This book addresses the need for deeper understanding of regulatory and policy regimes around the world in relation to the use of water for the production of 'unconventional' hydrocarbons, including shale gas, coal bed methane and tight oil, through hydraulic fracturing. Legal, policy, political and regulatory issues surrounding the use of water for hydraulic fracturing are present at every stage of operations. Operators and regulators must understand the legal, political and hydrological contexts of their surroundings, procure water for use in the fracturing and extraction processes, gain community cooperation or confront social resistance around water, collect flow back and produced water, and dispose of these wastewaters safely. By analysing and comparing different approaches to these issues from around the globe, this volume gleans insights into how policy, best practices and regulation may be developed to advance the interests of all stakeholders. While it is not always possible to easily transfer 'good practice' from one place to another, there is value in examining and understanding the components of different legal and regulatory regimes, as these may assist in the development of better regulatory law and policy for the rapidly growing unconventional energy sector. The book takes an interdisciplinary approach and includes chapters looking at water-energy nexus security in general, along with issue-focused and geographically-focused case studies written by scholars from around the world. Chapter topics, organized in conjunction with the stage of the shale gas production process upon which they touch, include the implications of hydraulic fracturing for agriculture, municipalities, and other stakeholders competing for water supplies; public opinion regarding use of water for hydraulic fracturing; potential conflicts between hydraulic fracturing and water as a human right; prevention of induced seismic activity, and the disposal or recycling of produced water. Several chapters also discuss implications of unconventional energy production for indigenous communities, particularly as regards sustainable water management. This volume will be of interest to scholars and students of energy and water, regulators and policymakers and operators interested in ensuring that they align with emergent best global practice.

The population of cities around the world is growing at an alarming rate, and as a result the landscapes of most cities are going through enormous changes. In particular, fertile agricultural lands at the periphery of cities are being developed without consideration of holistic planning. As such, peri-urban areas, zones of transition from rural to urban land uses located between the outer limits of the urban and the rural environment are experiencing significant losses of agricultural land, increased runoff, and water quality degradation. Concurrently, the demands for water, food and energy are increasing within cities, and unless a balance is struck the liveability of these cities will soon be compromised. The current water and land use changes have serious consequences on lifestyle, environment, health and overall well-being of urban communities. This book therefore helps readers to understand the current issues and challenges and examines suitable strategies and practices to cope with current and future pressures of urbanisation and peri-urban land-use changes.

The book examines a number of critical aspects in relation to the future of cities and peri-urban regions, including the suitability of policies and institutions to sustain cities into the future; impact of current trends in land use change, population increase and water demand; long term planning needs and approaches to ensure the secured future for generations ahead; and strategies to adapt the cities and land uses so that they remain viable and liveable.

The readership of the book will include policy makers, urban planners, researchers, post-graduate students in urban planning and environmental and water resources management and managers in municipal councils.

This book covers all sustainable fibres applicable in the fashion sector. It addresses the importance of these fibres in the fashion sector with the context of sustainability. This book, the first of its kind, addresses all the minute details pertaining to these fibres and connects these fibres with the world of sustainable fashion. It stresses the importance of having these fibres on board in developing sustainable apparels, as fibres play a major role as the starting point in the life cycle of apparel.

This book reviews and characterises promising single-compound solvents, solvent blends and advanced solvent systems suitable for CO2 capture applications using gas-liquid absorption. Focusing on energy efficient solvents with minimal adverse environmental impact, the contributions included analyse the major technological advantages, as well as research and development challenges of promising solvents and solvent systems in various sustainable CO2 capture applications. It provides a valuable source of information for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as for chemical engineers and energy specialists.

This book is a compilation of papers examining the impacts of global change (GC) on water resources systems. Mainly focusing on groundwater resources in Western Mediterranean countries, it shows that this topic is one of the most important challenges facing society. The papers explore developments in both Southern Europe and North Africa, where major impacts on the sustainability, quantity, quality, and management of water resources are expected to emerge. Although most global change publications focus on surface water, the number of research papers addressing global change and groundwater has grown rapidly in recent years. Continuing that welcome trend, this book gathers the main findings presented at the "Congress on Groundwater and Global Change in the Western Mediterranean" (Granada, Spain, November 6-9, 2017), which brought together researchers and technicians interested in groundwater issues affecting this geographic area.

