Soft re-use of brownfields describes intended temporary or final re-uses of brownfield sites which are not based on built constructions or infrastructure (‘hard' re-use). Examples of soft re-uses include the creation of public green space. These are essentially uses where the soil is not sealed. Often the case for soft re-use of brownfields has not been easy to demonstrate in strictly financial terms. The purpose of this paper is to describe a value based approach to identify and optimise services provided by the restoration of brownfields to soft re-uses, on a permanent or interim basis. A ‘Brownfield Opportunity Matrix' is suggested as means of identifying and discussing soft restoration opportunities. The use of ‘sustainability linkages' is suggested as a means of understanding the sustainability of the services under consideration and providing a structure for the overall valuation of restoration work, for example as part of design or option appraisal processes, or to support the solicitation of interest in a project

The increasing need for biomass for energy and feedstocks, along with the need to divert organic methane generating wastes from landfills, may provide the economic leverage necessary to return this type of marginal land to functional and economic use and is strongly supported by policy at the European Union (EU) level. The use of land to produce biomass for energy production or feedstocks for manufacturing processes (such as plastics and biofuels) has, however, become increasingly contentious, with a number of environmental, economic, and social concerns raised.The REJUVENATE project has developed a decision support framework to help land managers and other decision makers identify potential concerns related to sustainability and what types of biomass reuse for marginal land might be possible, given their particular circumstances. The decision-making framework takes a holistic approach to decision making rather than viewing biomass production simply as an adjunct of a planned phytoremediation project. The framework is serviceable in Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. These countries have substantive differences in their land and biomass reuse circumstances. However, all can make use of the set of common principles of crop, site, value, and project risk management set out by REJUVENATE. This implies that the framework should have wider applicability across the EU. This article introduces the decision support framework. O c 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. INTRODUCTIONThe use of land to produce biomass for energy production or feedstocks for manufacturing processes (such as plastics and biofuels) has become increasingly contentious, with a number of environmental, economic, and social concerns raised. Across Europe there are areas of land that have been damaged by past use. These include brownfields 1 and land affected by contamination. In a large number of situations this land is derelict or underutilized because its restoration is uneconomic or unsustainable using conventional methods. This economically stalled land is described as "marginal land" within this article.There are estimated to be close to one million potential brownfield sites across the European Union (EU; Oliver et al., 2005). The European Environment Agency (EEA) has also collated information regarding the quantity of land contaminated by point sources in Europe. In August 2007, the EEA (EEA, 2007) would require cleanup, with potentially polluting activities having occurred at nearly 3 million sites, and the number of sites was projected to increase. The EEA's report concluded that "although considerable efforts have been made already, it will take decades to clean up a legacy of contamination.""Although considerable efforts have been made already, it will take decades to clean up a legacy of contamination."The extent of diffuse contamination is less well known as evidenced by the European Commission's (EC's) 2010 report, European Environment State and Outlook on Soil (EC, 2010), but appears to be a substantial problem. For example, across tw...

The increasing concentrations and diversity of trace pollutants and pathogens in the water cycle are a challenge with regard to their classification, assessment and elimination. As a result the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) initiated the funding measure "Risk Management of Emerging Compounds and Pathogens in the Water Cycle (RiSKWa)". The aim of the programme is to develop innovative technologies and concepts for the risk management of these compounds towards a preventive environmental and health protection based on an application-oriented approach. Having started between October 2011 and January 2012, 12 joint research projects with more than 90 actors from science, industry, society and authorities are working on "Risk characterisation and management", "Technologies for emission and immission management" and "Measures for communication and education" during the next 3 years.

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Electrochemical technologies for the treatment of industrial and municipal wastewaters, potable water, and groundwater, are presented, focusing on the main water constituents: inorganics, organics, micropollutants, and microorganisms. Removal of inorganic compounds by electrodialysis, electrocoagulation, and capacitive deionization as well as removal of organics and micropollutants by electrosorption, advanced oxidation processes, and anodic oxidation with boron‐doped diamond electrodes are reviewed. Electricity can be generated by degradation of organic compounds in microbial fuel cells and dehalogenation by cathodic reduction minimizes toxic substances in water. The disinfection of different types of water is also presented and it is shown that electrochemical methods offer versatile approaches to contribute to an sustainable future water management.