- Industry: Broadcasting & receiving
- Number of terms: 5074
- Number of blossaries: 1
- Company Profile:
The largest broadcasting organisation in the world.
An ecosystem is the term applied to the interaction of a community of different living (organic) species - plants, animals and micro-organisms - with non-living (or inorganic) factors, such as atmospheric gases, temperature and light. When the balance of an ecosystem is changed - by the introduction of new elements or dramatic rises in one or more of them - the normal functioning of the ecosystem can be disrupted.
Industry:Natural environment
All white goods and other household appliances sold in the UK are now required by law to carry a rating indicating their energy efficiency. Goods are graded A to G, with A the most efficient. Information on the EU-wide labelling scheme is available from the government's environment department, Defra.
Industry:Natural environment
Embodied energy - sometimes referred to as 'embedded energy' - is the energy used (and therefore the CO2 emissions) in manufacturing, packaging and transporting a product, material or service. So when calculating the CO2 savings from a new energy-efficient product such as a boiler or washing machine, its embodied energy needs to be taken into account. Usually the energy saved in use will quickly compensate for the embodied energy, but in some cases - such as small urban wind turbines - it may be that a product will use more energy in its manufacture than it will save across its lifetime.
Industry:Natural environment
Emissions are the CO2 (and other greenhouse gases) produced by energy use, usually calculated and stated as an annual tally: also referred to as your carbon footprint. Your personal emissions can be direct - such as the gas you personally use to heat your home or the petrol you burn to power your car - or indirect - meaning the energy use that has gone into the products or services you buy. The latter, such as the emissions caused by the manufacture of your new TV, or the packaging your food comes in, are also referred to as embodied emissions.
Industry:Natural environment
Emissions trading exists in countries where there is an overall top limit set on the emissions that industry can produce. Each business has a permit allowing it to produce a certain quantity of CO2 emissions; if it needs to exceed that limit, it must buy additional 'credits' from another business which has produced less than its permitted emissions. In theory, this mechanism means emissions reductions are made with the minimal adverse effect on the wider economy because those industries that find it hardest to cut emissions are helped by those where the cheapest reductions can be made.
Industry:Natural environment
Something that is energy efficient achieves the greatest useful output for the least expenditure of energy, or improves the ratio between the two. For example, energy efficient car engines improve the car's fuel economy.
Industry:Natural environment
An energy-intensive process uses a great deal of energy - and therefore produces high emissions - relative to its useful output. As an example, beef production, has recently been cited as an especially energy-intensive industry, while tumble dryers are energy-intensive appliances. Products that are manufactured in an energy-intensive way are also said to be 'emissions heavy'.
Industry:Natural environment
Farmers' markets are where producers sell fresh, locally grown produce, or food made with local ingredients, direct to the public. As with organic farming, there is no single, fixed definition but producers should be local (within about 25-30 miles of the market) and selling their own produce - i.e. they are the farmer, family member or direct employee. A large fraction of the produce - particularly during the winter - is grown in artificially-heated greenhouses.
Industry:Natural environment
In a feedback loop, rising temperatures on the Earth change the environment in ways that affect the rate of warming. Feedback loops can be positive (adding to the rate of warming), or negative (reducing it). The melting of Arctic ice provides an example of a positive feedback process. As the ice on the surface of the Arctic Ocean melts away, there is a smaller area of white ice to reflect the Sun's heat back into space and more open, dark water to absorb it. The less ice there is, the more the water heats up, and the faster the remaining ice melts.
Industry:Natural environment
Fertilisers are given to plants to promote growth. They can be naturally occurring compounds (such as peat) or they can be manufactured - either through natural processes (such as composting) or chemical processes. Fertilisers commonly contain nitrogen, and the use of such fertilisers emits the potent greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide (N20). Using animal manure as fertiliser, though organic, releases another potent greenhouse gas, methane into the atmosphere.
Industry:Natural environment