This book draws on the author's professional experience and expertise in humid and arid regions to familiarize readers with the basic scientific philosophy and methods regarding floods and their impacts on human life and property. The basis of each model, algorithm and calculation methodology is presented, together with logical and analytical strategies. Global warming and climate change trends are addressed, while flood risk assessments, vulnerability, preventive and mitigation procedures are explained systematically, helping readers apply them in a rational and effective manner. Lastly, real-world project applications are highlighted in each section, ensuring readers grasp not only the theoretical aspects but also their concrete implementation.

The Quiet Evolution refers to the profusion of American planning reform literature and practices dealing with local land-use control. As such, this work will be of paramount interest to planning students and practitioners, urban sociologists, political scientists, and georgraphers. Contributing to a new and exciting resurgence of critical social theory that examines popular attention to environmental quality, defense of residential districts, and other consumption issues, "The Quiet Evolution" will prove useful to social theorists in the field of sociology, geography, political science, and history.

Renewables are a game changer for interstate energy relations. Their abundance and intermittency, possibilities for decentral generation and use of rare earth materials, and generally electric nature of transportation make them very different from fossil fuels. What do these geographic and technical characteristics of renewable energy systems imply for infrastructure topology and operations, business models, and energy markets? What are the consequences for the strategic realities and policy considerations of producer, consumer, and transit countries and energy-related patterns of cooperation and conflict between them? Who are the winners and losers? The Geopolitics of Renewables is the first in-depth exploration of the implications for interstate energy relations of a transition towards renewable energy. Fifteen international scholars combine insights from several disciplines - international relations, geopolitics, energy security, renewable energy technology, economics, sustainability transitions, and energy policy - to establish a comprehensive overview and understanding of the emerging energy game. Focus is on contemporary developments and how they may shape the coming decades on three levels of analysis: * The emerging global energy game; winners and losers * Regional and bilateral energy relations of established and rising powers * Infrastructure developments and governance responses The book is recommended for academics and policy makers. It offers a novel analytical framework that moves from geography and technology to economics and politics to investigate the geopolitical implications of renewable energy and provides practical illustrations and policy recommendations related to specific countries and regions such as the US, EU, China, India, OPEC, and Russia

This book offers a timely report on methods for risk assessment procedures for dams, with a special emphasis on dams with small storage dimensions. It starts by introducing all important definitions relating to dams, dam safety, such as the most common failure modes, and risks. In turn, it describes in detail the most important evaluation procedures for various failure modes such as piping, flood, earthquake and stability are described in this chapter. Consequence assessment procedures, together with the different steps of the risk evaluation process, are analyzed, providing a guide on how to identify the appropriate failure mode for the examined dam and setting up the appropriate safety plan. The book introduces the most common methods for predicting peak breach discharge, analyzing some relevant case studies. Upon comparing the findings obtained with the different methods, the book concludes with some general suggestions and ideas for future developments. This book fills an important gap between theoretical works and real-life problems being investigating in practical research studies on dam safety and risk management. It provides readers with the necessary knowledge on risk analysis and shows how to apply this in practice to carry out dam safety studies. It offers practical guidelines to set up risk assessment procedures for different failure modes and predicting failure parameters such as failure time, peak breach discharge and breach width.

This volume brings together fourteen papers by leading economists, regulators, and industry practitioners presented at a historic conference on natural gas deregulation. From the origins of gas regulation in the last century to a reexamination of the policy reforms of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) over the last decade, these essays constitute a primer on today's major gas policy issues. These topics include the case for incentive regulation, the costs and benefits of mandatory open-access transportation, the methodology used for determining "workably competitive" markets, lessons from light-handed intrastate regulation, new transactions in the gas market, and private contracting to bypass regulation. Many of these issues and insights can be applied to restructuring other industries such as electric power and telecommunications. Academics and industry practitioners alike will find this book an indispensable reference guide to the history of gas regulation, the recent industry restructuring, and the options for future regulatory reform toward greater market reliance.

