Electricity Decentralization in the European Union: Towards Zero Carbon and Energy Transition, Second Edition examines progress in decentralization across the European Union, with each chapter focusing on developments and innovations in a specific country. Sections provide an overview of the current role and state of smart grids, the conceptualization of energy transition, and specific cases across all EU states. Across the chapters, regulatory frameworks are assessed to identify to what extent it is conducive to decentralization, with specific outcomes of decentralization covered in detail, including deployment of smart grids and meters, demand response, electric vehicles, and storage. The book highlights how specific EU member states are progressing towards deployment of these tools and technologies, along with the specific needs and regulatory barriers in each and recommendations for how regulation can be more encouraging. In addition, electricity interconnections in the EU are considered as a vital step towards decentralization in order to boost energy security and energy efficiency. Finally, the book includes a detailed examination of data protection concerns that arise from the advent of new technologies that collect personal information, such as smart grids, assessing current regulation on data protection and identifying areas for improvement, as well as innovative finance options for sustainable energy.

The image of western ranchers making a stand for their "rights"-against developers, the government, "illegal" immigrants-may be commonplace today, but the political power of the cowboy was a long time in the making. In a book steeped in the culture, traditions, and history of western range ranching, Michelle K. Berry takes readers into the Cold War world of cattle ranchers in the American West to show how that power, with its implications for the lands and resources of the mountain states, was built, shaped, and shored up between 1945 and 1965. After long days working the ranch, battling human and nonhuman threats, and wrestling with nature, ranchers got down to business of another sort, which Berry calls "cow talk." Discussing the best new machinery; sharing stories of drought, blizzards, and bugs; talking money and management and strategy: these ranchers were building a community specific to their time, place, and work and creating a language that embodied their culture. Cow Talk explores how this language and its iconography evolved and how it came to provide both a context and a vehicle for political power. Using ranchers' personal papers, publications, and cattle growers association records, the book provides an inside view of how range cattle ranchers in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana created a culture and a shared identity that would frame and inform their relationship with their environment and with society at large in an increasingly challenging, modernizing world. A multifaceted analysis of postwar ranch life, labor, and culture, this innovative work offers unprecedented insight into the cohesive political and cultural power of western ranchers in our day.

Databook of Surface Modification Additives, Second Edition contains data on ten groups of additives, including anti-scratch and mar-preventing additives, additives for surface tension reduction and wetting, hydrophobization additives, gloss enhancement and surface matting additives, additives for the formation of tack-free surface and tackifiers, and stain inhibiting additives. The information on each is divided into five sections, including General Information, Physical-Chemical Properties, Health and Safety, Ecological Properties, and Use and Performance. This data is provided for approximately 360 of the most important surface modification additives produced and used today. This databook will be an extremely useful resource for engineers, researchers and technicians interested in using additives to modify and improve the surface properties of materials.

Genome Engineering, Volume 52 in the Methods in Microbiology series, highlights new advances in the field with this new volume presenting interesting chapters written by an international board of authors. Topics covered include Whole genome transplantation in Mollicutes, Natural transformation as a tool in Acinetobacter baylyi: evolution by amplification of gene copy number, Natural transformation as a tool in Acinetobacter baylyi: streamlined engineering and mutational analysis, Methods to characterize cryptic biosynthetic gene clusters in Streptomyces, Genome engineering in bacteria: current and prospective applications, Tools for activation and identification of cryptic biosynthesis pathways in Streptomyces.

Transportation issues are often too complicated to be addressed by conventional parametric methods. Increasing data availability and recent advancements in machine learning provide new methods to tackle the challenging transportation problems. Readers will learn how to develop and apply different types of machine learning models to transportation related problems. Example applications include transportation data generations, traffic sensing, transportation mode recognition, transportation system management and control, traffic flow prediction, and traffic safety analysis.

Four decades ago, the areas around Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks sheltered the last few hundred surviving grizzlies in the Lower 48 states. Protected by the Endangered Species Act, their population has surged to more than 1,500, and this burgeoning number of grizzlies now collides with the increasingly populated landscape of the twenty-first-century American West. While humans and bears have long shared space, today's grizzlies navigate a shrinking amount of wilderness: cars whiz like bullets through their habitats, tourists check Facebook to pinpoint locations for a quick selfie with a grizzly, and hunters seek trophy prey. People, too, must learn to live and work within a potential predator's territory they have chosen to call home. Mixing fast-paced storytelling with rich details about the hidden lives of grizzly bears, Montana journalist Robert Chaney chronicles the resurgence of this charismatic species against the backdrop of the country's long history with the bear. Chaney captures the clash between groups with radically different visions: ranchers frustrated at losing livestock, environmental advocates, hunters, and conservation and historic preservation officers of tribal nations. Underneath, he probes the balance between our demands on nature and our tolerance for risk.

