Nature management- is an activity of human society aimed at through the use of...
There are rational and irrational use of natural resources.
Irrational environmental management
Irrational use of natural resources - is a system of environmental management in which readily available natural resources are used in large quantities and incompletely, resulting in rapid depletion of resources. In this case, a large amount of waste is produced and the environment is heavily polluted.
Irrational use of natural resources is typical for an economy developing through new construction, development of new lands, use of natural resources, and an increase in the number of employees. Such an economy initially brings good results at a relatively low scientific and technical level of production, but quickly leads to a decrease in natural and labor resources.
Rational environmental management
is a system of environmental management in which extracted natural resources are fully used, restoration of renewable natural resources is ensured, production waste is fully and repeatedly used (i.e. waste-free production is organized), which can significantly reduce environmental pollution.
Rational use of natural resources is characteristic of intensive farming, which develops on the basis of scientific and technological progress and good organization of labor with high labor productivity. An example of rational environmental management there can be a zero-waste production in which waste is completely used, resulting in reduced consumption of raw materials and minimized environmental pollution.
One of the types of waste-free production is the repeated use in the technological process of water taken from rivers, lakes, boreholes, etc. The used water is purified and re-entered into the production process.
A system of measures aimed at maintaining the interaction between human activities and the natural environment is called nature conservation. Environmental protection is a complex of various measures aimed at ensuring the functioning of natural systems. Rational environmental management implies ensuring the economical exploitation of natural resources and the conditions of human existence.
The system of specially protected natural areas includes reserves, national parks, sanctuaries, and natural monuments. A tool for monitoring the state of the biosphere is environmental monitoring - a system of continuous observations of the state of the natural environment in connection with human economic activities.
Nature conservation and rational use of natural resources
In the process of the formation of the science of ecology, there was a confusion of concepts about what determines the essence of this science in general and the structure of the ecological cycle of sciences in particular. Ecology began to be interpreted as the science of protection and rational use of nature. Automatically, everything related to the natural environment began to be called ecology, including nature conservation and protection of the human environment.
At the same time, the last two concepts were artificially mixed and are currently considered in a complex. Based on the ultimate goals, nature conservation and environmental protection are close to each other, but still not identical.
Protection of Nature is aimed primarily at maintaining rational interaction between human activities and the environment in order to preserve and restore natural resources and prevent the harmful effects of economic activity on nature and human health.
Environmental protection focuses primarily on the needs of the person himself. This is a complex of various activities (administrative, economic, technological, legal, social, etc.) aimed at ensuring the functioning of natural systems necessary to preserve human health and well-being.
Environmental management is aimed at meeting human needs through the rational use of natural resources and natural conditions.
Nature management- this is the totality of humanity’s impacts on the geographical envelope of the Earth, the totality of all forms of exploitation of natural resources, considered as a whole. The objectives of environmental management come down to the development of general principles for the implementation of all human activities related either to the direct use of nature and its resources, or to impacts on it.
Principles of rational environmental management
The practical application of environmental knowledge can be seen primarily in solving environmental management issues. Only ecology as a science is capable of creating a scientific basis for the exploitation of natural resources. The attention of ecology is directed primarily to the laws underlying natural processes.
Rational environmental management involves ensuring the economical exploitation of natural resources and conditions, taking into account the interests of future generations of people. It is aimed at ensuring the conditions for the existence of mankind and obtaining material benefits, at maximizing the use of each natural territorial complex, at preventing or significantly reducing possible harmful consequences of production processes or other types of human activity, at maintaining and increasing the productivity of nature, maintaining its aesthetic function, ensuring and regulation of the economical development of its resources, taking into account the preservation of human health.
In contrast to the rational irrational environmental management affects the quality, waste and depletion of natural resources, undermining the restorative forces of nature, polluting the environment, reducing its health and aesthetic advantages. It leads to the deterioration of the natural environment and does not ensure the preservation of natural resource potential.
Nature management includes:
- extraction and processing of natural resources, their protection, renewal or reproduction;
- use and protection of natural conditions of the human living environment;
- preservation, restoration and rational change of the ecological balance of natural systems;
- regulation of human reproduction and population numbers.
