Environmental Carbon Footprints: Industrial Case Studies provides a wide range of industrial case-studies, beginning with textiles, energy systems and bio-fuels. Each footprint is associated with background information, scientific consensus and the reason behind its invention, methodological framework, assessment checklist, calculation tool/technique, applications, challenges and limitations. More importantly, applications of each indicator/framework in various industrial sectors and their associated challenges are presented. As case studies are the most flexible of all research designs, this book allows researchers to retain the holistic characteristics of real-life events while investigating empirical events.

This book details three main topics: the screening and characterization of hydrocarbons from air, soil and water; technologies in the biodegradation of hydrocarbons; and the bioconversion of hydrocarbons for biofuel/chemicals, as well as recent developments in the remediation of hydrocarbons and their environmental benefits. The first section focuses on screening methods, qualitative and quantitative analysis of hydrocarbons from soil, air and water environments, speciation of hydrocarbons, and natural bioremediation strategies in such environments. The second section examines technologies for removing hydrocarbon contaminants from various environments, especially advanced technologies for the removal of hydrocarbons and in-situ and ex-situ remediation strategies and problems, as well as concrete case studies. The last section, covering the bioconversion of hydrocarbons for biofuel/chemicals, highlights the biochemicals and bioproducts developed from hydrocarbons, with a particular focus on biochemical and chemical technologies used to produce biopolymers, biofuel precursors and commodity chemicals from hydrocarbons.

This book presents the preservation principles and the current environmental challenges relating to monitoring heritage sites and buildings under the effects of climate change. It provides a clear overview of conservation action levels and the importance of participation and cooperation between them, and discusses evaluation and management methods, thermal comfort for the common usages, and conceptual methods for enhancing the built heritage. The research presented employed the "Zoom In, Zoom Out" approach for monitoring the Syrian coastal heritage sites threatened by the direct and indirect effects of climate change. Lastly, the book establishes the basic principles and conservation strategies for preserving the coastal heritage sites and buildings. As such, it is a valuable reference resource for researchers, developers, architects, and conservators involved in protecting the architectural heritage in coastal areas. It can also be used as a guidebook on preserving and monitoring built heritage sites at both macro and micro levels.

Geographic Knowledge Engineering: Applications to Territorial Intelligence and Smart Cities studies the specific nature of geographic knowledge and the structure of geographic knowledge bases. Geographic relations, ontologies, gazetteers and rules are detailed as the basic components of such bases, and these rules are defined to develop our understanding of the mechanisms of geographic reasoning. The book examines various problems linked to geovisualization, chorems, visual querying and interoperability to shape knowledge infrastructure for smart governance.

Low Grade Heat Driven Multi-effect Distillation and Desalination describes the development of advanced multi-effect evaporation technologies that are driven by low grade sensible heat, including process waste heat in refineries, heat rejection from diesel generators or microturbines, and solar and geothermal energy. The technologies discussed can be applied to desalination in remote areas, purifying produced water in oil-and-gas industries, and to re-concentrate process liquor in refineries. This book is ideal for researchers, engineering scientists, graduate students, and industrial practitioners working in the desalination, petrochemical, and mineral refining sectors, helping them further understand the technologies and opportunities that relate to their respective industries. For researchers and graduate students, the core enabling ideas in the book will provide insights and open up new horizons in thermal engineering.

Detecting Ecological Impacts: Concepts and Applications in Coastal Habitats focuses on crucial aspects of detecting local and regional impacts that result from human activities. Detection and characterization of ecological impacts require scientific approaches that can reliably separate the effects of a specific anthropogenic activity from those of other processes. This fundamental goal is both technically and operationally challenging. Detecting Ecological Impacts is devoted to the conceptual and technical underpinnings that allow for reliable estimates of ecological effects caused by human activities. An international team of scientists focuses on the development and application of scientific tools appropriate for estimating the magnitude and spatial extent of ecological impacts. The contributors also evaluate our current ability to forecast impacts. Some of the scientific, legal, and administrative constraints that impede these critical tasks also are highlighted. Coastal marine habitats are emphasized, but the lessons and insights have general application to all ecological systems.

