Environmental Management Systems Autumn Semester 2008 (part 1) Jenő M. Suda Dept. Fluid Mechanics, Building AE Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Based on: „Training for the Future”, „Course for sustainability” BUDAPEST UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMICS

Contents of Part 1 Environmental Management Systems 1. „Scientific” background: basics of environmental pollution / protection, processes 2. Focusing on sustainable development 3. International process and main actors 4. Summary of concepts concerning sustainable development 5. Thinking long term – confronting global climate change 6. Future of the oil consumption? 7. Global environmental trends

Basics Environmental Management Systems Biosphere (10 15 kg, about km thick layer) def.: Biosphere is the part of the lithosphere + atmosphere + hydrosphere, where living beings are present. (<10 24 kg) Components of biosphere (5 natural + 1 artificial) naturalartificial - ground (soil)built environment - air - water - living kingdom - landscape Earth (full mass: kg), water (10 21 kg), atmosphere (10 18 kg)

Basics Environmental Management Systems Components of biosphere NATURAL - ground (soil) = basic rock material, mineral, soil, agricultural land - air= atmosphere (inner & outer atmosphere) inner = tropo-, strato- outer = mezo-, thermo-, - water= hydrosphere (beyond / above surface) - living creatures= flora (vegetable kingdom) & fauna (animal kingdom) - landscape= natural landscape ARTIFICIAL built environment= human settlements, city, town, etc., industrial plants, agricultural plants, transportation traffic roads,

Basics Environmental Management Systems BIOSPHERE ……?…..ENVIRONMENT When we say „environment” usually it means „biosphere” Environment =sum of the living creatures and dead matter on the earth (ground+atmosphere+water) that are present around the living organisms. Stages of environment (based on their magnitude) micro-environment (small-scale: street in a city, hall of a building) meso-environment (intermediate-scale: integrated unit of the nature: e.g. town, territorial or natural integration) macro-environment (large-scale: country, continent, global scale)

Basics Environmental Management Systems Environmental pollution = phenomena or process that has direct or indirect negative influences (endanger or deplete) on the humans or on the environment. „Negative influence” means that physical, chemical, biological characteristics of the elements in the biosphere are modified or depleted. Materials of pollution (contaminants, impurities) All material or compound that is not present naturally in the biosphere, and their artificial presence can cause endangerous processes. (endangering of flora + fauna + humans resources)

Basics Environmental Management Systems Environmental pollution PROCESS ELEMENTS 1) Emission from pollutant source: point~, line~, surface~, volume: e.g. chimney, traffic jam on a highway, forest fire, etc. types of emission: - natural emission (e.g. volcanos) - artificial emission (due to human activity) or can be classified as - primary emission (direct impact into environment) - secondary emission (indirect impact e.g. dust particles are settled down from the air, but disperse again due to the road traffic) 2) Transmission (pollutant transport) - Influenced by the surface elements and climatic characteristics - Decrease in pollutant concentration (local increase also) - Transformation can occur (chemical reactions) 3) Immission (local impact of pollutants with given concentration)

Basics Environmental Management Systems Environmental protection ACTIVITIES 1) Decreasing of emission level - technological / engineering / economical / financial task - needs continuous development of technology - IPPC: integrated pollution prevention control - applying „BAT”: „best available technology” 2) Preventing transmission, blocking pollutant transport - installation of pollutant monitoring system * Hungary: from 1974, 11 measuring station in Budapest * capable for average and peak data acquisition * pollution maps are plotted (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly) - block transformation of pollutants in the atmosphere 3) Protecting against immission - personal protective tools (filtering mask, mouth eye ear protectors)

Basics Environmental Management Systems TASKS of the environmental protection activity 1) Prevention (IPPC: integrated pollution prevention control) 2) Restoration, abatement (of the caused damage, injuries) 3) Reasonable, rational development / transformation / alteration of the environment 4) Managing resources (aiming sustainable development)

Based on: Training for the Future Course Introduction

Background Part of a project “Training for the Future” Financed by EU Leonardo da Vinci Program (project number: HU/04/B/F/PP ) Deliverables: –training course (in Estonia and in Hungary) –Training book (English, Hungarian and Estonian) –Trainer’s guide (English) –Multimedia learning kit and film –Handbook

Course organisers - Partners KÖVET (Hungarian Association for Environmentally Aware Management ) ■ 1063 Budapest, Munkácsy M. u. 16. ■ ■ tel ■ ■ The Natural Step ■ Garvargatan 9C Stockholm ■ ■ tel. +46 (0) ■ ■ SEI-T (Estonian Institute for Sustainable Development ) ■ Lai 34, Tallinn ■ tel ■ ■