Nature protection, rational use and reproduction of natural resources is a universal human task, in which everyone living on the planet should participate in the solution.
Environmental activities are focused primarily on preserving the diversity of life forms on Earth. The totality of species of living organisms on our planet creates a special fund of life, which is called gene pool. This concept is broader than just a collection of living beings. It includes not only manifested, but also potential hereditary inclinations of each type. We still don’t know everything about the prospects for using this or that type. The existence of some organism, which now seems unnecessary, in the future may turn out to be not only useful, but also, perhaps, saving for humanity.
The main task of nature conservation is not to protect a certain number of plant or animal species from the threat of extinction, but to combine a high level of productivity with the preservation of a wide network of centers of genetic diversity in the biosphere. The biological diversity of fauna and flora ensures the normal circulation of substances and the sustainable functioning of ecosystems. If humanity can solve this important environmental problem, in the future we can count on the production of new food products, medicines, and raw materials for industry.
The problem of preserving the biological diversity of living organisms on the planet is currently the most acute and significant for humanity. The possibility of preserving life on Earth and humanity itself as part of the biosphere depends on how this problem is solved.
Rational use of natural resources is the most important problem of modern society. The rational use of natural resources is a consequence of their reasonable study, which prevents the possibility of harmful consequences of human activity, increases and maintains the productivity of natural complexes and natural objects.
The rational use of renewable natural resources should be based on reasonable consumption, renewal, providing for their reproduction, since reserves are usually restored faster than they are used. The rational use of non-renewable natural resources should be based on their economical and comprehensive extraction and consumption, as well as on the disposal of all kinds of waste. Natural resources can also be divided into:
- -potential;
- -real.
Potential resources are involved in economic turnover, and real resources are actively used. Due to the depletion of natural resources, their further development becomes more economical and environmentally unfeasible. If used uncontrolled, some types of resources may disappear, and the process of their self-renewal will cease. The restoration period for some of them is several hundred or even thousands of years.
The integrated use of natural resources, which implies the use of low-waste and non-waste technologies, and the reuse of secondary resources, is of particular relevance. At the same time, raw materials are saved and environmental pollution is prevented by products produced by Savchenko P.V. National Economy: Textbook / Ed. P.V. - M.: Economist, 2008. - 83 p.. The only way to solve the problem of rational use of mineral resources is to create a model of the biosphere cycle of substances in industry. Useful elements contained in raw materials must be reused. In this case, production and consumption waste is no longer waste, but secondary material resources.
In order to rationally use water resources, it is necessary to construct drainage systems and structures, which consist of a set of equipment, networks and structures designed for receiving and removing domestic industrial and atmospheric wastewater through pipelines, as well as for their purification and neutralization before discharge into a reservoir or disposal .
The amount of industrial wastewater is determined by aggregated indicators of water consumption and wastewater disposal for various industries. The water consumption rate is the reasonable amount of water required for the production process and is established on the basis of scientifically based calculations or best practices. Consumption standards for industrial wastewater are used when designing newly built and reconstructing existing wastewater systems of industrial enterprises as an assessment of the rational use of water in any organization.
Uncontrolled influence on the climate, together with irrational agricultural practices, can lead to a significant decrease in soil fertility and large fluctuations in crop yields.
Deforestation has become a global environmental problem, largely driven by the need for fuel. Due to the destruction of forests, almost 3 billion people are now faced with an acute shortage of wood fuel, the prices of which are rising (almost 40% of the family budget is spent on purchasing firewood). In turn, high demand for wood fuel fuels further deforestation.
One of the most important ways to solve the problem of natural resource conservation is to increase the efficiency of using resource-intensive products. Thus, it has been studied that the repair of goods is not only economically profitable, but also creates new jobs Zubko N.M. Fundamentals of economic theory. - Minsk: Higher School, 2013. - 427 pp..
For example, in Germany, the government allows quarterly dumping of bulky items near the house. Things are taken by those who hope to repair them. To collect clothes for homeowners, special bags are placed in their mailboxes the day before, where they are packed, and what can still be worn is taken by charitable organizations. It happens that there is nothing to export.
