and express and publish its outcomes in different formats. Moreover, the system is extendible for additional sensors and environmental factors, and to cover larger areas to achieve better urban environmental monitoring and management services for the construction of sustainable cities.

Real-time measurement of wind environment comfort in urban areas by Environmental Internet of Things

Wind environment comfort (WEC) can have major impacts on people who use outdoor spaces within a city. WEC in urban areas is directly linked to the configuration of urban geometry, including street axes, building heights, and other attributes. Thus, it is valuable to provide an outdoor WEC measure at pedestrian level in as much detail and close to real time as possible. In this paper, a system for the real-time measurement of WEC (SRTM-WEC), one of the subsystems of Environmental Internet of Things (EIoT), was established to conduct real-time measurements of the WEC value in Pingtan Island, Fujian Province. Four layers were employed in the system to handle data measurement, synchronized data transfer, data manipulation, and application tasks. It was demonstrated that EIoT enabled the system to successfully perform real-time WEC measurement in urban area. Six favorable attributes obtained for the system include low cost, small size, ease of installation, low-cost operation, ease of retrofit in existing spaces, and independence from specific manufacturers.

Towards a societal scale environmental sensing network with public participation

Information acquisition is the prerequisite for environmental management, while insufficient information caused by sparse monitoring stations would result in improper management. Increasingly widespread distribution of consumer electronics equipped with various sensors can enhance the ability to gather and share data. In this study, a Collaborative Environmental Sensing Network (CESN) pattern is proposed, and its structure is clearly described. A Public Participation for Environmental Noise Monitoring (PPENM) project was conducted to illustrate the efficiency of this pattern, and PPENM implementation and the temporal-spatial properties of participators were analyzed. Results show that participators increased rapidly, reaching 32,140 in less than 14 months. The number of records shared by participants from cities all over China reached 531,608, and the participators were most active in the developed cities (e.g., Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou), the most distributed from 8 AM to 11 PM. Based on these results, we conclude that CESN can be formed during a short time and provide a cost-effective alternative approach to collect data at large scales, but that data credibility, privacy, and incentive mechanisms will be the major challenges. †Co-first author.

Decoupling analysis of energy consumption and economic development in China

ABSTRACT China’s energy consumption structure, which relies heavily on fossil fuels, has, on the one hand, weakened environmental sustainability at the national level, and also intensified the problem of climate change at the global level, on the other hand. It is therefore essential for policy-makers to adopt immediate measures to transfer to a trajectory of sustainable energy development with low carbon emissions. Using a decoupling index that describes the difference between energy consumption and economic development, this paper studied the process of decoupling in each province in China. Results showed that there was a phenomenon of weak decoupling in China as a whole, while North, Northeast, and East China have experienced rapid economic development and improved energy utilization efficiency, leading to a high level of decoupling. Neimenggu (Inner Mongolia) Province experienced both the highest energy consumption and economic growth, while Beijing and Guizhou Province showed the strongest decoupling.