This book presents a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art research on water treatment methods for the removal of cyanobacteria, taste and odour compounds, and cyanotoxins. The topics covered include practically all technologies that are currently used or are in a state of research and development e.g. membrane filtration, adsorption, biological treatment, chemical disinfection-oxidation, advanced oxidation processes, reviewing their effects on cyanotoxins with regards to degradation, detoxification, mineralization and relative mechanisms. The book highlights strong and weak points regarding the applicability of these techniques on a large scale, discusses issues regarding the quality of treated water, and identifies research gaps and future research needs on the topic. Topics covered include: * Introduction to cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins * Cyanotoxins and human health * Physical treatment for the removal of cyanobacteria/cyanotoxins * Biological treatment for the destruction of cyanobacteria/cyanotoxins * Conventional disinfection and/or oxidation processes * Advanced oxidation processes * Removal and/or destruction of taste and odour compounds. * Integrated drinking water processes. * Transformation products of cyanobacterial metabolites during water treatment. The book concludes with a section of case studies and real life examples, followed by a review of the research gaps and future perspectives. This book has been developed within the frame of the COST-funded CYANOCOST Action http://cyanocost.com/index.php and is edited by experienced scientists in the field. Chapters are authoritative and written by an internationally recognized team of experts in specific research topics related to water treatment for purification from cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins.

Thirty years ago, the UN report Our Common Future placed sustainable development firmly on the international agenda. The Imperatives of Sustainable Development takes the ethical foundations of Our Common Future and builds a model that emphasizes three equally important moral imperatives - satisfying human needs, ensuring social justice, and respecting environmental limits. This model suggests sustainability themes and assigns thresholds to them, thereby defining the space within which sustainable development can be achieved. The authors accept that there is no single pathway to the sustainable development space. Different countries face different challenges and must follow different pathways. This perspective is applied to all countries to determine whether the thresholds of the sustainability themes selected have been met, now and in the past. The authors build on the extensive literature on needs, equity, justice, environmental science, ecology, and economics, and show how the three moral imperatives can guide policymaking. The Imperatives of Sustainable Development synthesizes past reasoning, summarizes the present debate, and provides a clear direction for future thinking. This book will be essential reading for everyone interested in the future of sustainable development and in the complex environmental and social issues involved.

This book gives an overview on techniques and future perspectives of various aspects of waste biomass management. It also presents the economic and environmental evaluation, and also the monetary value-benefits and sustainability of the different processes. Recycling processes of lignocellulosic biomass from palm oil mill waste are covered, as well as from sugar industry waste and agriculture waste. It also includes thermal and non-thermal technologies for resource recovery from waste biomass. Challenges in the reuse and recycling of waste biomass are discussed, i.e., the hygienic safety in biomass management and bioremediation technologies for conversion into valuable products. The book is aiming at scientists, researchers and students alike, who are working in the research areas pertaining to waste management

Industrial Water Treatment Process Technology begins with a brief overview of the challenges in water resource management, covering issues of plenty and scarcity-spatial variation, as well as water quality standards. In this book, the author includes a clear and rigorous exposition of the various water resource management approaches such as: separation and purification (end of discharge pipe), zero discharge approach (green process development), flow management approach, and preservation and control approach. This coverage is followed by deeper discussion of individual technologies and their applications.