Thus, it becomes necessary to preserve and reproduce the country's natural resources. To do this, the following conditions must be maintained:
- -carefully and rationally natural resources (especially irreplaceable ones);
- - take effective measures to replenish natural resources (carry out forest plantations, reproduce the reserves of reservoirs, restore and increase the natural fertility of the land);
- -maintain environmental cleanliness of production and environmental management.
- -make maximum use of production waste.
Plan
1. Ecological principles of rational use of natural resources
2. Lithosphere. Sources of lithosphere pollution
3. Factors affecting human health
4. Anthropogenic sources of environmental pollution
List of used literature
1. Ecological principles of rational use of natural resources
Rational use of natural resources and environmental protection is one of the most important problems of modern society in the era of scientific and technological progress, accompanied by an active impact on nature.
Natural conditions are a set of objects, phenomena and factors of the natural environment that are significant for human material and production activities, but are not directly involved in it (for example, climate).
Natural resources are natural objects and phenomena that are used or can be used in the future to meet the material and other needs of society and social production, contributing to the reproduction of labor resources, maintaining the conditions of human existence and improving living standards.
Natural resources are divided into practically inexhaustible (energy of the sun, ebbs and flows, intraterrestrial heat, atmospheric air, water); renewable (soil, plant, animal resources) and non-renewable (minerals, habitat, river energy).
Renewable natural resources are natural resources capable of self-regeneration in the process of the cycle of substances over a period of time commensurate with the pace of human economic activity. The rational use of renewable natural resources should be based on the principles of balanced consumption and renewal, and also provide for their expanded reproduction.
Non-renewable natural resources are part of exhaustible natural resources that do not have the ability to self-regenerate within a time frame commensurate with the pace of human economic activity. The rational use of non-renewable natural resources should be based on their comprehensive and economical extraction and consumption, waste disposal, etc.
From the point of view of involvement in human economic activity, natural resources are divided into real And potential . The first type of resources is actively exploited, the second can be involved in economic turnover.
Depending on their belonging to certain components of the natural environment, certain types of natural resources are distinguished:
Biological;
Environmental;
Geological;
Climatic;
Land;
Vegetable;
Wildlife Resources;
Mineral, etc.
According to the leading characteristics and nature of use, industrial, agricultural, energy, and fuel are distinguished. In non-production areas, recreational, nature reserve, landscape and resort, medical, etc. are used.
Currently, the problem of depletion of natural resources is becoming increasingly acute. The depletion of natural resource potential is expressed in a decrease in reserves of natural resources to a level that does not meet the needs of humanity, its technical capabilities and safety standards for natural systems.
The depletion of natural resources makes their further development economically and environmentally unfeasible.
With wasteful, predatory use, some types of renewable resources may disappear, losing their ability to self-renew. For example, an arable soil horizon about 18 cm thick under favorable conditions takes 7,000 years to recover.
The intensification of industrial intervention in the processes of nature, the consumer, utilitarian, predatory attitude towards nature, its resources and wealth destroys the unity between human society and nature.
The growth of production cannot be achieved through the depletion of natural resources and environmental pollution, since not only the development of production, but also the existence of life on Earth depends on their condition.
Rational environmental management presupposes the reasonable development of natural resources, the prevention of possible harmful consequences of human activity, maintaining and increasing the productivity and attractiveness of natural complexes and individual natural objects.
Rational environmental management involves choosing the optimal option for achieving environmental, economic and social effects when using natural resources.
The integrated use of natural resources involves the use of waste-free and low-waste technologies, and the reuse of secondary resources. From the point of view of the reproductive aspect, the integrated use of natural resources includes a wide range of problems.
2. Lithosphere. Sources of lithosphere pollution
Man exists in a certain space, and the main component of this space is the earth's surface - the surface of the lithosphere.
The lithosphere is the solid shell of the Earth, consisting of the earth's crust and the layer of upper mantle underlying the earth's crust. The distance of the lower boundary of the earth's crust from the Earth's surface varies within 5-70 km, and the Earth's mantle reaches a depth of 2900 km. After it, at a distance of 6371 km from the surface, there is a core.
