scholarly journals Industrial innovation and infrastructure as drivers of change in the Canadian boreal zone1

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan L. Musetta-Lambert ◽  
Eric M. Enanga ◽  
Sonja Teichert ◽  
Irena F. Creed ◽  
Karen A. Kidd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Boreal Zone ◽  
Drivers Of Change ◽  
Industrial Innovation ◽  
Natural Resource Extraction ◽  
Human Footprint ◽  
The Future

Much of Canada’s industrial sector is driven by natural resources and relies heavily on provisioning services supplied by the boreal zone. However, the sometimes intensive processes used by resource-based industries and their associated infrastructure have significantly altered the region, creating concerns over the future socio-ecological health of the boreal zone. Addressing these concerns will require industries reliant on natural resources from the boreal zone to innovate their processes, management, and infrastructure to improve extraction efficiency while contributing to society’s increasing expectations related to sustainability. Here, we explore past, current, and future trends in industrial innovation and infrastructure in the boreal zone for forestry, mining, pulp and paper, oil and gas, and renewable sources of power generation. We assess the role of innovation on the future socio-ecological state of the boreal zone by considering interactions between innovation in industry and infrastructure and other key drivers of change in the boreal, such as atmospheric changes, changing demands for nonprovisioning and provisioning ecosystem services, governance, and demographics and social values. We present future scenarios highlighting three divergent trajectories of change in boreal ecosystems based on past and current states of innovation in industry and infrastructure. We suggest that minimizing impacts of natural resource extraction activities in the boreal zone will only be possible through innovation directly focused on reducing the human footprint on the landscape. Innovation in the information technology sector related to process, management, and end products within these industries and placing greater emphasis on cross-sectoral collaboration will be key to achieving this goal.

scholarly journals Demand for provisioning ecosystem services as a driver of change in the Canadian boreal zone1

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maitane Erdozain ◽  
Erika C. Freeman ◽  
Camille Ouellet Dallaire ◽  
Sonja Teichert ◽  
Harry W. Nelson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Cumulative Effect ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Wood Products ◽  
Boreal Zone ◽  
Drivers Of Change ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Provisioning Ecosystem Services ◽  
The Future

The Canadian boreal zone provides extractive goods and services (provisioning ecosystem services (PrES)) to domestic and global markets and makes a significant contribution to the Canadian economy. The intensity and location of these extractive activities, however, may positively or negatively affect the availability of other benefits that the Canadian and global society receive from the boreal. Where PrES compete, managing these activities along with their impacts to boreal ecosystems becomes a balancing act between the need for resource extraction and the continued availability of the other benefits from ecosystems. Management measures and policies are more likely to succeed if they are designed with foresight, which means accounting for how demand, a key driver of change in the boreal, may change in the future. To help this process, we present three divergent, yet plausible future scenarios based on the analysis of: (i) the capacity of the boreal to provide wood products, fossil fuels, metals and minerals, and hydropower and other renewables; (ii) past trends (1985–2015) and key events in the demand for these PrES; (iii) the interaction of demand for PrES with other drivers of change to the boreal zone; and (iv) the synergies and trade-offs between PrES. We find that historically and currently the capacity of the boreal to provide these PrES exceeds the amount currently supplied. However, the capacity of different PrES and location of extractive activities are spatially dispersed creating a spatial and temporal patchwork of associated risks to local ecosystem integrity and the supply of non-PrES. In addition, these scenarios suggest that the future of boreal PrES is very uncertain and highly dependent on how other drivers of change (namely governance and geopolitics, societal values and climate change) play out in the future. Given the spatial complexity, we find that the cumulative effect of these drivers (e.g., climate change) will determine what paths unfold for different areas of the boreal, and we conclude that careful consideration and planning must be given to ensure that the balance between PrES and non-PrES is maintained.

Managing risks to Canada’s boreal zone: transdisciplinary thinking in pursuit of sustainability1

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 407-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irena F. Creed ◽  
Peter N. Duinker ◽  
Jacqueline N. Serran ◽  
James W.N. Steenberg
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Boreal Zone ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Governance Systems ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Face ◽  
Iso 31000

