Trees and tree products have long been central to human life and culture, taking on intensified significance during the long eighteenth century. As basic raw material they were vital economic resources, objects of international diplomatic and commercial exchange, and key features in local economies. In an age of ongoing deforestation, both individuals and public entities grappled with the complex issues of how and why trees mattered. In this interdisciplinary volume, contributors build on recent research in environmental history, literary and material culture, and postcolonial studies to develop new readings of the ways trees were valued in the eighteenth century. They trace changes in early modern theories of resource management and ecology across European and North American landscapes, and show how different and sometimes contradictory practices were caught up in shifting conceptions of nature, social identity, physical health and moral wellbeing. In its innovative and thought-provoking exploration of man's relationship with trees, Invaluable trees: cultures of nature, 1660 -1830 argues for new ways of understanding the long eighteenth century and its values, and helps re-frame the environmental challenges of our own time.

Desert Regions are Familiar faces in many of History of the world. The Earliest civilizations and two of the world's major Religions were born here. This publication "Environment, People and Development: Experiences from Desert Ecosystems" Highlights some of the Basic and technologically refined information from many parts of the Desert Ecosystems of the world.

Pastoralist Livelihoods in Asian Drylands brings together the work of scholars from across Asia to discuss the transforming boundaries, agencies and risks involved in pastoralist livelihoods. The authors, whose research sites range from Oman to Mongolia, Syria to Pakistan, share methodological commitment to long-term field research, participant observation and engagement with local communities. There is a focus on pastoralist engagements with governance institutions and the essays collectively argue that risk, which is often imagined in environmental terms for pastoralist peoples, often stems from government policies and political circumstances. The authors challenge common ecological approaches to understanding social change amongst pastoralist groups by focusing on the politics of resource distribution and control. Papers in the volume support an indigenous perspective on pastoralists and present academic perceptions and assessments of key issues in their local context.

In this innovative book, Laura E. Huggins finds path breaking entrepreneurial solutions to difficult environmental challenges in some of the world's poorest areas.The approaches entrepreneurs are taking to these challenges involve establishing property rights and encouraging market exchange. From beehives to barbed wire, these tools are creating positive incentives and promoting both economic development and environmental improvements. The case studies are from the developing world and reveal where the biggest victories for less poverty and more conservation can be won. The pursuit begins by learning from local people solving local problems. Environmental Entrepreneurship encourages a broad audience to consider secure property rights and free markets as key ingredients to moving out of poverty and improving environmental quality at the same time. It will appeal to academics and students of environmental studies, environmental economics, environmental policy, as well as international development and business. Entrepreneurs and environmental groups such as The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, and The World Resources Institute will also find a wealth of invaluable information in this book. Contents: 1. Markets Meet the Environment in Unexpected Places 2. Saving Wildlife in Kenya and Sub-Sahran Africa with Shawn Regan and Terry Anderson 3. Fencing Fisheries in Namibia and Beyond 4. Ecosystems at Your Service in South America 5. The Thirsty Dragon 6. Un-American Indian Reservations and Resource Management with Terry Anderson Index

Hydraulic Fracturing in the Karoo: Critical Legal and Environmental Perspectives explores a broad-ranging set of questions related to proposed hydraulic fracturing or `fracking' in the Karoo. The book is multidisciplinary, with contributors including natural scientists, social scientists, and academics from the humanities, all concerned with the ways in which scientific facts and debates about fracking have been framed and given meaning. The work comprises four parts: Part 1 provides an international, legal, energy, economic, and revenue overview of the topic. Part 2 has a physio-geographic theme, with chapters on the inter-related aspects of water, geology, geo-hydrology, seismicity and biodiversity, as well as archaeological and palaeontological considerations. Part 3 focuses on public health, and sociological and humanities-related aspects, and Part 4 addresses the relevant laws, emphasising their implementation and the role of governance. The underlying theme of Hydraulic Fracturing in the Karoo: Critical Legal and Environmental Perspectives is one of caution. The book emphasises the need for collaboration between the natural and social sciences and the responsibilities of those charged with the implementation and governance of the fracking enterprise if South Africa hopes to effectively manage fracking at all.