Land occupies 29.2% of the surface of the globe. The upper layers of the lithosphere are called soil. Soil cover is the most important natural formation and component of the Earth's biosphere. It is the soil shell that determines many of the processes occurring in the biosphere.
Soil is the main source of food, providing 95-97% of food resources for the world's population. The world's land area is 129 million square kilometers, or 86.5% of the land area. Arable land and perennial plantings as part of agricultural land occupy about 10% of the land, meadows and pastures - 25% of the land. Soil fertility and climatic conditions determine the possibility of the existence and development of ecological systems on Earth. Unfortunately, due to improper exploitation, some part of fertile land is lost every year. Thus, over the last century, as a result of accelerated erosion, 2 billion hectares of fertile land have been lost, which is 27% of the total area of land used for agriculture.
The lithosphere is polluted by liquid and solid pollutants and waste. It has been established that every year one ton of waste is generated per inhabitant of the Earth, including more than 50 kg of polymer, difficult to decompose.
Sources of soil pollution can be classified as follows.
Residential buildings and public utilities. Pollutants in this category of sources are dominated by household waste, food waste, construction waste, waste from heating systems, worn-out household items, etc. All this is collected and taken to landfills. For large cities, the collection and destruction of household waste in landfills has become an intractable problem. Simple burning of garbage in city landfills is accompanied by the release of toxic substances. When such items, for example, chlorine-containing polymers, are burned, highly toxic substances are formed - dioxides. Despite this, in recent years, methods have been developed for the destruction of household waste by incineration. A promising method is considered to be burning such waste over hot molten metals.
Industrial enterprises. Solid and liquid industrial waste constantly contains substances that can have a toxic effect on living organisms and plants. For example, waste from the metallurgical industry usually contains salts of non-ferrous heavy metals. The mechanical engineering industry releases cyanide, arsenic and beryllium compounds into the environment; the production of plastics and artificial fibers generates waste containing phenol, benzene, and styrene; during the production of synthetic rubbers, waste catalysts and substandard polymer clots enter the soil; During the production of rubber products, dust-like ingredients, soot that settle on the soil and plants, waste rubber textiles and rubber parts are released into the environment, and when tires are used, worn-out and failed tires, inner tubes and rim tapes are released into the environment. The storage and disposal of used tires are currently still unsolved problems, since this often causes severe fires that are very difficult to extinguish. The recycling rate of used tires does not exceed 30% of their total volume.
Transport. During the operation of internal combustion engines, nitrogen oxides, lead, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, soot and other substances are intensively released, deposited on the surface of the earth or absorbed by plants. In the latter case, these substances also enter the soil and are involved in the cycle associated with food chains.
Agriculture. Soil pollution in agriculture occurs due to the introduction of huge quantities of mineral fertilizers and pesticides. It is known that some pesticides contain mercury.
3. Factors influencing human health
Factors affecting human health are divided into biological, chemical, physical and voluntary risk factors.
To the main group biological Factors usually include pathogenic microorganisms of natural and anthropogenic origin that cause various diseases. The result of exposure of people to pathogenic microorganisms is infectious diseases. The problem of AIDS deserves special attention.
The depletion of renewable resources is associated with deforestation of the planet and depletion of fish stocks. In Russia, this is facilitated by thriving poaching.
The main resource problem of the 21st century associated with non-renewable resources is the depletion of oil and natural gas reserves.
The ecological classification of natural resources divides them into practically inexhaustible and exhaustible. There are few inexhaustible resources on the planet, and humanity is still using them extremely poorly.
2. Exhaustible resources are divided into non-renewable and renewable. There is a strict rule regarding non-renewable resources: the more they are extracted, the less is left for the next generations.