The book examines a new concern in water quality policy, namely aquatic micropollutants. Micropollutants are chemicals detected in small concentrations in waterbodies today, originating from pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, or detergents, among others. Since the regulation of micropollutants is a fairly new issue, it has been largely neglected in social sciences. However, the search for appropriate solutions is of high political relevance at both the national and international levels, with many open questions arising that concern the most adequate governance structures and steering mechanisms. Solutions suitable for classical, macro-pollutants, such as nutrients, do not necessarily apply to micropollutants because of the diversity of compounds and sources, and for technical, financial, and societal reasons. The book addresses this knowledge gap by investigating the steering mechanisms at hand and their prospect for problem solving. In this regard, the research provides a systematic depiction and comparison of policy designs in place for the reduction of micropollutants in the Rhine basin. Moreover, the study yields insights into the governance structures in place, into actors' responsibilities and constellations, and policy processes regarding micropollutants. The study is furthermore embedded into broader theoretical questions of policy research. More precisely, this research is a contribution to policy analysis that aims to achieve more optimal policy results by providing for a better understanding of the nature of policy designs and the social mechanisms behind the choice of them. Despite the intrinsic aim of policy analysis at contributing to more optimal policy outcomes, there remains a lack of research regarding analytical tools that enable an ex-ante assessment of policy designs' problem-solving abilities. To explore such a research path, this book proposes a novel index of policy comprehensiveness for quantifying the prospective performance of policy designs in alleviating an underlying policy issue, e.g. reducing pollutants in waters. Furthermore, the book uncovers the social mechanisms behind policymaking and turns to the question: In which social settings is it possible to achieve a comprehensive policy design? Compared to purely micro-level explanations, the advantage of the network approach is that it goes beyond the mere aggregation of policy actors' attributes by taking into consideration actors' interdependencies. In order to take the network approach seriously, the study systematically links the structure of a policy network with comprehensive policy designs. Network concepts, such as coalition structure, interconnectedness, and belief similarity, are employed from policy change research here in order to explore the link between structural network characteristics and comprehensive policy design. By studying how network structures affect policy design, the book critically examines the explanatory value of the network approach.

This volume reviews the drinking water treatments in which AOPs display a high application potential. Firstly it reveals the typical supply sources and limitations of conventional technologies and critically reviews natural organic matter characterization and removal techniques, focusing mainly on AOP treatments. It then explores using AOPs for simultaneous inactivation/disinfection of several types of microorganisms, including highly resistant Cryptosporidium protozoa. Lastly, it discusses relevant miscellaneous topics, like the most promising AOP solid catalysts, the regime change of Fenton-like processes toward continuous reactors, the application of chemometrics for process optimization, the impact on disinfection byproducts and the tracing of toxicity during AOP treatments. This work is a useful reference for researchers and students involved in water technologies, including analytical and environmental chemistry, chemical and environmental engineering, toxicology, biotechnology, and related fields. It is intended to encourage industrial and public-health scientists and decision-makers to accelerate the application of AOPs as technological alternatives for the improvement of drinking water treatment plants.

Loaded with information on the design of work systems, workplaces, and workstations as well as human anthropometics, Ergonomics for Beginners: A Quick Reference Guide, Third Edition provides a useful quick reference and valuable tool for novices and experienced professionals alike. Retaining the features that made each previous edition a bestseller, the authors have meticulously revised the information to address rapid developments in information and communications technology, offering ergonomics advice on topics such as wireless, remote, and hands-free controls, website design, mobile interaction, and virtual offices. Understand the Utility and Limitations of Modern Technology In their trademark, eloquent style, the authors explain the application of a human-centered approach to the design, testing, and evaluation of work systems by considering the interrelated set of physical, cognitive, social, organizational, and other relevant human factors. Their elemental, but comprehensive, treatment of the subject matter provides an authoritative and archival reference of basic theoretical and practical knowledge that will help enhance human performance and reduce the undesirable effects and unintended consequences of many human interactions with technology and the organizational environment. Small enough to carry along to work sites, with simple and clear illustrations, the book examines how to improve performance and reduce the undesirable effects and unintended consequences of many human interactions with technology and the work environment.

This edited book has been designed to serve as a natural resources engineering reference book as well as a supplemental textbook. This volume is part of the Handbook of Environmental Engineering series, an incredible collection of methodologies that study the effects of pollution and waste in their three basic forms: gas, solid, and liquid. It complements two other books in the series including Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering and Integrated Natural Resources Management that serve as a basis for advanced study or specialized investigation of the theory and analysis of various natural resources systems. This book covers the management of many waste sources including those from agricultural livestock, deep-wells, industries manufacturing dyes, and municipal solid waste incinerators. The purpose of this book is to thoroughly prepare the reader for understanding the sources, treatment and control methods of toxic wastes shown to have harmful effects on the environment. Chapters provide information on some of the most innovative and ground-breaking advances in waste characterization, control, treatment and management from a panel of esteemed experts.

