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"environmental sustainability engineering"
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Under a white sky : the nature of the future
\"The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction returns to humanity's transformative impact on the environment, now asking: After doing so much damage, can we change nature, this time to save it? That man should have dominion \"over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth\" is a prophecy that has hardened into fact. So pervasive are human impacts on the planet that it's said we live in a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene. In Under a White Sky, Elizabeth Kolbert takes a hard look at the new world we are creating. She meets scientists who are trying to preserve the world's rarest fish, which lives in a single, tiny pool in the middle of the Mojave. She visits a lava field in Iceland, where engineers are turning carbon emissions to stone; an aquarium in Australia, where researchers are trying to develop \"super coral\" that can survive on a hotter globe; and a lab at Harvard, where physicists are contemplating shooting tiny diamonds into the stratosphere in order to reflect sunlight back to space and cool the earth. One way to look at human civilization, says Kolbert, is as a ten-thousand-year exercise in defying nature. In The Sixth Extinction, she explored the ways in which our capacity for destruction has reshaped the natural world. Now she examines how the very sorts of interventions that have imperiled our planet are increasingly seen as the only hope for its salvation. By turns inspiring, terrifying, and darkly comic, Under a White Sky is an utterly original examination of the challenges we face\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
A review of renewable energy sources, sustainability issues and climate change mitigation
The world is fast becoming a global village due to the increasing daily requirement of energy by all population across the world while the earth in its form cannot change. The need for energy and its related services to satisfy human social and economic development, welfare and health is increasing. Returning to renewables to help mitigate climate change is an excellent approach which needs to be sustainable in order to meet energy demand of future generations. The study reviewed the opportunities associated with renewable energy sources which includes: Energy Security, Energy Access, Social and Economic development, Climate Change Mitigation, and reduction of environmental and health impacts. Despite these opportunities, there are challenges that hinder the sustainability of renewable energy sources towards climate change mitigation. These challenges include Market failures, lack of information, access to raw materials for future renewable resource deployment, and our daily carbon footprint. The study suggested some measures and policy recommendations which when considered would help achieve the goal of renewable energy thus to reduce emissions, mitigate climate change and provide a clean environment as well as clean energy for all and future generations.
Journal Article
The relationship between carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption, and GDP: A recent evidence from Pakistan
In this study an attempt was made to investigate carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption (EC), GDP, and electricity production from oil, coal and natural gas, a recent evidence from Pakistan by employing a time series data spanning from 1971 to 2013. The study employed the vector error correction model to estimate the long-run equilibrium relationship. There was evidence of long-run equilibrium relationship running from EC, electricity production from coal, electricity production from natural gas, electricity production from oil and GDP to carbon dioxide emissions. The policy implication of the VEC model means that a 1% increase in energy production from oil in Pakistan will increase carbon dioxide emissions by 13.7% in the long-run. There was evidence of a unidirectional causality running from EC to carbon dioxide emissions, electricity production from natural gas to EC, EC to electricity production from oil, electricity production from natural gas to GDP and GDP to electricity production from oil. Evidence from the generalized impulse-response analysis shows that three components contribute to carbon dioxide emissions in Pakistan, which include EC, energy production from gas and GDP.
Journal Article
A review of Ghana's water resource management and the future prospect
Water covers about 70% of the earth's surface and it exists naturally in the earth in all the three physical states of matter and it is always moving around because the water flows with the current. Out of the earth's percentage of water covering the surface, only about 2.5% is fresh water and due to the fact that most are stored in deep groundwater, a small amount is readily available for human use. Water scarcity is becoming a major concern for people around the world and the need to protect the existing ones and find ways or means to provide safe water for individuals around the globe in adequate quantities with keeping the needs of future generations in mind. Water is life, and it is linked with lots of services either directly or indirectly, such as; human health and welfare and social and economic development of a community or country. The need to delve into Ghana's water resources management is essential. The study reviewed existing literature on the various members of the Water Resource Commission (WRC) in Ghana; the various basins in the country; the existing measures that the WRC authorities have in place to deal with water resources management issues; the challenges that hinder the progress of their achievements and some suggestions that if considered can improve the current water resources management situations in Ghana.
Journal Article
Heavy metal contamination of groundwater due to fly ash disposal of coal-fired thermal power plant, Parichha, Jhansi, India
The present study focused on the groundwater contamination due to fly ash disposal of coal-fired thermal power plant into a non liner ash pond. Six villages were selected as study site around ash pond of Parichha thermal power plant, Jhansi. Groundwater samples were collected on seasonal basis; winter season (January 2015), pre monsoon season (May 2015), and monsoon season (August 2015) using composite sampling method. Five heavy metals (Pb, Ni, Cr, Mn, and Fe) were detected in coal, fly ash, and groundwater samples. Heavy metal concentration in coal and fly ash was assessed by Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence, while AAS was used for groundwater assessment. Heavy metal concentration in groundwater was ranged as Pb (0.170-0.581 ppm), Ni (0.024-0.087 ppm), Fe (0.186-11.98 ppm), Cr (0.036-0.061 ppm), and Mn (0.013-0.178 ppm). The observed results revealed the exceeding value of heavy metals prescribed by WHO for groundwater.
