IN modern conditions Increasing scientific and technological progress is increasing to dangerous levels the influence of solid, liquid and gaseous waste and emissions from production and transport on ecosystems. The need for clean water and its irreversible losses in industry and agriculture are growing.

Based on the pace of industrial development and the prospects for their increase, scientists have developed forecasts according to which the load on natural environment planet in the form of various wastes and emissions to beginning of XXI V. will increase 2-3 times.

Problem clean water on our planet over the past decades has become so acute that very often it is the lack of water that limits the development of industry and the growth of cities. Despite the fact that much attention is paid to the treatment of industrial and domestic wastewater (it is not permitted to introduce new industries without launching treatment facilities, appropriate control is carried out, etc.), there are still cases when untreated or insufficiently treated wastewater is discharged, which brings great harm ecological systems and ultimately human health.

Individual local pollution of reservoirs and watercourses are combined. In the World Ocean, the area of ​​water areas poisoned by oil is growing. Areas off the coasts of France, England, the USA, and Japan are becoming increasingly polluted, where pollution is several orders of magnitude higher than in the open ocean. The famous Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl back in 1969 during his voyage through Atlantic Ocean on the papyrus boat "Ra" crossed vast areas of polluted ocean. As a result of oil tanker accidents and leaks at offshore oil fields, 5 million tons of oil enter the seas annually. This amount is enough to cover the entire World Ocean with an oil film in 7 years and disrupt gas exchange between the atmosphere and hydrosphere of the Earth, but a significant part of the oxygen we breathe is released by microscopic marine algae. This does not happen only because the ocean ecosystem fights human influence by putting up a barrier in the form of oil-degrading bacteria. But the “margin of safety” has its limits here too. Dying penguins covered in oil stains have been discovered in Antarctica. And even earlier, the famous drug DDT, which was used to control pests tens of thousands of kilometers from Antarctica, was found in the liver of penguins. Finally, we should recall the tragedy of the Japanese city of Minamata, where a plant producing fertilizers and organic chemical products released wastewater containing mercury into the sea bay for many years. Fish inevitably accumulated this mercury in their bodies. As a result, a disease called “Minamata disease” appeared among the surrounding residents who ate this fish, which claimed hundreds of lives.

Where private industries discharge effluents uncontrollably, the threat of life-threatening pollution of marine and fresh water. And yet, there are ways to solve the water problem. Strict required state control, improving the industrial wastewater treatment system. Considering the pace of industrial development, experts have calculated that by 2000, all the river water on the planet will need to be used to dilute treated wastewater. The way out of this situation lies mainly in changing technological processes, namely, in a number of areas of industry it is necessary to switch to low-water and water-free technologies and to recycled water supply created as a closed cycle. Positive results these measures are known. Despite significant growth chemical production in Russia, water consumption in this industry in 1990 remained at the 1978 level due to the introduction of recycled water supply. At new oil refineries, water savings as a result of recycled water supply reached 92%, and pollution of their rivers, such as the Volga and Ural, decreased.

Currently, much is being done to reduce industrial emissions into the atmosphere. But, nevertheless, this type of pollution acquired global proportions earlier than others and is the most noticeable. People, primarily city dwellers, encounter it every day. Harmful substances contained in polluted air inevitably enter the body. You can avoid drinking dirty water by postponing this need for several hours. It is impossible to postpone the need for the next breath even for a few minutes and we are forced to inhale polluted air.

The main sources of air pollution are industrial enterprises, thermal power plants and transport.

Every year, 200-250 million tons of ash, up to 60 million tons of sulfur dioxide, 280-300 million tons of carbon monoxide and hundreds of millions of tons of other substances hazardous to human health are released into the atmosphere of our planet. According to current forecasts for the development of the world economy, by 2000, compared to 1965, coal 2-2.5, oil - 3-3.5, forests - 1.5-1.8 times more. Increased atmospheric pollution will be facilitated, due to the depletion of fuel reserves, by the combustion of increasingly low-quality coals containing large amounts of various impurities, primarily sulfur.

