Parsing Sustainability s Part 2 As noted in the previous Managing Editor’s Comment (MEC), the theme of the ACS Spring 2010 National Meeting concerns sustainability. We continue to have a healthy stream of research content and front matter addressing quantitative and qualitative sustainable practices. For example, the previous MEC spoke to determination of boundaries in life cycle assessment(s) (LCA). Another example appears herein with Huijbregts et al. (Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI 10.1021/es902870s) investigating the energy demand in commodity production. Also noted was streambed management, especially given that issue’s Feature by Hester and Gooseff (Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI 10.1021/es902988n). In this March 15, 2010 issue, Roth et al. (Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI 10.1021/es902654f) present the use of riparian vegetation to cool streams and thus mitigate fish killsscertainly a more sustainable approach to ecosystem management than built structures? This issue has articles that especially address the flux of two substances well-known to all as the central media of green/sustainable practices: water and CO2 (Chemist-Editor’s note: “water” not “H2O”; the pure liquid is stuff we wish to neither imbibe nor use for agriculture. Rather, the resource known as “water” is an aqueous solution, of the solvent H2O and solutes of essential [and yummy] ions [and other dissolved solids; usually some biota too]. Indeed some “industrial water” may even go so far as to be brackish, but higher ionic strengths take on distinct names such as “seawater”, “saline”, or “brine”). To this “water”’s end, our Editor-in-Chief Jerald Schnoor’s March 1, 2010 Comment lays out how this precious resource should be realistically perceivedsnot as unlimited reservoirs of eminently recyclable contents. In this issue, a news article by Charles Schmidt (Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI 10.1021/es100386j) speaks to Blackhurst et al.’s inventory of water use by industry (Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI 10.1021/es903147k). They find that indirect usage exceeds direct usage in many industries, which makes the drawdowns of mega-aquifers noted by Schnoor all the more ominous. For CO2, that gas that is colloquially referred to as “carbon [emissions]”, another news item by Schmidt (Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI 10.1021/es100398c) covers an audit of industrial CO2 emissions by Allwood et al. (Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI 10.1021/es902909k), to the end of determining how to make 50% reductions by
10.1021/es100475j
2010 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 03/11/2010
2050. Indicating that this is not a straightforward matter, Fox and Campbell (Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI 10.1021/es903301j) report that the location of mined coal can make it unworthy of the moniker “clean” over its lifetime: “mountaintop” sources being such an example. To further consider lifetime emissions: Weber et al. (Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI 10.1021/es9017909) assess what is known of the electrical grid’s footprint; Hillman and Ramaswami (Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI 10.1021/es9024194) turn their attention to eight U.S. cities’ greenhouse gas emissions compared to the national average. Many view excessive emissions of CO2 due to fossil fuel use as the impetus to aggressively pursue biofuel alternatives. To that end, Li et al. (Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI 10.1021/es903004f) report on the global cultivation prospects for the biodiesel-producing Jatropha curcas. The adoption of sustainable practices to staunch climate change and support global society needs to be globally implemented. Yet in this issue’s featured article, (which inspired the cover image of footprints and global commerce), Massoud et al. (Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI 10.1021/es902714u) lament that companies in developing countries face significant hurdles to sustainable practices. They argue that the well-meaning ISO 14000 protocols for environmental practices are disproportionately costly to implement in developing economies. Thus not only is it harder for developing economies to compete, there are a lack of incentives to do so sustainably. The frustration voiced by many delegates at the recent COP 15 meeting in Copenhagen underscores the reality that the mechanisms of sustainable practices are the devil in the details of globally negotiated green agreements. ES&T will continue to present such policy-impacting content and welcomes continued submission of such manuscripts. As for this space, the next issue will close out the present arc, by remarking on the 40th occasion of a certain Planet-recognizing Day.
Darcy J. Gentleman Managing Editor
[email protected] March 15, 2010 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 9 1881