The policy landscape is changing as Canada considers its energy future. The Canadian boreal zone has a large amount of natural resources, giving Canada options in terms of its energy future. However, the sustainability of the boreal zone has been deemed at risk because of the cumulative effects of intensifying natural resource activities (forestry, mining, oil and gas, and renewable energy) on ecosystems in the face of the uncertainty associated with climate change. As Canada considers the future of the boreal zone, there will be additional challenges to ensure that we do not further disadvantage marginalized human populations living in the boreal zone who are at high risk of the consequences of climate change. In response to these challenges, the Boreal 2050 project was initiated to understand the risk of failing to achieve the future sustainability of the boreal zone using the ISO 31000 risk management framework. First, we identified the major drivers of the risks to the sustainability of the boreal zone, which include atmospheric change, the demand for provisioning and nonprovisioning ecosystem services, demographics and societal values, industrial innovation and infrastructure, and governance. Second, we analyzed the risk of failing to achieve a sustainable boreal zone using scenario analysis, where we framed four plausible future scenarios around two axes of change: the global economy’s energy and society’s capacity to adapt. Third, we evaluated the risk and determined that present governance systems are driving Canada towards failing to achieve a sustainable boreal zone. To ensure the future sustainability of the boreal, we need to shift from an oil/gas/coal-producing country to a renewable energy leader and shift from using a top-down strategy where Canadians have a low capacity to adapt towards a mixture of top-down and bottom-up participatory strategies where Canadians—particularly Indigenous peoples living in the boreal zone—have a higher capacity to adapt. To facilitate this shift in governance, substantive changes will be required in institutional arrangements designed to protect boreal ecosystems.

scholarly journals Energy and the New Constitution

1985 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Brian W. Semkow
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
British North America ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Face

The Constitution Act, 1982 contains two natural resource provisions which amend the British North America Act. On the face of these provisions, the formal jurisdiction which provinces can exercise over natural resources in general, and over onshore oil and gas in particular, has been substantially bolstered. It is unclear, however, whether these provisions add very much substantively to the powers the provinces possessed (or were exercising) prior to the passing of the Constitution Act, 1982. This paper will analyse the new natural resource provisions to determine how they will affect the jurisdiction provinces will have over the future development of onshore oil and gas, and the revenues to be derived therefrom.

Reimagining energy in the Canadian boreal zone: policy needs to facilitate a successful transition to a low-carbon energy future1

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline N. Serran ◽  
Irena F. Creed ◽  
Camille Ouellet Dallaire ◽  
Harry Nelson ◽  
Catherine Potvin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Boreal Zone ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
The Future ◽  
Energy Products ◽  
Carbon Economy

Canada will be unable to meet its greenhouse gas pledges—of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% over 2005 levels by 2030—without transitioning away from the current high-carbon economy. This transition will bring new challenges, especially to the Canadian boreal zone. The boreal zone continues to experience intensive natural resource activities including the extraction of forest, mining, oil and gas, and renewable energy products, which in combination with climate change, is placing the future sustainability of the boreal zone at risk. We explored policy options to reduce the risk to the future sustainability of the boreal zone in light of the inevitable energy transition to either a higher or a lower dependence on carbon and the uncertainty of society’s capacity to adapt to change. Current policies are putting us on a path towards failure to achieve sustainability of the boreal zone. While current policies may be moving us towards a low-carbon future, they lack a shared vision of what the energy transition will be and engagement by those members of society most impacted; they are top-down, prescriptive, and fragmented, and they lack capacity, accountability, and enforcement. Together these limitations create barriers to society’s capacity to adapt to the low-carbon future. Sustainability of the boreal zone will not only require a transition to a low-carbon economy but will require policies that overcome these barriers and create a higher capacity for society to adapt.

scholarly journals Demand for nonprovisioning ecosystem services as a driver of change in the Canadian boreal zone1

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl A. Lamothe ◽  
Haibin Dong ◽  
Oscar E. Senar ◽  
Sonja Teichert ◽  
Irena F. Creed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Boreal Zone ◽  
Drivers Of Change ◽  
Natural Resource Extraction ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Ecosystem Condition ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Natural Resource Development

The Canadian boreal zone provides ecosystem services from local to global scales. Either directly or indirectly, demands for these services have and will continue to serve as drivers of change in the region. Here we present evidence for past, present, and potential future demand for maintaining nonprovisioning ecosystem services (NPrES), defined as indirect and nonmarketable services obtained from ecosystems as a driver of change in the boreal zone. Our evidence of demand stems from federal and provincial policies, actions by Indigenous peoples, and nongovernmental initiatives that aim to maintain the sustainability of natural resource extraction and ecosystem condition of the boreal. Presently, the demand for NPrES influences decisions related to natural resource development (e.g., forestry) that in turn impacts the condition of the boreal zone. Informed by the present conditions and past trends, three future scenarios to the year 2050 are presented that contrast in their trajectory—status quo, increased demand for NPrES, and decreased demand for NPrES. We also summarize the interactions among other drivers of change in the boreal and the synergies and trade-offs among the different types of demand for NPrES. Ultimately, sustainability of the boreal zone and the ecosystem services it provides will result from a complex suite of interacting drivers of change, where the balance of demands for provisioning and NPrES will continue to influence regional conditions.

The Developing Economical Power Uzbekistan with Macroeconomic Indicators

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehmet Alagöz ◽  
Selahattin Sarı ◽  
Ahmet Ay
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Economic Values ◽  
Cheap Labor ◽  
The Future ◽  
Macroeconomic Indicators

Each country aims a prosperous life standard, and therefore follows socio-economical policies. The consequences of the policies determine their level of growth. There are many indications that show the level of their growth. In 1991, having declared its independence, Uzbekistan has undertaken the role of being a key country in Middle East with its rich cultural values, deep-rooted history, geopolitical location, and its economical potential. In addition, there have been several prominent factors which contribute country's level of growth such as cheap labor, high farming potential, and rich natural resources like oil and gas. In this study, the development of selected macro socio-economic values of Uzbekistan between 1991 and 2016 will be analyzed, and there will be economical and political suggestions for the future.

