Extreme Depopulation in the Spanish Rural Mountain Areas: A Case Study of Aragon in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Rural History ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
FERNANDO COLLANTES ◽  
VICENTE PINILLA
Keyword(s):  
Small Proportion ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Textile Industry ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Mountain Areas ◽  
Second Homes ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries ◽  
Rural Depopulation

The phenomenon of rural depopulation has been an intense and centuries-long process in the mountain areas of Aragon in Spain. Throughout the nineteenth century, the traditional economic model of these territories broke down due to the crisis suffered by seasonal sheep migration, the non-viability of the old forms of agricultural production based on self-sufficiency and the destruction of the scattered textile industry. The new scenario offered some possible alternatives in sectors such as livestock, timber, mining and energy production or the activities associated with tourism and second homes. However, it is only these latter activities that have demonstrated some capacity to alter significantly the demographic tendencies, and even then they have done so in a somewhat delayed fashion and in a way limited to a small proportion of the geographical areas under study.

scholarly journals Production potential of biodiesel, methane and electricity in the largest steamed rice industry in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil: case study

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-136
Author(s):  
Willian Nadaleti ◽  
Vitor Lourenço ◽  
Grzegorz Przybyła ◽  
Piotr Kardasz ◽  
Radosław Wróbel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Production ◽  
Rice Bran Oil ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
Rio Grande Do Sul ◽  
Production Potential ◽  
Grain Processing ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
General Studies

Abstract The potential for energy production from effluents and husks generated in grain processing in the rice parboiling industries in Brazil is capable of promoting energy self-sufficiency in the sector, through the production and use of syngas and biogas. However, the production of methane from residues of the rice parboiling industries is still little explored by academic studies, in general studies on the potential of methane production by this same type of effluent are found in the south of the country, however, the same is not true for the production of biodiesel from rice bran oil. The objective of this study was to determine the production potential of biodiesel, methane and electric energy of the largest parboiled rice industry in Rio Grande do Sul, located in the southern region of the country. According to this study, the rice parboiling industry located in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, has a production potential of 1.2∙102 m3/day of biodiesel, 2.93∙104 Nm3/day of methane and 1.89∙105 kWh/day of electricity. Despite being a significant and high potential, which may reduce the financial expenses of the industry regarding the purchase of energy from concessionaires, it is not able to promote its energy self-sufficiency. At the same time, it would be necessary to add the energy production potential of the rice husk gasification syngas highlighted in other studies

scholarly journals Analysis of Building Archetypes for Optimising New Photovoltaic Energy Facilities: A Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 12249
Author(s):  
Jesica Fernández-Agüera ◽  
Samuel Domínguez-Amarillo ◽  
Nerea García-Cortés ◽  
Miguel Ángel Campano
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Lower Income ◽  
Production Potential ◽  
Photovoltaic Energy ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
Consumption Rates ◽  
Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods

Fuel poverty rates are high in southern Europe, particularly in social housing, despite the enormous potential for capturing solar power inherent in the roofs of apartment buildings. The in situ generation, distribution and consumption of photovoltaic energy carry obvious advantages including vastly improved efficiency attendant upon the reduction in distribution-related losses and costs, and the energy empowerment afforded lower income communities. The primary drawback is the imbalance between photovoltaic production patterns and users’ actual needs (peak consumption vs. peak generation). That mismatch is difficult to reconcile without resorting to energy storage or net metering, both of which entail grid involvement and greater management complexity. The present study introduces a methodology for analysing residential archetypes to determine the values of the parameters essential to optimising photovoltaic energy production and use. The aim is to determine where excess generation can be shared with other users in the vicinity and optimally pool residential rooftop facilities to meet community-scale energy demand, ultimately enhancing such disadvantaged neighbourhoods’ self-sufficiency. The case study discussed defines archetypes for just such a neighbourhood in Madrid, Spain. The solar energy production potential of the example is promising for its application in large southern European cities, with self-sufficiency rates obtained ranging from 15% to 25% and self-consumption rates from 61% to 80%.