Self-test questions
1. What are resources?
2. What groups are the Earth's resources divided into?
3. What resources are considered inexhaustible?
4. What are non-renewable resources?
5. What type of resources are oil and natural gas?
6. What is the main resource problem of the 21st century?
7. What types of resources are renewable?
8. What is waste?
9. What are the main problems associated with the exploitation of renewable resources?
10. What is environmental management?
11. Who are natural resource users?
12. What is the meaning of greening the economy?
13. How is wind energy currently used?
14. Why is it inappropriate to use solar panels in Russia?
15. Which region is the largest oil-producing region in the world?
16. Where are the largest oil and natural gas deposits in Russia?
17. What is the main problem that occurs with repeated tillage?
18. What environmental classification resources include water and air?
19. Why was sturgeon fishing recently banned in the Caspian Sea?
20. What is the main problem of using forests?
21. Why did the Earth begin to experience a shortage of fresh water at the end of the twentieth century?
Literature on the topic
1. Akimova T.A., Khaskin V.V. Fundamentals of ecodevelopment. M., 1999.
2. Bobylev S.N., Khodzhaev A.Sh. Environmental economics. M., 1997.
3. Razumova E.R. Ecology. M.: MIEMP, 2006.
4. Reimers N.F. Protection of nature and the human environment. Dictionary-reference book. M., 2001.
5. Shilov I. A. Ecology. M., 2001.
6.1.Basic environmental principles of rational environmental management All of the above forces us to make an unambiguous conclusion: both non-renewable and renewable resources of the planet are not infinite, and the more intensively they are used, the less of these resources remains for the next generations. Therefore, decisive measures for the rational use of natural resources are required everywhere. The era of reckless exploitation of nature by man is over, the biosphere is in dire need of protection, and natural resources should be protected and used sparingly.
The basic principles of this attitude towards natural resources are set out in the international document “The Concept of Sustainable Economic Development”, adopted at the Second UN World Conference on Environmental Protection in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 (see also topic 7).
Regarding inexhaustible resources, the “Concept of Sustainable Economic Development” of development urgently requires a return to their widespread use and, where possible, the replacement of non-renewable resources with inexhaustible ones. This primarily concerns the energy industry.
We have already talked about solar panels. So far their efficiency is not very high, but this is a purely technical problem, and in the future it will undoubtedly be successfully solved.
A promising source of energy, as already mentioned, is wind, and in flat, open coastal areas, the use of modern “wind turbines” turns out to be very advisable.
With the help of natural hot springs, you can not only treat many diseases, but also heat your homes. As a rule, all the difficulties in using inexhaustible resources lie not in the fundamental possibilities of their use, but in the technological problems that have to be solved.
With regard to non-renewable resources, the “Concept of Sustainable Economic Development” states that their extraction should be made normative, i.e. reduce the rate of extraction of minerals from the subsoil. The global community will have to give up the race for leadership in the extraction of this or that natural resource; the main thing is not the volume of the extracted resource, but the efficiency of its use. This means a completely new approach to the problem of mining: it is necessary to extract not as much as each country can, but as much as is needed for the sustainable development of the world economy. Of course, the world community will not come to such an approach immediately; it will take decades to implement it.
For modern Russia, mineral resources form the basis of its economy. Of course, first of all, these are oil and natural gas. Russia produces more than 17% of the world's oil, up to 25% of natural gas, and 15% of coal. The main problem in their extraction is incomplete extraction from the subsoil: at best, 70% of oil is pumped out of a well, and no more than 80% of coal is pumped out. These are losses during production, followed by equally large losses during processing.
It is necessary to create and implement new technologies to increase the share of extracted oil, coal, and metal ores. Naturally, this requires considerable funds. In our country, the number of “unpromising” flooded mines is multiplying, which, with skillful exploitation, could still produce production from oil wells and drilling rigs abandoned in the tundra (it’s cheaper to drill new ones in order to quickly recoup the costs and pump, pump, and then abandon, leaving in subsoil contains more than 30% of fossils).
The task of more complete extraction from the subsoil is also accompanied by another - the integrated use of mineral raw materials. As a rule, no single metal occurs alone in nature. Analysis of some ores of the Urals showed that in addition to the main mined metal (for example, copper), they contain a large amount of rare and trace elements, and their cost often exceeds the cost of the main material. However, this valuable raw material very often remains in dumps due to the lack of technology for its extraction.