Journal Article
Water quality index development for groundwater quality assessment of Greater Noida sub-basin, Uttar Pradesh, India
The water quality index (WQI) is an important parameter for determining the drinking water quality for the end users. The study for the same has been carried on the groundwater by collecting 47 groundwater samples from 25 blocks of Greater Noida city, India. In order to develop WQI the samples were subjected to a comprehensive physicochemical and biological analysis of 11 parameters such as pH, calcium, magnesium, chloride, nitrate, sulphate, total dissolved solids, fluorides, bicarbonate, sodium and potassium. Geographical information system has been used to map the sampling area. The coordinates in terms of latitude and longitude of the sampling locations were recorded with the help of global positioning system. Piper plots and cation-anion correlation matrix were plotted from the values obtained by the analysis of various parameters. The WQI index for the same has been calculated and the values ranged from 53.69 to 267.85. The WQI values from present study indicate the very poor quality water in the area dominated by industrial and construction activities. Poor water quality has been observed in commercial zone of the study area. The analysis reveals the fact that the ground water of the Greater Noida needs a degree of treatment before consumption and needs to be protected from further contamination.
Journal Article
Isotherms describing physical adsorption of Cr(VI) from aqueous solution using various agricultural wastes as adsorbents
Various agricultural wastes such as peels of pea (Pisum sativum) pod, tea (Camellia sinensis), and ginger (Zingiber officinale) and banana (Musa lacatan) waste were used to adsorb Cr(VI) from the aqueous solutions. A comparative adsorption efficiency study for all these adsorbents was done in laboratory for various pH, adsorbent doses, initial chromium concentrations, contact time, adsorbent sizes, temperature, and mixing speeds up to the optimization. The equilibrium sorption data were fitted into Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherms and also the various thermodynamic parameters were determined. The value of R
2
was determined for Freundlich, Langmuir, and Temkin as 0.964, 0.963, and 0.858 (pea pod peels waste (PPP)), 0.969, 0.986, and 0.841(tea & ginger waste (T&G)), 0.985, 0.982, and 0.886 (banana peel waste (BW)). The maximum monolayer coverage (Q
0
) from Langmuir isotherm model for pea pod, tea & ginger and banana peels waste were found to be 4.33 mg/g, 7.29 mg/g, and 10 mg/g, respectively, with separation factors (R
L
) 0.0331, 0.0343, and 0.0756 which are well within favorable sorption. From Freundlich isotherm model, the sorption intensity (n) for the same adsorbents was also less than unity showing normal sorption. The heat of sorption (B) was also determined from Temkin isotherm model as 0.215, 0.271, and 0.271, respectively, vividly proving a favorable physical sorption. The Gibbs free energy was found maximum for BW as 6.0679 joule/mole. Out of the above said combination, BW was found the best low-cost adsorbent with high potential for the removal of hexavalent chromium from aqueous solutions.
Journal Article
Recent advances in ultrasonic assisted turning: A step towards sustainability
In order to meet the stringent environmental obligations, the research in the recent past has been focused on adopting sustainable techniques in industrial sector. Ultrasonic assisted turning (UAT) process has been developed in this regard to machine difficult to cut materials like alloys of nickel, titanium and composite materials. The present paper presents a thorough literature review to highlight the advantages in terms of low cutting forces and stress levels developed in UAT as compared to conventional turning process. In UAT, the cutting tool is imparted ultrasonic vibrations and hence an intermittent cutting mechanism is dominant. A decreased tool wear accompanied with compressive residual stresses in the machined part has made UAT a viable alternative to machine the advanced materials. The chip analysis has been shown to indicate that there occurs less plastic deformation in the material during UAT. The main objective of the present review article is to highlight advantages of UAT and to encourage the same by discussing a way forward to make it cost effective and environment friendly by reducing the carbon footprints of machining.
Journal Article
Estimation of longitudinal dispersion co-efficient: A review
Accurate determination of longitudinal dispersion coefficient in rivers or streams is necessary for pollution control and management. This can be achieved through tracer studies and has proven to be a reliable method for measuring pollution spread. However, tracer studies practise which is expensive, time gulping and requiring large labour input have been substituted with empirical approaches thereby reducing the applicability of the dispersion coefficient models generated. This study reviews the various models derived as well as methods associated in the collection of tracer concentration data (measurement) existing in the literature. A sustainable approach to this study was identified and research needs were also listed.
Journal Article