This book explores the relationship between the land use choices of small-scale farmers and the rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Although sustainable agriculture was introduced to the Amazon area about 10 years ago, it has been adopted by only a few farmers. Jill L. Caviglia analyses why this practice has not been more widely adopted and offers policy prescriptions to address this. The major source of deforestation in the Amazon is the use of slash-and-burn agriculture by small-scale farmers. The adoption of sustainable agriculture by these farmers could reduce the rate of deforestation dramatically. The author uses new, original case studies of farms in the area to estimate the probability of the adoption of sustainable agriculture and, once the adoption decision has been made, the intensity of adoption. The author finds that this is influenced greatly by farmer organizations and by providing the farmers with the knowledge that sustainable agriculture is a viable alternative to slash-and-burn practices. This book will be of great interest to scholars and policymakers in the areas of environmental economics, environmental policy and Latin American studies.

Much of the literature devoted to impact assessment has focused on it as a technique or set of techniques, or on the environmental impact statement as a legal procedural requirement. While there are notable exceptions, the rich theoretical and empirical possibilities for research concerning significant innovations in the way governments operate has not been exhausted. The intention of this new edited collection is to stimulate research on the influence that impact assessment has had on policy making. Bartlett has organized the contributions around the principle that practical effectiveness in the real world of policy-making is determined by the way internal logic and institutionalization redefine policy rationality in a given system. Although impact assessment is defined broadly, the contributors do not focus on the commonalities of the techniques employed. Rather, they explore patterns of institutionalization--the ways that policy is determined through impact assessment. The volume opens with an extensive overview of impact assessment as a policy-making instrument. Other sections are devoted to impact assessment in development planning, future policy directions, and critical perspectives. A comprehensive bibliography completes the work. Building upon several earlier works on impact assessment, this collection combines the insights of pioneering scholars with directions for future research. It is essential reading in the fields of administration, sociology, transportation, business, political science, and urban and policy studies.

The book contains papers presented at a meeting by eucalyptus experts, scholars, consultants and company managers from different countries and regions. The authors report: (1) the most recent advances in eucalyptus research from different perspectives -- genetics, breeding, cultivation techniques, soil nutrition, plantation management, wood utilization, etc.; (2) the world-wide extension and development of the cultivated eucalyptus as a strategic forest tree with great economic, environmental and social significance; (3) plantation management merging ecological, environmental and legal concerns in operations practised by the private sector; (4) new approaches to utilization of eucalyptus woods. This book also represents a successful combination of academic research and practical operation in managing commercial eucalyptus plantations.

This book covers several dimensions of disaster studies as an emerging discipline. It is the inaugural book in the series 'Disaster Studies and Management' and deals with questions such as "Is disaster management a field of practice, a profession, or simply a new area of study?" Exploring intersectionalities, the book also examines areas of research that could help enhance the discourse on disaster management from policy and practice perspectives, revisiting conventional event-centric approaches, which are the basis for most writings on the subject. Several case studies and comparative analyses reflect a critical reading of research and practice concerning disasters and their management. The book offers valuable insights into various subjects including the challenge of establishing inter- and multi-disciplinary teams within the academia involved in disaster studies, and sociological and anthropological readings of post-disaster memoryscapes. Each of the contributors has an enduring interest in disaster studies, thus enriching the book immensely. This book will be of interest to all the students and scholars of disaster studies and disaster management, as well as to practitioners and policymakers.

Organized around eight fundamental ideas, Key concepts in energy history explores the discoveries, technologies and new paradigms in the field of energy, and how they have changed the course of history.Complex technical concepts such as the "rebound effect," "technological hybridization," "marginal cost pricing" are explained in clear terms anda balanced and concise account of t energy sources in the XIX and XX century such as wood, coal, oil, hydroelectricity andnuclear energy is provided.