The next environmental problem of the mining complex is that it has become one of the largest sources of pollution and environmental violations. In places where mineral resources are extracted, forests, grass, and soil usually suffer. If mining is carried out in the tundra (and most of our underground wealth is located in high-latitude regions), then nature is forced to heal the wounds received from people for decades. So, the principles of environmental protection require the user of natural resources when carrying out mining operations:
1. the most complete extraction of minerals from the subsoil and their rational use;
2. comprehensive extraction of not just one, but all components contained in ores;
3. ensuring the preservation of the natural environment in areas where mining operations are carried out;
4. safe work for people;
5. preventing subsoil contamination during underground storage of oil, gas and other materials.
With regard to renewable resources, the “Concept of Sustainable Economic Development” requires that their exploitation be carried out at least within the framework of simple reproduction, and their total quantity does not decrease over time. In the language of ecologists, this means: as much as a renewable resource (for example, forests) was taken from nature, so much is returned (in the form of forest plantations). In Russia, over the past 15 years, the volume of felling has increased many times (timber is one of the budget revenue items), and forest planting has not been carried out at all during this period. At the same time, to restore forests after felling, forest plantings of two or three times the area are required: forests grow slowly, for the full reproduction of overmature trees, i.e. It takes 35-40 years for timber suitable for industrial use.
Land resources also require careful treatment and protection. More than half of Russia's land fund is located in the permafrost zone; Agricultural lands in the Russian Federation occupy only about 13% of the area, and every year these areas are reduced as a result of erosion (destruction of the fertile layer), misuse (for example, for the construction of cottages), waterlogging, mining (industrial deserts appear in place of agricultural lands ). To protect against erosion use:
1. forest shelterbelts;
2. plowing without turning over the layer;
3. in hilly areas - plowing across the slopes and grassing the land;
4. regulation of livestock grazing.
Disturbed, contaminated lands can be restored; this process is called reclamation. Such restored lands can be used in four ways: for agricultural use, for forest plantations, for artificial reservoirs and for housing or capital construction. Reclamation consists of two stages: mining (preparing areas) and biological (planting trees and low-demanding crops, for example, perennial grasses, industrial legumes).
The protection of water resources is one of the most important environmental problems of our time. It was already said earlier that, by volume, freshwater sources (including glaciers) make up only 3% of the hydrosphere, and 97% falls on the World Ocean. It is difficult to overestimate the role of the ocean in the life of the biosphere, which carries out the process of self-purification of water in nature with the help of plankton living in it; stabilizing the planet's climate, being in constant dynamic equilibrium with the atmosphere; producing huge biomass. But for life and economic activity, people need fresh water. The rapid growth of the planet's population and the rapid development of the world economy have led to a shortage of fresh water not only in traditionally dry countries, but also in those that were recently considered quite water-rich. Almost all sectors of the economy, except maritime transport and fishing, require fresh water. Why is she missing? The creation of reservoirs greatly reduced river flow and increased evaporation and depletion of water bodies. Agriculture requires large volumes of water for irrigation, and evaporation also increases; huge quantities are spent in industry; Six billion people also rely on fresh water for their livelihoods. Finally, one of the most important problems of our time is pollution of both the World Ocean and freshwater sources. Currently, wastewater pollutes more than a third of the world's river flows. There is only one conclusion from all that has been said: it is necessary to strictly conserve fresh water and prevent its pollution.
Saving fresh water should be carried out in everyday life: in many countries, residential buildings are equipped with water meters, this greatly disciplines the population. Pollution of water bodies is detrimental not only to humanity, which needs drinking water. It contributes to a catastrophic decline in fish stocks both at the global and Russian levels. It has already been said before how fish suffer from hydraulic structures (dams) and from poaching. In polluted water bodies, the amount of dissolved oxygen decreases and fish die. It is obvious that strict environmental measures are needed to prevent pollution of water bodies and to combat poaching.
The most important property of any production is its resource intensity, i.e. the amount of resources consumed to produce a unit of output.