Dairy Technology is the industrial, non-farm phase of the tremendously large, dynamic and complex dairy industry. This phase represents a combination of science, engineering, business, and art as applied to all dairy and dairy-type foods and their industries. Dairy and dairy-type foods represent a major segment of the vast and varied food industry. This comprehensive book has been written encompassing entire gamuts of manufacture of dairy products, functional foods, utilization of dairy byproducts, cleaning and sanitization and quality assurance. The main objective of the book is to provide the latest information in a consolidated form at one point to meet the requirements of not only undergraduate and postgraduates students but also teachers and dairy professionals.

This book comprises 41 s dealing various issues, prospects and importance of conservation agriculture practices followed across different regions with special emphasis on rainfed regions. We hope this book on conservation agriculture will be highly useful to researchers, scientists, students, farmers and land managers for efficient and sustainable management of natural resources.

This book addresses the important issues of food security and sustainability of natural resources of India in the context of the projected climate change. Agroecosystems being the sites of intense interaction between human beings and natural world, global climate change is likely to affect the resource base, the crop productivity, input use efficiency and overall the profitability of agricultural production systems to a great extent. However, the adverse effects of climate change can be alleviated through mitigation and adaptation strategies which carry importance due to the increasing population and food demand in India. Thus, this compilation covers possible sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in Indian context including the potentials of soil carbon sequestration, crop pest and soil management and scientific livestock management as mitigation and adaptation options. This book also includes some topics on fundamentals of green house effect and the possible mechanisms by which soil nutrient availability alters due to CO2 fertilization. The schematic diagrams, tables and graphs have been included to make the book more illustrative. The likelihood of carbon credits and trading through best management practices can help Indian farmers earning carbon credits in future. The book is useful for researchers, farm managers, policy makers and also students engaged in climate change related studies.

This book dispels common myths about electricity and electricity policy and reveals how government policies manipulate energy markets, create hidden costs, and may inflict a net harm on the American people and the environment. Climate change, energy generation and use, and environmental degradation are among the most salient—and controversial—political issues today. Our country's energy future will be determined by the policymakers who enact laws that favor certain kinds of energy production while discouraging others as much as by the energy-production companies or the scientists working to reduce the environmental impact of all energy production. The Reality of American Energy: The Hidden Costs of Electricity provides rare insights into the politics and economics surrounding electricity in the United States. It identifies the economic, physical, and environmental implications of distorting energy markets to limit the use of fossil fuels while increasing renewable energy production and explains how these unseen effects of favoring renewable energy may be counterproductive to the economic interests of American citizens and to the protection of the environment. The first two chapters of the book introduce the subject of electricity policy in the United States and to enable readers to understand why policymakers do what they do. The remainder of the book examines the realities of the major electricity sources in the United States: coal, natural gas, nuclear, hydrodynamic, wind, biomass, solar, and geothermal. Each of these types of energy sources is analyzed in a dedicated chapter that explains how the electricity source works and identifies how politics and public policy shape the economic and environmental impacts associated with them.

Time and Methods in Environmental Interfaces Modelling: Personal Insights considers the use of time in environmental interfaces modeling and introduce new methods, from the global scale (e.g. climate modeling) to the micro scale (e.g. cell and nanotubes modeling), which primarily arise from the personal research insights of the authors. As the field of environmental science requires the application of new fundamental approaches that can lead to a better understanding of environmental phenomena, this book helps necessitate new approaches in modeling, including category theory, that follow new achievements in physics, mathematics, biology, and chemistry.

Clean Coal Engineering Technology, Second Edition provides significant information on the major power generation technologies that aim to utilize coal more efficiently, and with less environmental impact. With increased coal combustion comes heightened concerns about coal's impacts on human health and climate change, so the book addresses the reduction of both carbon footprints and emissions of pollutants, such as particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and mercury. Part 1 provides an essential grounding in the history of coal use alongside coal chemical and physical characteristics, worldwide distribution, and health and environmental impacts. Part 2 introduces the fundamentals of the major coal utilization technologies and examines the anatomy of a coal-fired power plant before going on to provide an overview of clean coal technologies for advanced power generation. Next, users will find a group of chapters on emissions and carbon management that have been extensively enlarged and updated for the second edition, thus reflecting the ever-increasing importance of this area. The final section of the book focuses on clean coal technology programs around the world and the future role of coal in the energy mix. This fully revised and selectively expanded new edition is a valuable resource for professionals, including environmental, chemical, and mechanical engineers who seek an authoritative and thorough one-volume overview of the latest advances in cleaner power production from coal.

