Investigating environmental sustainability using ecological footprint index (Case study:Abadan city, in Khouzestan province)
Subject Areas : Modeling in environment and natural resources
Saeed Mohtashamnia
1
(
دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد ارسنجان
)
Keywords: Ecological footprint, Environmental sustainability, Khuzestan, Abadan,
Abstract :
Introduction: The growth and high population density in urban areas and the production of all kinds of domestic and industrial pollutants resulted many consequences on the sustainability of the environment and its biological capacity as well as the quality of human life in urban communities. Ecological footprint assessment is one of the methods of measuring sustainable development in urban societies, which is used to measure sustainability in the world. The purpose of this research is to measure the sustainability of Abadan city using the ecological footprint method. Materials and Methods: This research was carried out by using the descriptive-analytical method and by applying the ecological footprint calculation model proposed by Rees and Walkernagel in order to determine the amount of land needed by the residents of Abadan city. The data of this research was mainly quantitative and collected by two documentary and field methods. The studied community included 384 households living in Abadan city and using the statistics and data of the relevant organizations with the subject of research and national statistics and yearbooks. The cluster random sampling method was based on the ten Abadan manicipal regions. Then, the ecological footprint index of food consumption, the amount of carbon dioxide production due to transportation and heating from natural gas, the amount of water consumption, the amount of electricity consumed and the amount of produced waste were calculated. Results and Discussion: Calculations showed that the largest footprint was related to electricity consumption (4252 m2) per person and the lowest related to waste (21 m2) for each citizen. Footprint index of water 56, natural gas 450 , gasoil 3770, petrol 1484 and food 1232 square meters per citizen and the total ecological footprint was calculated 1.12 hectares . Conclusion: The results showed the region climate and the activity of oil industries cause high consumption of energy input increased in hot seasons and the traffic of diesel vehicles because of industries in Abadan increase, So the consumption of diesel fuel is more than gasoline. Although the total per capita ecological footprint of Abadan is less than the world average (1.8 hectares), but the total ecological footprint per population is 5.5% more than the urban environment's carrying capacity, and this requires optimal management of resources and matching this potential with population and resource consumption.
1.Ansari A. 2014. Assessing the sustainability of the development of Arak metropolis with the ecological footprint method. National Conference on Sustainable Environment and Development.13 June,Arak,Iran. 210-220
2. Koocheki A, Nassiri mahallati M, Javadi M. The Ecological footprint of students for the campus of Ferdowsi university of Mashhad.Journal Of Agroecology. 2022;14 (3):399-413. doi: 10.22067/jag.v16i1.87148
3. Mir A , Sobhani P , Sayahnia R. Assessment of the ecological footprint associated with consumption resources and urbanization development in Sistan and Baluchestan province. Results in Engineering.2022;Vol 16(100673).doi:10.1016/j.rineng.2022.100673
4.Cano-Orellana A, Delgado-Cabeza M. Local ecological footprint using principal component analysis: a case study of localities in Andalusia(Spain). Ecological Indicators.2015; 1(57):573-582
5.Dehghan manshadi H. 2013.Integration of ecological footprint and water footprint in water resources management. 6th National Environmental Engineering Conference.29 October, Tehran,Iran.31-39
6.Fatai I. ,Hasanpour korandeh H , Rezaei K, Ojaghi A.2012. Determining the ecological footprint of Ardabil city. The Third Environmental Planning and Management Conference.20 March, Tehran,Iran.101-110
7.Fu W, Turner JC, Zhao J, Du G. Ecological footprint(EF): An expanded role in calculating resource productivity (RP) using China and the G20 member countries as examples. Ecological indicators. 2015;1(48):464-471
8.Galli A. On the rationale and policy usefulness of ecological footprint accounting: the case of Morocco. Environmental Science & Policy. 2015; 1(48):210-224
9.Garkhlo M, Hataminejad H, Baghond A, Yaloh M. Assessing the sustainability of urban development with the ecological footprint method. Researches of human geography. 2013; 45(2):105-120.doi: 10.22059/JHGR.2013.30426
10.Gholami MJ, Eftkharnia M, Molazadeh A.2018.Economic-environmental evaluation caused by the increase in population density : a case study region 5 of Tehran municipality.The First Urban Economy Conference of Iran. 2 and 3 December, Mashhad,Iran.25-43
11.González-Vallejo P, Marrero M, Solís-Guzmán J. The ecological footprint of dwelling construction in Spain. Ecological Indicators. 2015;1(52):75-84
12.Hajilo F, Yazdakhasi B, Alizadeh aghdam MB. Investigating the relationship between ecological cultural capital and ecological footprint.Journal of Environmental Studies. 2012;3(8):101-132
13.Jumapour M, Hataminejad H, Shahnavaz S.Investigating the status of sustainable development of Rasht city using the ecological footprint method. Researches of Human Geography.2013; 45(3):208-191. doi:10.22059/JHGR.2013.35252
14.Kazemi M, Mohammadi M. Sustainable urban development, concepts and perspectives. Geographical Research Quarterly. 2001;16(3): 94-113
15.Kibria G. Ecological footprint in Bangladesh: Identifying the intensity of economic complexity and natural resources. Heliyon.2023;Vol 9(4).doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14747
16.Khurshiddoost AM.Environmental education in the 21st century.(Translated). Tehran.Samt Publications;2013
17.Lin D, Wackernagel M, Galli A, Kelly R. Ecological Footprint: Informative and evolving–A response to van den Bergh and Grazi.Ecological Indicators.2015;1(58):464-468
18.Memar M, Ghaffari E. 2013. Environmental assessment of population density using the ecological footprint method: a case study Mashhad city district 9. The First National Conference on Environment, Energy and Biodefense.11 July, Tehran,Iran.255-266
19.Sasanpour F.2018. Investigating the sustainability of Tehran metropolis with the ecological footprint method. Ph.D. Faculty of Geography and Urban Planning. Tabriz University.[In Persion]
20.Shaishte K, Ildarmi AR , MalHosseini darani K. 2013.Analysis of ecological footprint estimation methods in urban scale. 6th National Environmental Engineering Conference.29 October, Tehran,Iran,62-68
21.Song G, Li M, Semakula HM, Zhang S. Food consumption and waste and the embedded carbon, water and ecological footprints of households in China. Science of the Total Environment. 2015;1(529):191-197
22.Südaş HD, Özeltürkay EY.Analyzing the thoughts of ecological footprints of university students: a preliminary research on Turkish students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2015; 12(175):176-184
23.Sun Y, Yang B, Wang Y. Carbon footprint analysis of straw collection,transportation and storage system for power generation in China based on emergy evaluation. Environmental Science Pollutant Resourcs.2022; Vol 29: 66922–66934. doi:10.1007/s11356-022-20525-2.
24.Wackernagel M, Rees W.Our ecological footprint:reducing human impact on the earth.Canada.New Society Publishers;1998
25.Wu J, Bai Zh. Spatial and temporal changes of the ecological footprint of China's resource-based cities in the process of urbanization. Resources Policy.2022;Vol 25.doi:10.1016/j.resourpol.2021.102491.
26.Zand S, koochek khoshnevis AM, Akhtarkavan M, Amerisiahoui H.2013.Evaluation of sustainable urban development using the method based on the ecological basis of the Sirous neighborhood of Tehran. The First National Conference on Civil Engineering, Architecture and Sustainable Development.3 February,Yazd,Iran. 36-50
