Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
from daily use poses a negative heath risk for aquatic ecosystems, mainly on animals living
in surface water. In addition, production of these compounds, especially chlorine and
ammonia, are energy-intensive processes that rely on the use of fossil fuels.
Impact of distribution
When thinking about distribution, transportation is the first aspect that comes into mind. Indeed,
transportation is a component of distribution, but it is not the only one. In addition, warehousing,
materials handling, and data processing are integral parts of a food distribution system.
Distribution of food products comes in three variants: frozen, refrigerated, and room temperature.
Distribution centers
Distribution centers are dedicated building stocked with food products ready to be shipped to
wholesalers, retailers, or consumers. Distribution centers receive the food products from pro-
cessing or packing plants by truck or railroad, store the products until orders are placed, and
then redistribute the items to customers.
The impact of distribution centers is primarily indirect emissions from the use of electricity
that to run lights, refrigeration equipment, materials handling equipment, computers, and air-
conditioning and heaters. The magnitude of the impacts depends on the type of building and
how the facility is managed. Buildings with dark roofs and poorly insulated walls are more
likely to waste energy. The use of low-efficiency light fixtures definitely increases the con-
sumption of energy. Poorly planned warehouses create the need for unnecessary materials
handling that wastes energy and money.
Distribution centers are normally surrounded by extensive areas of asphalt for circulation
of trucks or as parking lots. These paved areas have two effects on local and regional
watersheds. First, they prevent the normal absorption of water during rain and create runoffs
that ultimately end up in creeks, rivers, and lakes. Second, the runoff washes oils, fuel, and
other contaminants from the pavement, which causes contamination of watersheds. More on
this topic is covered in Chapter 9.
Distribution centers are often in charge of dealing with tertiary packaging, which is
recycled, disposed of in landfills, or incinerated, thus creating direct or indirect air pollution.
Data processing
In the current rapid electronic communication era, inventory control and order handling are
completely conducted by using computers, which are interconnected via high speed
communication lines to other computers and to data centers. Because of its versatility and
speed, electronic data communication has taken the place of most paper transactions that were
used in the past what is more, the use of fast computer systems has allowed the reduction of
intermediate inventory, order errors, and delays to fulfill orders. As unintended outcome, it has
also reduced the use of paper and fuel to transport paper orders from one point to another. At
first impression, all this happens in an electronic network with an apparently insubstantial
environmental impact. However, it is important to recognize that electronic data processing is
not impact free because it takes electricity to run it. To put this in perspective, it is estimated
that a single Internet search uses 11 watt-hours of electricity (Thomas, 2009), or according to
Google, the equivalent to 200 mg of carbon dioxide (Graham-Rowe, 2009). Technology is