Resources are understood as means, reserves, opportunities and sources necessary for production, satisfying the material and spiritual needs of society with modern technologies and socio-economic relations. Production resources are divided into material, labor and economic (financial). Material resources are divided into biological (organic) and mineral. Biological resources consist of flora and fauna and are unevenly distributed. They are used to provide the population with food and, partly, for production.
Based on their ability to recover, natural resources are divided into renewable and non-renewable. Renewable resources (flora and fauna, water, etc.) are within the biosphere circulation of substances. They are capable of self-regeneration through reproduction or through natural repair cycles. Animals and plants do not renew themselves in the event of extinction of a species. Non-renewable resources (coal, oil, ore, etc.) are not restored in the process of circulation of substances in a time commensurate with the pace of economic activity. Non-renewable resources should be used sparingly and rationally.
Important characteristics of natural resources are the possibility of their replacement and depletion. Fungible resources may be replaced by others now or in the near future. For example, fuel can be replaced by solar energy, thermal water energy, wind energy, etc. Irreplaceable natural resources cannot be replaced by others, either now or in the future. Resource depletion occurs under the influence of human production and economic activity. Depletion leads either to the complete and irreversible destruction of the resource or to an environmental disaster. When the first signs of depletion of natural resources appear, it is necessary to change the activities of the enterprise. Exhaustible resources include scarce natural resources that may disappear in the near future.
Resource conservation management (rational environmental management) is part of the overall management system of an enterprise, railway and industry as a whole and includes a set of environmental measures aimed at improving the environmental characteristics of rolling stock and railway enterprises. These measures are divided into the following groups: organizational and legal, architectural and planning, design and technical and operational.
Organizational and legal measures are aimed at implementing environmental legislation in railway transport, developing environmental requirements, standards, norms and regulations for machinery, equipment, fuel and lubricants, etc.
Architectural and planning activities include the development of solutions for rational land use, planning and development of territories, organization of sanitary protection zones, preservation of natural landscapes, landscaping and landscaping.
Design and technical measures make it possible to introduce technical innovations in the design of rolling stock, sanitary, technical and technological means of environmental protection at enterprises and transport facilities.
Operational measures are carried out during the operation of vehicles and are aimed at maintaining their technical condition at the level of specified environmental standards.
The listed groups of activities are implemented independently of each other and allow achieving certain results. But their combined use will provide maximum effect.
Rational use of natural resources is achieved:
at the production stage - through the use of modern technology and organization of production, the selection of rational methods for obtaining workpieces, advanced methods of mechanical, electromechanical and electrochemical processing, hardening of parts, the use of durable anti-corrosion coatings, the use of flexible automated production, improving the design of equipment, creating a rational maintenance system and repair of technical equipment of enterprises and rolling stock, expansion of the range and volume of restoration of equipment parts and rolling stock, saving fuel and energy resources, recycling and use of production waste;
at the repair stage - by choosing methods for repairing products, reducing the proportion of parts damaged during disassembly, increasing the proportion of restoration of worn parts, using selective assembly, as well as local closed systems for the use of oils, lubricants, water, etc.;
at the stage of cargo transportation -
ensuring environmental safety in areas and on routes during the operation of rolling stock;
compliance with the basic parameters of its characteristics, such as reliability, permissible levels of noise and vibration, levels of sound and light signals;
improving the process of collecting and processing information on the functioning of transport systems, introducing automated systems for monitoring the technical condition of mobile sources of environmental pollution and the environmental situation in areas and on railway routes;
control over compliance with technology at loading and unloading points for petroleum products, during the transportation of flammable liquids and materials, compressed and liquefied gases, petroleum products, oxidizing substances and organic impurities, bulk cargo;
compliance with train safety requirements, taking into account the implementation of measures to ensure complete prevention of possible emergency situations.
Among the many components of natural resources, fresh water resources are currently of particular importance, and railway transport enterprises consume large quantities of it. At the same time, the industry is working at a low pace to introduce closed water use systems, low-waste and non-waste water-saving technologies.
One of the serious sources of water pollution is the cleaning processes of rolling stock, which generate toxic wastewater. Efficient washing machines with reversible use systems have been developed.