This volume offers up-to-date and comprehensive information on various aspects of the Nile River, which is the main source of water in Egypt. The respective chapters examine the Nile journey; the Aswan High Dam Reservoir; morphology and sediment quality of the Nile; threats to biodiversity; fish and fisheries; rain-fed agriculture, rainfall data, and fluctuations in rainfall; the impact of climate change; and hydropolitics and legal aspects. The book closes with a concise summary of the conclusions and recommendations provided in the preceding chapters, and discusses the requirements for the sustainable development of the Nile River and potential ways to transform conflicts into cooperation. Accordingly, it offers an invaluable source of information for researchers, graduate students and policymakers alike.

This book focuses on the diversity of yeasts in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, including the association of yeasts with insects, invertebrate and vertebrate animals. It offers an overview of the knowledge accumulated in the course of more than 60 years of research and is closely connected with the volume Yeasts in Natural Ecosystems: Ecology by the same editors. In view of the rapid decline of many natural habitats due to anthropogenic activities and climate change, the need to study biodiversity is pressing. Rising temperatures threaten species inhabiting cold and aquatic environments, and species in terrestrial ecosystems are endangered by habitat fragmentation or loss. Most of our knowledge of intrinsic properties (autoecology) of yeasts reported throughout this book is derived from laboratory experiments with pure cultures. Accordingly, the importance of culture collections for ecological studies is highlighted by presenting an overview of worldwide available yeast strains and their origins. All of the chapters were written by leading international yeast research experts, and will appeal to researchers and advanced students in the field of microbial diversity.

This book focuses on various aspects related to air pollution, including major sources of air pollution, measurement techniques, modeling studies and solution approaches to control. The book also presents case studies on measuring air pollution in major urban areas, such as Delhi, India. The book examines vehicles as a source of air pollution and addresses the quantitative analysis of engine exhaust emissions. Subsequent chapters discuss particulate matter from engines and coal-fired power plants as a major pollutant, as well as emission control techniques using various after treatment systems. The book's final chapter considers future perspectives and a way forward for sustainable development. It also discusses several emission control techniques that will gain relevance in the future, when stricter emission norms will be enforced for international combustion (IC) engines as well as power plants. Given its breadth of coverage, the book will benefit a wide variety of readers, including researchers, professionals, and policymakers.

In a world where food security is key and the effects of climate change, labour shortages and rising costs are a daily reality for farmers across the globe, the quest for a satisfactory and viable policy for agriculture has a continuing interest as relevant today as when these 26 books were first published between 1928 and 1994. Trading relations and trade deals in the sphere of agribusiness are also once again under the spotlight following the UK’s departure from Europe. Challenges for the 21st century are balancing the needs of agronomics – the production of food under the most economic, competitive yet sustainable conditions, alongside the effective use of land to satisfy the multiple demands upon it. The volumes in this set address these complex issues from a variety of global viewpoints encompassing economic, political, geographic and environmental perspectives.

The remediation of environmental pollutants has become a relevant topic within the field of waste management. Advances in biological approaches are a potential tool for contamination and pollution control. Microbial Tools and Techniques for Environmental Waste Management is a critical scholarly resource that explores the advanced biological approaches that are used as remediation for pollution cleanup processes. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as biodegradation, microbial dehalogenation, and pollution controlling treatments, this book is geared towards environmental scientists, biologists, policy makers, graduate students, and scholars seeking current research on environmental engineering and green technologies.

Providing a detailed examination of climate negotiations records since the 1990s, this book shows that, in addition to agreeing on climate policy frameworks, the negotiations process is of crucial importance to success. Shedding light on the dynamics of international climate policymaking, its respective chapters explore key milestones such as the Kyoto Protocol, Marrakech Accords, Cancun Agreement and Doha Framework. The book identifies a minimum of three conditions that need to be fulfilled for successful climate negotiations: the negotiations need to reflect the fact that climate change calls for global solutions; the negotiation process must be flexible, including multiple trajectories and several small steps; and decisive tactical maneuvers need to be made, as much can depend on, for example, personalities and the negotiating atmosphere. With regard to the design of an international climate policy regime, the main challenge presented has been the inability to agree on globally supported greenhouse gas emission reduction measures. The book offers an excellent source of information for researchers, policymakers and advisors alike.