Industrial emissions not only affect human health, destroy materials and equipment, but also reduce the productivity of agriculture and forestry. The yield of fields in the area covered by non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises is 40-60% lower than outside this zone. Total losses from air pollution in the United States in 1970 amounted to $12.3 billion. On the growing impact of pollution on the industrial economy developed countries the following numbers say. In Japan, the share of economic damage as a result of environmental pollution in 1955 amounted to 0.2% of national income, and in 1970 it had already reached 13.8%.

Great concern in last years cause what is called acid rain. They fall out as a result of condensation of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides entering the atmosphere with industrial emissions, primarily from thermal power plants and metallurgical plants. These rains can fall thousands of kilometers from their sources. Because of them, forests die, lakes become lifeless, and the soil loses fertility. For example, US industry “exports” acid rain to Canada, and it is the same way that industry in the Ruhr basin poisons the lakes of Sweden and Norway.

Pollution environment affects humans, animals and plants not only directly, causing certain diseases or suppression of vital functions. Many of the substances synthesized by the chemical industry (and their number is growing very quickly) are mutagens, that is, they cause hereditary changes in organisms - mutations. Most of these changes are extremely unfavorable. The most dangerous mutagens are radioactive substances, the radiation of which even in the smallest doses causes mutations. Radioactive waste is nuclear industry waste that requires special disposal, and substances resulting from testing atomic and thermonuclear weapons. Their effect manifests itself in the form of a number of inherited diseases, deformities and other developmental defects. Currently, in a number of industrialized countries, about 10% of newborns have such defects. Their number is increasing, and further contamination of the biosphere with mutagens, according to a number of scientists, can lead humanity to the brink of a “genetic catastrophe.”

It is necessary to dwell in more detail on the increase in the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which has global environmental significance and largely determines climatic conditions on the planet. The fact is that carbon dioxide molecules transmit solar rays (short-wave radiation) to the Earth's surface, but block (long-wave) thermal radiation coming from the Earth. Thus, the so-called greenhouse effect is created, and the temperature of the atmosphere rises.

In recent decades, there has been an anthropogenic (caused by human activity) increase in carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere. So, over 20 years, this increase was 0.002%, and at the same time the atmospheric temperature increased by an average of 0.2 ° C. Is this a lot, or a little? It is estimated that at the current rate of increase in carbon dioxide content by the beginning of the 21st century. its concentration in the atmosphere will reach 0.04-0.05%, and average temperature will rise by 1°C, This will be enough for this amount to melt polar ice, at which the level of the World Ocean will rise by 1.5 m. Many coastal cities and lowlands will be partially flooded, fertile valleys will go under water, river mouths will move, the climate will change, displacement will begin natural areas on the planet. If the amount of incoming carbon dioxide does not decrease in the future, the process of melting ice in the Arctic and Antarctica will continue. And when this process is completed, the level of the World Ocean will rise by 65 m and 10% of modern land will go under water.

How likely is this prospect? Unfortunately, many experts consider this forecast to be quite reasonable, although there are completely different views. In the history of our planet there have been periods of active volcanic activity with abundant emissions of carbon dioxide and more. warm climate; There were, as we know, periods of cold weather that caused glaciations of entire continents. The last of them ended already in Quaternary period 12-13 thousand years ago. Consequently, the current climatic and ecological balance on Earth cannot be considered stable, and changes made by humans to the environment are sufficient to shift them.

“Our planet is very vulnerable,” wrote Thor Heyerdahl, and this is true. The planetary ecological system-biosphere is one, and different human impacts on its condition can mutually intensify. This also applies to the greenhouse effect. In addition to the direct increase in carbon dioxide content due to emissions, its development is also facilitated by deforestation - the main consumer of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and oil pollution of the ocean, which reduces the photosynthesis of algae. This also includes direct anthropogenic thermofication or, as they sometimes say, “thermal pollution” of water bodies. The fact is that thermal and nuclear power plants, whose role in energy production will increase, discharge large amounts of warm waters. For example, by the year 2000, 1/3 of the annual flow of US rivers should pass through power plant condensers to cool them.

