This case study was taken from the following website: wbcsdpublications.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Rio-Tinto-–-Achieving-the-Goal-of-Net-Positive-Impact-on-Biodiversity.pdf. This study highlights the efforts of the company Rio Tinto in various countries, although their main area is in Australia and North America; however they are branching out elsewhere in the world. They are a world leading company in “finding, mining and processing mineral resources”. This case study illustrates this company’s efforts to implement a biodiversity strategy, which would help them to achieve their business goals, but also conserve the world’s resources and environmental areas. Their main goal was to achieve an NPI (Net Positive Impact) on the natural environment. This approach thus exemplifies the idea of environmental justice because through this, they can attempt to keep the environment healthy for future generations to come.
This case study was taken from the PaveGen company website, producer of kinetic energy powered walkways and floor tiles, and was done in Saint Omer, France in 2014 outside of a train station. Here is a link to the website http://pavegen.com/projects/saint-omer-train-station-northern-france . The goal of this study was to determine how much energy could be obtained from simply walking each day. As people tread on a sidewalk with the inset pavers, they are actually creating energy by the pressure they exert onto it. Since they were placed outside of a train station with high foot traffic, they were able to obtain enough energy to power bench lighting and USB ports. This is sustainable because everyone walks anyway, furthermore these tiles are made of about 90% recycled material. The only thing I would be wary of with this product is what happens to it when it needs to be replaced? As with the electronic issue discussed in the module, we would have to find out what would happen to it afterward.
I live in State College, PA, a college town with a total population of about 100,000 during the school year. The first company, Rio Tinto is a mining company, but they are still trying to find ways to make their business sustainable and promote environmental justice by implementing the NPI so that, although they will still continue mining, they can mitigate a fraction of it, leave more than they take, so to speak. Here at Penn State, I think we try to do a similar thing with recycling. We still produce a lot of waste, but the university has developed an easier way to recycle by having bins for nearly everything around the campus, thereby mitigating our negative impact on the environment. As for the sidewalk pavers, I don’t believe we do anything like that here in State College, and although we are not a big city with train stations, etc. the campus does have its fair share of foot traffic. Neither of these issues really has to do with geography, except for how large the population is in a particular area and how much the people there are motivated to conserve energy and biodiversity.
2 thoughts on “Sara Getson – PaveGen and Rio Tinto”
Sara Getson I like your case study for the first one on biodiversity strategy. I like how you summarize the whole article so we did not have to read it. Your second case study was very interesting. I did not realize how much energy you exert when walking and that you could power bench lighting and a USB port. I also did not realize that you live so close to me. Here is a link to my assignment http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/26/christina-liptak-module-5/
Hello, my name is Katherine and I am a junior at Penn State. I really enjoyed reading your perspective on the various case studies about the use of resources. For each of my case studies, I researched numerous initiatives to end hunger around various parts of the world. It was interesting to compare the numbers of people that go hungry in each part of the world, which was more often than not, related to geography and access. I found it very informative to learn about Rio Tinto’s efforts to increase biodiversity. The world’s resources and ecosystems must be maintained and the Net Positive Impact (NPI) would be a very effective strategy.
Sara Getson I like your case study for the first one on biodiversity strategy. I like how you summarize the whole article so we did not have to read it. Your second case study was very interesting. I did not realize how much energy you exert when walking and that you could power bench lighting and a USB port. I also did not realize that you live so close to me. Here is a link to my assignment http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/26/christina-liptak-module-5/
Hello, my name is Katherine and I am a junior at Penn State. I really enjoyed reading your perspective on the various case studies about the use of resources. For each of my case studies, I researched numerous initiatives to end hunger around various parts of the world. It was interesting to compare the numbers of people that go hungry in each part of the world, which was more often than not, related to geography and access. I found it very informative to learn about Rio Tinto’s efforts to increase biodiversity. The world’s resources and ecosystems must be maintained and the Net Positive Impact (NPI) would be a very effective strategy.