Contaminants of emerging concern in the marine environment: current challenges in marine pollution reviews the available data in relation to contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in the marine environment: main sources, transport pathways, distribution in seawater and sediments, bioaccumulation, and biological effects. Each chapter recaps the most relevant information about the main groups of CECs, describing the particularities and specificities of each group and focusing on the most relevant individual contaminants. CECs are not regulated substances, and therefore not considered in national and international monitoring programs, even though they may have a potential impact on the environment due to their continuous input, relative persistence, and/or toxicity. CECs are relevant not only in continental and coastal areas close to their main sources, but also in the open sea, because some of them are likely to be transported long distances through air deposition or absorbed into particulate material. The persistence of many degradable substances in the marine environment increases when they are absorbed into particulate material/sediments and/or when they are subjected to anaerobic conditions that slow down the degradation kinetic of many contaminants. Bioaccumulation of several CECs has been confirmed in different coastal organisms; however, in general, the information available (species and trophic levels considered) is very limited because most studies are mainly focused on specific coastal areas. This book offers useful information about not regulated contaminants that are not considered in international monitoring programs but have potential impacts in coastal and open-sea areas. Therefore reading the book will allow them to improve their view about the real impact of current-use contaminants in the marine environment.

Progress in Sustainable Development: Sustainable Engineering Practices provides readers with the latest research and best practices in sustainable engineering in the fields of urban, environmental, energy and sustainability sciences, reflecting a focus on state-of-the art insights and the latest developments. Chapters focus on the key engineering principles of effective resource use, reduction of excess waste, and taking advantage of natural resources to equip readers with the background information and practical considerations of successful implementations of sustainable technical solutions. Each chapter features detailed case studies and figures showing real-world applications of the latest technologies, ensuring they are reproduceable by the reader. The multidisciplinary chapters include environmentally-friendly technologies and the application of novel initiatives in engineering for infrastructure, renewable energy generation, advanced materials and waste, among other areas, with a strong emphasis on sustainability and conservation of resources.

Agricultural Soil Sustainability and Carbon Management presents long-term research in the field of sustainable soil use and management to guide in the prioritizing the multifunctional value of soil health and addressing interdisciplinary links between major issues such as biodiversity and climate change. As soil is the largest terrestrial carbon pool, as well as a significant contributor of greenhouse gases, much progress can be made toward curtailing the climate crisis by sustainable soil management practices.The book provides valuable insight into the soil and carbon management, the research gaps and the methodological challenges for research into soil carbon management will be include over the decades.

Physics and Ecology in Fluids: Modeling and Numerical Experiments develops mathematical and numerical modeling methodologies for coupled biological-hydrodynamic problems with a focus on process studies. The modeling is presented in a way that discusses mathematical background but does not depend on a large body of mathematical pre-requisites or experience. Models are built up from simple, to complex. This includes discussion of approximations and shortcuts commonly made by large computational models for natural bodies of water. Computational approaches are presented using conceptual explanations and pseudo-code along with well-documented, open-source code. Over a dozen codes that run locally on the reader's laptop provide hands on experience with various aspects of the modeling process and its scientific results. One large-scale code for basin scale modeling based on the Discontinuous Galerkin methodology is presented, along with a self-contained discussion of theoretical background and implementation details. Physics and Ecology in Fluids is written for graduate students, academic researchers and government scientists. Professors can use the book as a stand-alone resource for a one term graduate course, or to supplement teaching of their own graduate courses. All readers may also use the book as background/user's guide for the software included with the book.

Managing Mining and Minerals Processing Wastes: Concepts, Design and Applications presents fundamental knowledge in waste management in mining and minerals processing and summarizes recent advances. The book offers readers insights into innovative ways to manage waste in the mining and minerals industry. Sections cover a brief introduction to this topic and an explanation of waste generation, and how to manage the six types of waste, including waste rock, mill tailings, coal refuse and coal fly ash, quarry waste, metallurgical slugs and washery rejects. The title then emphasizes the management of hazardous waste, the acid mine drainage and the lifecycle assessment of waste management. Finally, the book considers current and emerging challenges. This publication offers a comprehensive background to waste management in mining and minerals processing and a summary of recent advances and innovative strategies for managing each kind of waste.

Water, Land, and Forest Susceptibility and Sustainability, Volume 2: Insight Towards Management, Conservation and Ecosystem Services brings an interdisciplinary perspective to solving complex problems in sustainability, utilizing the latest research and technologies, and includes case studies that emphasize the applications of remote sensing, GIS, and image processing for addressing the current state and future needs to achieve sustainability. As forests, land, and water are among the most precious resources on earth, emphasizing the need to conserve them for future generations and, of course, a safe and sustainable planet. The assessment of the susceptibility of all these three precious resources must therefore be addressed to inform their sustainable management. This second volume focuses on environmental management, conservation, and ecosystem services and provides information on forest, land, and water resources, presenting in integrated manner various aspects of their characterization, susceptibility, and sustainability.