22. Ecological problems industry and ways to solve them.

Industrial activities are very diverse - from the extraction and processing of raw materials to the production of complex mechanisms and machines. The geoecological consequences of industrial production take the form of a kind of pyramid, which in general resembles an ecological pyramid. At the base of the pyramid rests the extraction and enrichment of raw materials, the basis of which is mineral raw materials. It is known that, depending on the content of the useful component, part of the mined ore goes to dumps in the form of waste rock, soil, non-standard wood, or ore with low concentrations of the useful mineral. This sometimes accounts for about 95% of the extracted raw materials. However, as is known, with the development of technology, some part of the waste rock again becomes an object of extraction and corresponding processing.

Part of the extracted raw materials goes through the enrichment stage, since industrial enterprises are able to accept only raw materials of a certain quality for processing. Less than 10% of raw materials reach the next stage - the processing stage. On early stages metallurgical production produces intermediate products.

In mechanical engineering and light industry enterprises, a variety of mechanisms, machines and consumer goods are produced from processed raw materials. At this stage the share useful product from the original amount of raw materials is further reduced.

At the very top of the production and economic pyramid is the highest stage industrial production- high-precision nanotechnology industry. At this final stage of production, the volume of materials used is reduced to a minimum, but investments in highly qualified personnel, advanced (latest) technologies and expensive components increase. The high technology stage is the result of the modern scientific and technological revolution. Its development is impossible without the existence of the other stages listed above, which prepare raw materials for this stage: it is impossible without metal, and therefore, without the existence of mining and metallurgical enterprises.

The geoecological impacts of industry cover the entire technological chain, from the extraction of raw materials and their primary processing through production processes to the release of the final product, and at each stage it is necessary to organize the disposal and processing of waste.

Industry is a very important, if not the main consumer natural resources, which include metallic and non-metallic, as well as combustible minerals, agricultural products, and various types of energy. As a result of the work of industry, there is a need for planned and unexpected (volley) discharges of harmful gases, solid waste and various liquid wastes. This can happen at any stage and during any type of production. It should be taken into account that some waste and even industrial products themselves are toxic and cause significant damage to human health and the environment.

To combat the adverse geo-ecological consequences of industrial production, there are two fundamental approaches: managing pollution at the final stage of production; systemic restructuring of the production cycle.

Processing contaminants at the final stage of production does not reduce the mass of contaminants. In this case, after processing, waste is shifted from one environment to another, more convenient for a given technological cycle, for example, from air to water or soil. This approach, although acceptable as a temporary measure, is undesirable in the long term, since it does not solve emerging geo-ecological problems.

The second principle approach is to develop a completely closed-loop production system as a long-term measure. In most cases, the use of closed cycles at the current level of technology development and capital investment cannot provide a 100% effect. There are three approaches to this: saving raw materials, materials and energy; increasing the degree of use of an industrial product; complete extraction of useful products from industrial waste.

Industrial development means not only strengthening the economy, but also polluting the surrounding country. Nowadays they have become global. For example, in recent decades, the problem of shortage drinking water. There are still problems of air, soil, and water pollution by various industrial waste and emissions. Certain types of industry also contribute to the destruction of flora and fauna.

Increase in harmful emissions into the natural environment

An increase in the volume of work and the number of products produced leads to increased consumption of natural resources, as well as an increase in harmful emissions into the natural environment. The chemical industry poses a very big threat to the environment. Emergency situations, outdated equipment, non-compliance with safety rules, design and installation errors are dangerous. Various types of problems in an enterprise occur due to human fault. The consequences of this could be explosions and natural disasters.

Oil industry

Another threat is the oil industry. Extraction, processing and transportation of natural resources contribute to water and soil pollution. Another sector of the economy that worsens the environment is the fuel, energy and metallurgical industries. Emissions harmful substances and waste that enters the atmosphere and water causes damage to nature. The natural landscape is destroyed and they fall out. The light and food industries are also a constant source of hazardous waste that pollutes the environment.