The main directions of saving water resources at individual railway transport enterprises are shown in Fig. 32.3.
An important place in reducing the loss of natural resources is occupied by the disposal and processing of industrial waste.
Recycling refers to the use of waste as secondary raw materials, fuel, fertilizers and other purposes. Various types of society's activities generate production waste and consumption waste. Industrial waste is the remnants of raw materials, materials, semi-finished products generated during the manufacture of products, performance of work and which have partially or completely lost their original consumer properties. Consumer waste is products and materials that have lost their consumer properties as a result of physical and moral wear and tear.
Production and consumption waste is called secondary material resources. Secondary resources can be used to produce new types of products or to generate energy. In all cases, secondary resources must be recycled, i.e. removal from places of formation and accumulation for the purpose of subsequent use or disposal. The more waste, the higher the likelihood of environmental pollution.
Waste is classified into solid, liquid, gaseous and energy. The phase state of waste influences the choice of methods and means of storage, transportation and processing. According to sanitary and hygienic criteria, waste is divided into inert, slightly toxic, soluble in water, slightly toxic, volatile, toxic, soluble in water, toxic, volatile, containing petroleum (oil), organic, easily decomposed, feces, and household waste. Toxic waste has its own classification.
The nomenclature of waste depends on the type of raw materials and finished products. Solid waste includes waste of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, rubber, plastics, wood, abrasives, slag and ash, mineral and organic substances, and household waste. Liquid waste consists of electrolytes, fuels and lubricants, cooling, degreasing and washing solutions, etc. Gas emissions are generated from boiler houses, smelting equipment, and ventilation systems. Energy waste should include heat and various types of radiation (noise, vibration, magnetic and electric fields, radiation).
The use of waste is one of the most important areas for increasing production efficiency, reducing environmental pollution, and reducing the consumption of natural resources per unit of output. When choosing methods and means of storing, transporting and processing waste, it is necessary to proceed from their technical and economic assessment.
The main types of secondary resources when repairing tracks are concrete and wooden sleepers, worn rails, rail fastening parts, crushed stone and sand. Old concrete sleepers are used as a foundation in the construction of household and sports facilities or sold to owners of summer cottages for foundations for greenhouses, bathhouses and houses. Old wooden sleepers can serve as a good material for the construction of non-residential premises (storages, warehouses). Worn rails are used in the construction of buildings and structures for industrial or household purposes. Sand and crushed stone are recycled and used in the construction of various structures. Fasteners can be restored or remade into new products. Trimmings, sawdust, and wood shavings serve as raw materials for the production of particle boards and fiberboards, plywood, hardboard, cardboard, and bark for the production of medicines and fertilizers.
Railway transport enterprises use a large number of motor, industrial, compressor, transmission and other oils made from petroleum. Every year, railway enterprises use up to 400 tons of various oils, some of which (15-20%) are collected and most often burned in boiler houses. Modern motor oil contains up to 10 different additives, which are practically not consumed during operation. The most important area of reducing oil consumption at railway transport enterprises is the regeneration of used oils. During regeneration, the following is carried out: purification of used oils from mechanical impurities by settling, separation, methods of coagulation, adsorption, chemical treatment; restoration of oil properties by introducing various additives.
Issues of rational use of natural resources and environmental protection in railway transport should be considered with full consideration of the characteristics of the natural conditions of the area where the enterprise is being designed, assessed by its impact on the ecology of the adjacent area, and the possibility of preventing negative consequences in the short and long term. Taking into account the nature of the negative impact of the projected facility on the environment, issues of rational use of natural resources must be resolved: surface and groundwater, atmospheric air, soils, territories, minerals, vegetation, etc. At the same time, normal sanitary and hygienic working and living conditions for the population living in the area of construction of railways or industrial facilities in the industry must be ensured, and the negative impact on flora and fauna as a result of production activities must be minimized.
The development of all activities related to the construction of new, as well as the reconstruction of existing railway transport facilities, and the modernization of rolling stock, must be carried out in unity with environmental protection requirements.