Key concepts in energyconsiders the process of energy-substitutions and analyzes it as a process of complementary usages, hybridization and technological mixes. The ex-post view tends to focus on replacement from among alternative energy-technologies and is basically innovation-centric. This means that little attention has been given to factors such as the windows of opportunities created by governments, inventors and entrepreneurs.

This book highlights how key energy concepts surfaced, tracing their evolution throughout history.It encompasses four economic concepts (rebound effect, energy intensity, marginal cost pricing and levelized cost accounting) and four technological-engineering concepts (primary/final energy, technological hybridization, last gasp and probable oil reserves).The main benefit from reading the book is a cross disciplinary overview of energy fundamentals in a short and focused reading."

In the advent of important crises of both climate change and energy supply (in)security, questions are being asked about changes in energy governance. Caroline Kuzemko explains how and why change takes place and discusses the convoluted UK energy governance system that has emerged between 2000 and the present day. She applies a complex theoretical approach based on new institutional concepts of policy paradigm change, but which also utilises concepts of (de)politicisation and securitization. UK energy governance, like energy policy elsewhere, is moving from one heavily influenced by neoliberal economic ideas to one where state intervention is more commonplace. Moreover, the new governance system is informed not by one but by multiple perspectives on energy and governance - geopolitical, climate change and pro-market.

Divided into three sections, this book explores the three main pillars of sustainable development, namely economy, environment and society, and their interlinkages at the regional level. The first section, Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) for sustainable development, focuses on international agreements and national legislation, as well as the challenges in implementing ABS in e.g. India. In turn, the second section examines the process of forming Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) at the Local Self Government (LSG) level to promote environmental sustainability, highlighting local and community-level conservation initiatives that have led to the conservation of habitats and species. The third section addresses poverty eradication and food security. The case studies included demonstrate how the combination of traditional knowledge and modern techniques can enhance the productivity of traditional crop varieties, yielding greater benefits for communities. The aim of this volume is to disseminate the lessons learned from these case studies, as well as the findings from projects already in place, which can offer recommendations that can be applied to similar problems elsewhere in an attempt to find environmental solutions for sustainable development. Further, it introduces readers to new approaches to inclusive development, demonstrating that participation and grass root empowerment are key drivers of equitable and sustainable development.

This book presents state-of-the-art scientific evidence and technological innovations to restore lands on the Loess Plateau of China, known worldwide for its serious land degradation and desertification problems. Supported by a rapidly developing Chinese economy and the dissemination of effective technology, the Grain-for-Green Project and Western Development Action launched by the Chinese government have resulted in successful ecological restoration and protection over the past 30 years. These programs have contributed not only to conservation of soil and water, but also to economic development. At the same time, however, these developmental interventions have brought new challenges that have not yet been fully addressed. The book describes (1) case studies of success and failure in practice, including rare success stories of combating desertification; (2) technical issues such as erosion control and breeding of stress-tolerant plant species, and socioeconomic measures taken by the Chinese government and lending policies with support from the World Bank; and (3) comprehensive measures against desertification, such as water and wind erosion, salinization, and deforestation. This volume is recommended for researchers and students above the undergraduate level in diverse fields including soil science, rural engineering, social technology and civil engineering, biology, ecology, climatology, physical and human geography, and developmental economics, among others. It also serves as a valuable resource for engineers, government officials, and NPOs and NGOs involved in afforestation, ecological restoration, combating desertification, disaster prevention, and sustainable rural development.