Processing of wood raw materials

The cutting down of trees and the processing of wood raw materials causes great harm to the environment. As a result, not only a large amount of waste is generated, but also a large number of plants are destroyed. In turn, this leads to a decrease in oxygen production and an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Also the birds that lived in the forest. The absence of trees contributes to climate change: temperature changes become sharp, humidity changes, and soils change. All this leads to the fact that the territory becomes uninhabitable for people, and they become environmental refugees.

So, environmental problems of industry today have reached a global scale. Development various fields economy leads to environmental pollution and depletion of natural resources. And all this will soon lead to a global catastrophe, a deterioration in the life of all life on the planet.

1. Introduction2

2. Industrial production and environmental quality3

2.1. General trends in production development3

2.2. Energy and environmental protection6

2.3. Saving fuel and energy resources is the most important area of ​​rational environmental management8

3. Greening the economy and business11

3.1. Influence economic reforms on the environment11

3.2. Environmental funds instrument for additional financing of environmental protection measures17

3.3. Investments in energy ecology19

3.4. Problems of applying economic methods in natural resource management and environmental protection (using the example of the energy industry)23

4. Conclusion27

5. References29

1. Introduction

At all stages of his development, man was closely connected with the world around him. But since the emergence of a highly industrialized society, dangerous human intervention in nature has sharply increased, the scope of this intervention has expanded, it has become more diverse and now threatens to become a global danger to humanity. The consumption of non-renewable raw materials is increasing, more and more arable land is leaving the economy as cities and factories are built on it. Man has to increasingly intervene in the economy of the biosphere of that part of our planet in which life exists. The Earth's biosphere is currently subject to increasing anthropogenic impact. At the same time, several of the most significant processes can be identified, any of which does not improve environmental situation on the planet. The most widespread and significant is chemical pollution of the environment with substances of a chemical nature that are unusual for it. Among them are gaseous and aerosol pollutants of industrial and domestic origin. The accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is also progressing. Further development this process will strengthen the undesirable upward trend average annual temperature on the planet. Environmentalists are also concerned about the ongoing pollution of the World Ocean with oil and petroleum products, which has already reached almost half of its total surface. Oil pollution of this size can cause significant disruptions in gas and water exchange between the hydrosphere and the atmosphere. There is no doubt about the importance of chemical contamination of the soil with pesticides and its increased acidity, leading to the collapse of the ecosystem. In general, all the factors considered that can be attributed to the polluting effect have a noticeable impact on the processes occurring in the biosphere. As humanity develops, it begins to use more and more new types of resources (nuclear and geothermal energy, solar, tidal hydropower, wind and other non-traditional sources). However main role Today, fuel resources play a role in providing energy to all sectors of the economy. This is clearly reflected in the structure of the fuel and energy balance.

Structure of the world's energy demand for 1993

Table 1.1

TotalOilCoalGasNPPOther100.0.9.0.8%6.8%2.5%

The fuel and energy complex is closely connected with the entire industry of the country. More than 20% is spent on its development Money. The fuel and energy complex accounts for 30% of fixed assets.

2. Industrial production and environmental quality

The 20th century brought humanity many benefits associated with the rapid development of scientific and technological progress, and at the same time brought life on Earth to the brink of an environmental disaster. Population growth, intensification of production and emissions that pollute the Earth lead to fundamental changes in nature and affect the very existence of man. Some of these changes are extremely strong and so widespread that global environmental problems arise. Available serious problems pollution (atmosphere, water, soil), acid rain, radiation damage to the territory, as well as the loss of certain species of plants and living organisms, depletion of biological resources, deforestation and desertification of territories.

Problems arise as a result of such interaction between nature and man, in which the anthropogenic load on the territory (it is determined through the technogenic load and population density) exceeds the ecological capabilities of this territory, due mainly to its natural resource potential and the general stability of natural landscapes (complexes, geosystems) to anthropogenic impacts.

2.1. General trends in production development

The main sources of air pollution in our country are machines and installations using sulfur-containing coals, oil, and gas.

Significantly polluting the atmosphere are motor transport, thermal power plants, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, oil and gas refining, chemical and forestry industries. A large amount of harmful substances enter the atmosphere with vehicle exhaust gases, and their share in air pollution is constantly growing; According to some estimates, in Russia more than 30%, and in the USA more than 60% of the total emission of pollutants into the atmosphere.