Case Studies for Integrating Science and the Global Environment is designed to help students of the environment and natural resources make the connections between their training in science and math and today's complex environmental issues. The book provides an opportunity for students to apply important skills, knowledge, and analytical tools to understand, evaluate, and propose solutions to today's critical environmental issues. The heart of the book includes four major content areas: water resources; the atmosphere and air quality; ecosystem alteration; and global resources and human needs. Each of these sections features in-depth case studies covering a range of issues for each resource, offering rich opportunities to teach how various scientific disciplines help inform the issue at hand. Case studies provide readers with experience in interpreting real data sets and considering alternate explanations for trends shown by the data. This book helps prepare students for careers that require collaboration with stakeholders and co-workers from various disciplines.

Redefining Diversity and Dynamics of Natural Resources Management in Southeast Asia, Volumes 1-4 brings together scientific research and policy issues across various topographical areas in Asia to provide a comprehensive overview of the issues facing the region. Upland Natural Resources and Social Ecological Systems in Northern Vietnam, Volume 2, provides chapters on natural resource management in northern Vietnam tied together by the concept that participatory local involvement is needed in all aspects of natural resource management. The volume examines planning for climate change, managing forestland, alleviating food shortages, living with biodiversity, and assessing the development projects and policies being implemented. Without the involvement of local communities, households, and ultimately individual people, the needed action will not be effectively taken. Upland Natural Resources and Social Ecological Systems in Northern Vietnam, Volume 2, goes beyond just Northern Vietnam to address the issue of transboundary natural resource management-an issue that Vietnam is dealing with in its relations with northern neighbor, China, and western neighbor, Laos-as well as the transboundary water governance between Pakistan and India in south Asia, with the hope that some of the lessons learned may one day be useful in the case of Vietnam and its neighbors.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) of production and processing in the food industry is an important tool for improving sustainability. Environmental assessment and management in the food industry reviews the advantages, challenges and different applications of LCA and related methods for environmental assessment, as well as key aspects of environmental management in this industry sector. Part one discusses the environmental impact of food production and processing, addressing issues such as nutrient management and water efficiency in agriculture. Chapters in Part two cover LCA methodology and challenges, with chapters focusing on different food industry sectors such as crop production, livestock and aquaculture. Part three addresses the applications of LCA and related approaches in the food industry, with chapters covering combining LCA with economic tools, ecodesign of food products and footprinting methods of assessment, among other topics. The final part of the book concentrates on environmental management in the food industry, including contributions on training, eco-labelling and establishing management systems. With its international team of editors and contributors, Environmental assessment and management in the food industry is an essential reference for anyone involved in environmental management in the food industry, and for those with an academic interest in sustainable food production.

Handbook of Biofuels Production, Second Edition, discusses advanced chemical, biochemical, and thermochemical biofuels production routes that are fast being developed to address the global increase in energy usage. Research and development in this field is aimed at improving the quality and environmental impact of biofuels production, as well as the overall efficiency and output of biofuels production plants. The book provides a comprehensive and systematic reference on the range of biomass conversion processes and technology. Key changes for this second edition include increased coverage of emerging feedstocks, including microalgae, more emphasis on by-product valorization for biofuels' production, additional chapters on emerging biofuel production methods, and discussion of the emissions associated with biofuel use in engines. The editorial team is strengthened by the addition of two extra members, and a number of new contributors have been invited to work with authors from the first edition to revise existing chapters, thus offering fresh perspectives.

Environmental Materials and Waste: Resource Recovery and Pollution Prevention contains the latest information on environmental sustainability as a wide variety of natural resources are increasingly being exploited to meet the demands of a worldwide growing population and economy. These raw materials cannot, or can only partially, be substituted by renewable resources within the next few decades. As such, the efficient recovery and processing of mineral and energy resources, as well as recycling such resources, is now of significant importance. The book takes a multidisciplinary approach to fully realize the number of by-products which can be remanufactured, providing the foundation needed across disciplines to tackle this issue. As awareness and opportunities to recover valuable resources from process and bleed streams is gaining interest, sustainable recovery of environmental materials, including wastewater, offers tremendous opportunity to combine profitable and sustainable production.