By applying a unified framework, this book examines the impact of land tenure reforms on poverty reduction and natural resource management in countries in Africa and Asia with highly diverse historical contexts. These land tenure reforms include Land-to-the-tiller policies, Market assisted land redistribution reforms, Tenure security enhancing low-cost reforms, Forest tenure reforms and the Needed future reforms related to the recent sharp increase in demand for agricultural land in Africa. The Land-to-the-tiller reforms did not produce the intended impacts but rather enhanced tenure insecurity, undermined the efficiency of land rental markets and access to land for land-poor households. Market-assisted land redistribution reforms face many design and political challenges and have in many cases not been scaled up in a good way. Low-cost tenure security enhancing reforms have recently been scaled up in a number of countries with positive initial impacts. Individual ownership of forestland is preferred in some contexts while communal tenure manages forest resources effectively in other contexts.

This book provides an overview of hydrogen production from renewable resources such as ethanol using plasma or plasma-catalytic technologies. Further, it presents a balanced and comprehensive treatment of the core principles, novel plasma reactors and diagnostics, as well as state-of-the-art plasma energy applications. It brings together technological advances and research on plasma generators and their application in hydrogen production, including plasma-assisted alcohol reforming technology, plasma-catalytic alcohol reforming technology, the alcohol reforming mechanism, models of alcohol reforming for hydrogen production, the energy balance of hydrogen production from ethanol, and a comparison of alcohol reforming assisted by different plasma treatment systems. As such, it offers a valuable reference guide for scientists, engineers and graduate students in the fields of energy and environment, plasma physics and chemistry.

Within recent years pharmaceuticals have come into focus as contaminants of the environment (see for example Kummerer, K. editor: Pharmaceuticals in the Environment). At the same time the issue of sustainable chemistry gained momentum. Bringing both together would result in sustainable pharmacy. Sustainable pharmacy is a totally new issue and approach. It addresses environmental, economical and social aspects of pharmacy. In the present stage the focus will be on environmental issues along the whole lifecycle of a pharmaceutical entity. That is dealing with resources and energy input but also with waste issues for example during the synthesis and production of an active pharmaceutical ingredient. Furthermore, it would also look on the compounds themselves and will aim to improve the degradability of the compounds after their use in the environment to reduce the environmental risk caused by pharmaceuticals in the environment. Another issue is the people using pharmaceuticals such as pharmacists, medical doctors and patients. How can they contribute to more efficient use of pharmaceuticals with less environmental burden and less risk for drinking water. The book "Sustainable Pharmacy" will address all these issues and will be the first one dealing with this important topic.

Including considerations of sustainability in universities' activities has long since become mainstream. However, there is still much to be done with regard to the full integration of sustainability thinking into science and engineering curricula. Among the problems that hinder progress in this field, the lack of sound information on how to actually implement it is prominent. Created in order to address this need, this book presents a wealth of information on innovative approaches, methods and tools that may be helpful in translating sustainability principles into practice.

Air pollution policy is closely connected with climate change, public health, energy, transport, trade, and agriculture, and generally speaking, the Earth has been pushed to the brink and the damage is becoming increasingly obvious. The transport sector remains a foremost source of air pollutants - a fact that has stimulated the production of biofuels. This book focuses on the biodiesel industry, and proposes a modification of the entire manufacturing chain that would pave the way for further improvements. Oil derived from oilseed plantations/crops is the most commonly used feedstock for the production of biodiesel. At the same time, the UK's Royal Academy of Engineering and 178 scientists in the Netherlands have determined that some biofuels, such as diesel produced from food crops, have led to more emissions than those produced by fossil fuels. Accordingly, this book re-evaluates the full cycle of biodiesel production in order to help find optimal solutions. It confirms that the production and use of fertilizers for the cultivation of crop feedstocks generate considerably more GHG emissions compared to the mitigation achieved by using biodiesel. To address this fertilization challenge, projecting future biofuel development requires a scenario in which producers shift to an organic agriculture approach that includes the use of microalgae. Among advanced biofuels, algae's advantages as a feedstock include the highest conversion of solar energy, and the ability to absorb CO2 and pollutants; as such, it is the better choice for future fuels. With regard to the question of why algae's benefits have not been capitalized on for biofuel production, our analyses indicate that the sole main barrier to realizing algae's biofuel potential is ineffective international and governmental policies, which create difficulties in reconciling the goals of economic development and environmental protection.