Myxomycetes: Biology, Systematics, Biogeography and Ecology, Second Edition provides a complete collection of general and technical information on myxomycetes microorganisms. Its broad scope takes an integrated approach, considering a number of important aspects surrounding their genetics and molecular phylogeny. The book treats myxomycetes as a distinct group from fungi and includes molecular information that discusses systematics and evolutionary pathways. Written and developed by an international team of specialists, this second edition contains updated information on all aspects of myxomycetes. It incorporates relevant and new material on current barcoding developments, plasmodial network experimentation, and non-STEM disciplinary assimilation of myxomycete information. This book is a unique and authoritative resource for researchers in organismal biology and ecology disciplines, as well as students and academics in biology, ecology, microbiology, and similar subject areas. Cover image used with permission from Steve Young Photography

Lakes of Africa: Microbial Diversity and Sustainability examines microbial ecosystems in African lakes, including the history and formation of African lakes. The book describes how environmental stressors-including seasonal variations, climate change, and anthropogenic activities-affect microbial ecosystem dynamics in African lakes and the microbial responses to these stressors. The book explores and evaluates extremophiles in African lakes, including industrial biotechnology applications. The book highlights challenges facing microbial ecology in African lakes, as well as the design of models for solving these problems and predicting the future of lake microbial ecosystem sustainability.

Recent Advancement of IoT Devices in Pollution Control and Health Applications covers current developments in Internet of Things (IoT)-based pollution control, solid waste management, transportation, and healthcare systems. Because of its effects on physical and biological entities of the environment, the issue of environmental pollution and action has become a global concern. This guide highlights how environmental and health data from connected devices can be stored, analyzed, and eventually used-from developing indices for the state of environmental pollution, to diagnosing and treating patients and the role of IoT-based technology for pollution control.

Novel Materials for Environmental Remediation Applications: Adsorption and Beyond presents detailed, comprehensive coverage of novel and advanced materials that can be applied to address the growing global concern of the pollution of natural resources in water, the air, and in soil. The book provides up-to-date knowledge of state-of-the-art materials and treatment processes, as well as details of applications, including adsorptive remediation and catalytic remediation. Chapters include the characteristics of materials, basic and important physicochemical features for environmental remediation applications, routes of synthesis, recent advances as remediation medias and future perspectives. This book offers an interdisciplinary and practical examination of novel materials and processes for environmental remediation that will be valuable to environmental scientists, materials scientists, environmental chemists, and environmental engineers alike.

Urban and Regional Agriculture: Building Resilient Food Systems explores the sustainable integration of food provision, distribution and consumption through urban farms, agricultural systems, user communities and structural facilities designed to optimize food production and consumption. The book addresses the fundamental and pressing challenges of urban planning problems, waste minimization, food sourcing, access and equity issues, and multiple land use optimization. Sections cover the need and opportunities of urban agriculture, discuss tradition and transition, space and regulatory topics, explore the range of urban agriculture options (aquaculture to urban permaculture), discuss support structures and constructs of physically creating urban agricultural areas, and much more. Edited and authored by leading experts in the field, this volume will be valuable for those working to address issues of food security in urban environments.

Wild Law weaves politics, legal theory, quantum physics and ancient wisdom into a fascinating and inspiring story about how to rediscover a viable role for the human species within the Earth community.

This title has been seminal in inspiring the global movement to recognise rights for Nature - a movement destined to shape the 21st Century as significantly as the human rights movements shaped the 20th Century. Wild Law reveals how the governance systems of contemporary civilisations legitimise and promote the disastrous exploitation and destruction of Earth and why an Earth-centred approach is essential to address climate change and the accelerating degradation of the ecological systems on which we depend. Cormac Cullinan explains how to begin transforming industrialized societies to ensure that the pursuit of human wellbeing enhances the beauty, health and diversity of Earth instead of diminishing it.

This edition includes a new preface, postscript and the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth proclaimed on 22nd April 2010 by the People's World Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth.

The Global Carbon Cycle and Climate Change: Scaling Ecological Energetics from Organism to the Biosphere, Second Edition examines the global carbon cycle and energy balance of the biosphere, following carbon and energy through increasingly complex levels of metabolism-from cells to ecosystems. Utilizing scientific explanations, analyses of ecosystem functions, extensive references, and cutting-edge examples of energy flow in ecosystems, this is an essential resource to aid in understanding the scientific basis of the role of ecological systems in climate change. Includes new chapters on dynamic properties of the global carbon cycle, climate models and projections, and managing carbon in the global biogeochemical cycle.