With the growth of industrial production and its industrialization, environmental protection measures based on MPC standards and their derivatives become insufficient to reduce already formed pollution. Therefore, it is natural to turn to the search for enlarged characteristics that, reflecting the real state of the environment, would help you

In April 1993, an explosion occurred at the Siberian Chemical Plant, as a result of which the plutonium and uranium extraction apparatus was seriously damaged. Most of the plutonium and other chemical and radioactive substances entered the atmosphere. The following areas were exposed to radioactive contamination: coniferous forests, agricultural land, neighboring industrial areas. About 2,000 people were exposed to radiation, primarily those involved in firefighting and recovery efforts.

The chemical industry poses a serious potential danger to the natural environment, human health and life. The most dangerous situations are emergency situations at chemical enterprises and facilities, as well as their consequences. Most often they happen due to human fault. This may be a failure to comply with safety regulations, a violation technological process, faulty equipment and/or its exceeded service life, errors in design or installation, negligence of workers. In addition, the reason may be natural phenomena and natural disasters, but still the bulk of accidents occur due to human fault.

Frequent cases are accidents during transportation, neutralization, processing and disposal of hazardous chemical substances and waste. It is known that the processing and neutralization of chemicals is not a simple process that requires large material investments, therefore unauthorized emissions into the atmosphere, discharges with wastewater and removal to regular solid waste landfills are much cheaper for enterprises and take place. The environmental damage caused by such violations is colossal. Atmospheric air becomes toxic, massive fish deaths occur in reservoirs, and the soil loses its basic properties. Problems of this nature exist not only in the chemical industry.

On April 27, 2011, an accident occurred at the Khimprom plant in the city of Novocheboksarsk with the release of electrochlorine gas in the electrolysis workshop and subsequent entry into the production premises. As a result, 5 people were poisoned.

On September 29, 1957, in the closed town of Chelyabinsk-40 at the Mayak chemical plant, a tank with 80 cubic meters of highly radioactive waste exploded, the force of which was estimated in tens of tons of TNT equivalent. Approximately 20 million curies of radioactive components were released to a height of 2 km. 270,000 people in the Sverdlovsk, Tyumen and Chelyabinsk regions ended up in the contaminated zone.

On April 26, 1986, on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, a world-famous, largest nuclear energy accident occurred (in terms of quantity) damage caused, as well as the number of deaths and injuries as a result of the accident itself and its consequences) - Chernobyl accident(catastrophe). Several hundred thousand people took part in efforts to eliminate the consequences of the disaster. Due to the explosion in the 4th power unit nuclear power plant A huge amount of radioactive substances entered the environment: isotopes of uranium, plutonium, strontium-90, cesium-137, iodine-131. In addition to the accident liquidators, a large number of people within the contamination radius were injured, but no one has accurate data. It is known that thousands of cases of deformities in newborns, as well as thyroid cancer, have been recorded in Europe.

The main features of environmental pollution by the oil industry are the unevenness of contaminated areas, contamination of the top layer of soil and groundwater, and the existence of petroleum products in various chemical forms. This feature characterize emergency and periodic or passive leaks of oil and petroleum products. Important ecological role plays hitting products oil industry into groundwater, which causes further spread of contamination from the source.

The problems of the coal industry are large volumes of untreated wastewater, destruction of the geological environment, changes in the hydrological regime, pollution of surface and groundwater, methane emissions into the atmosphere, destruction of the natural landscape, vegetation and soil cover. A peculiarity of the mining and coal industry is that after the closure of an enterprise, environmental problems do not disappear, but on the contrary, they persist for another ten years or more.

For wood processing, light and Food Industry formations are characteristic large quantity waste that pollutes the environment. The main problem in the timber industry, deforestation remains - natural suppliers of oxygen, in particular the destruction of rare tree species in conjunction with cheap labor force, make this industry quite profitable. Due to deforestation, the long-established ecosystem suffers, the vegetation and animal composition changes.

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