Die Spur des Stoffs. Ermittlungsrausch in Friedrich Glausers Die Fieberkurve

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-89
Author(s):  
Mareike Schildmann
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Logical Structure ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Conservative Approach ◽  
Crime Novel ◽  
The 19Th Century

Abstract This article traces some of the fundamental poetological changes that the traditional crime novel undergoes in the work of the Swiss author Friedrich Glauser at the beginning of the 20th century. The rational-analytical, conservative approach of the criminal novel in the 19th century implied – according to Luc Boltanski – the separation of an epistemologically structured, institutionalized order of “reality” and a chaotic, unruly, unformatted “world” – a separation that is questioned, but reestablished in the dramaturgy of crime and its resolution. By shifting the attention from the logical structure of ‘whodunnit’ to the sensual material culture and “atmosphere” that surrounds actions and people, Glauser’s novels blur these epistemological and ontological boundaries. The article shows how in Die Fieberkurve, the second novel of Glauser’s famous Wachtmeister Studer-series, material and sensual substances develop a specific, powerful dynamic that dissipates, complicates, crosslinks, and confuses the objects and acts of investigation as well as its narration. The material spoors, dust, fibers, fingerprints, intoxicants and natural resources like oil and gas – which lead the investigation from Switzerland to North Africa – trigger a new sensual mode of perception and reception that replaces the reassuring criminological ideal of solution by the logic of “dissolution”. The novel thereby demonstrates the poetic impact of the slogan of modernity: matter matters.

The Role of Oil and Gas in the Economic Development of the Global Economy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Oil And Gas Producers ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
Factor Inputs ◽  
The Impact

This chapter is concerned with the role of oil and gas in the economic development of the global economy. It focuses on the context in which established and newer oil and gas producers in developing countries must frame their policies to optimize the benefits of such resources. It outlines a history of the issue over the last twenty-five years. It considers oil and gas as factor inputs, their role in global trade, the role of oil prices in the macroeconomy and the impact of the geopolitics of oil and gas. It then considers various conventional views of the future of oil and gas in the primary energy mix. Finally, it challenges the drivers behind these conventional views of the future with an emphasis on why they may prove to be different from what is expected and how this may change the context in which producers must frame their policy responses.

scholarly journals Evaluation and re-understanding of the global natural gas hydrate resources

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-338
Author(s):  
Xiong-Qi Pang ◽  
Zhuo-Heng Chen ◽  
Cheng-Zao Jia ◽  
En-Ze Wang ◽  
He-Sheng Shi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Gas Hydrate ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Material Balance ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
Resource Assessment ◽  
Future Trend ◽  
Natural Gas Hydrate ◽  
The Future ◽  
Recoverable Resources

AbstractNatural gas hydrate (NGH) has been widely considered as an alternative to conventional oil and gas resources in the future energy resource supply since Trofimuk’s first resource assessment in 1973. At least 29 global estimates have been published from various studies so far, among which 24 estimates are greater than the total conventional gas resources. If drawn in chronological order, the 29 historical resource estimates show a clear downward trend, reflecting the changes in our perception with respect to its resource potential with increasing our knowledge on the NGH with time. A time series of the 29 estimates was used to establish a statistical model for predict the future trend. The model produces an expected resource value of 41.46 × 1012 m3 at the year of 2050. The statistical trend projected future gas hydrate resource is only about 10% of total natural gas resource in conventional reservoir, consistent with estimates of global technically recoverable resources (TRR) in gas hydrate from Monte Carlo technique based on volumetric and material balance approaches. Considering the technical challenges and high cost in commercial production and the lack of competitive advantages compared with rapid growing unconventional and renewable resources, only those on the very top of the gas hydrate resource pyramid will be added to future energy supply. It is unlikely that the NGH will be the major energy source in the future.

Natural Resources, Sustainability, and Intergenerational Ethics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
Resource Conservation ◽  
Natural Resource Conservation ◽  
The Future ◽  
Intergenerational Ethics

This chapter examines a variety of views about the nature of society’s putative duty to conserve natural resources for the future, with a focus on the contested idea of sustainability. This chapter examines competing conceptions of sustainability and their implications for natural resource conservation across generations. Sustainability is a very popular concept, but there are many different positions on what might be called the “sustainability of what?” question. The chapter examines a number of competing views and shows how controversy here has informed the debate between so-called weak and strong conceptions of sustainability. It concludes with an examination of the politics of sustainability, and in particular the connections and possible tensions between goals of natural resource conservation and of global justice.

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