Mechanisms of Green Development of Urban Agricultural Production in a Large Industrial City

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 823-829
Author(s):  
E. V. Malysh
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Urban Agriculture ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Agricultural Technologies ◽  
Short Supply ◽  
Industrial City ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
Green Development

A city’s potential for food self-sufficiency is expected to increase through the distribution of innovative, high-tech, green agricultural practices of producing food in an urban environment, which can improve the city’s food security due to increased food accessibility in terms of quantity and quality. Aim. Based on the systematization of theoretical approaches and analysis of institutional aspects, the study aims to propose ways to strengthen the city’s food security by improving food supply in urban areas, increasing the socio-economic and environmental sustainability of urban food systems, and changing the diet of urban residents.Tasks. The authors propose methods for the development of urban agricultural production in a large industrial city based on the principles of green economy and outline the range of strategic urban activities aimed at implementing green agricultural production technologies associated with the formation and development of the culture of modern urban agricultural production.Methods. This study uses general scientific methods of cognition to examine the specificity of objectives of strengthening a city’s food security by improving the quality of food supply to the population. Methods of comparison, systems analysis, systematization of information, and the monographic method are also applied.Results. A strategic project for the development of urban agricultural systems through the implementation and green development of advanced urban agricultural technologies is described. Green development mechanisms will create conditions for the city’s self-sufficiency in terms of organic and safe products, functioning of short supply chains, and green urban agriculture.Conclusions. Managing the growth of urban agriculture will promote the use of highly effective, easily controlled, resource-efficient, eco-friendly, weather- and season-independent, multi-format urban agricultural technologies. The study describes actions aimed at creating conditions for stabilizing a city’s high-quality food self-sufficiency with allowance for the growing differentiation of citizen needs.

Agricultural production in Hani Rice Terraces System and related threats — a case study of Zuofu and Mitian Villages in Honghe County, China

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 698-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan-Ying BAI ◽  
Fei LUN ◽  
Zhi CAO ◽  
Lu HE ◽  
Xing-Chen LIU ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production

scholarly journals Integrating dark diversity and functional traits to enhance nature conservation of epiphytic lichens: a case study from Northern Italy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Pires Ferraz Trindade ◽  
Meelis Pärtel ◽  
Carlos Pérez Carmona ◽  
Tiina Randlane ◽  
Juri Nascimbene
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Nature Conservation ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Growth Form ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Epiphytic Lichens ◽  
Mountain Areas ◽  
High Elevations ◽  
Harsh Conditions

AbstractMountains provide a timely opportunity to examine the potential effects of climate change on biodiversity. However, nature conservation in mountain areas have mostly focused on the observed part of biodiversity, not revealing the suitable but absent species—dark diversity. Dark diversity allows calculating the community completeness, indicating whether sites should be restored (low completeness) or conserved (high completeness). Functional traits can be added, showing what groups should be focused on. Here we assessed changes in taxonomic and functional observed and dark diversity of epiphytic lichens along elevational transects in Northern Italy spruce forests. Eight transects (900–1900 m) were selected, resulting in 48 plots and 240 trees, in which lichens were sampled using four quadrats per tree (10 × 50 cm). Dark diversity was estimated based on species co-occurrence (Beals index). We considered functional traits related to growth form, photobiont type and reproductive strategy. Linear and Dirichlet regressions were used to examine changes in taxonomic metrics and functional traits along gradient. Our results showed that all taxonomic metrics increased with elevation and functional traits of lichens differed between observed and dark diversity. At low elevations, due to low completeness and harsh conditions, both restoration and conservation activities are needed, focusing on crustose species. Towards high elevations, conservation is more important to prevent species pool losses, focusing on macrolichens, lichens with Trentepohlia and sexual reproduction. Finally, dark diversity and functional traits provide a novel tool to enhance nature conservation, indicating particular threatened groups, creating windows of opportunities to protect species from both local and regional extinctions.

scholarly journals How Much Is Enough? First Steps to a Social Ecology of the Pergamon Microregion

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 479
Author(s):  
Julian Laabs ◽  
Daniel Knitter
Keyword(s):  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Cultural Dynamics ◽  
Imperial Period ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
Complementary Region ◽  
The City

In this study, we present a transparent and reproducible approach to model agricultural production with respect to environmental characteristics and available labour. Our research focuses on the city of Pergamon and its surroundings, with an emphasis on the transition between the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial Period, where widespread demographic changes took place. We investigated the degree of local self-sufficiency using different concepts of a city’s complementary region. Using simple topographic derivatives, we derive a measure of environmental suitability that we translate into a carrying capacity index. Our results show that workforce was not a limiting factor for local self-sufficiency. However, environmental carrying capacity may have been limiting in a scenario with a large population. An active investment into the environment, e.g., by the construction of terraces, could have helped to increase the degree of self-sufficiency. Future research should investigate the level of resilience of such a coupled socio-ecological system in relation to environmental and socio-cultural dynamics.

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