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Current food systems are challenged by relying on a few input-intensive, staple crops. The prioritization of yield and the loss of diversity during the recent history of domestication has created contemporary crops and cropping systems that are ecologically unsustainable, vulnerable to climate change, nutrient poor, and socially inequitable. For decades, scientists have proposed diversity as a solution to address these challenges to global food security. Here, we outline the possibilities for a new era of crop domestication, focused on broadening the palette of crop diversity, that engages and benefits the three elements of domestication: crops, ecosystems, and humans. We explore how the suite of tools and technologies at hand can be applied to renew diversity in existing crops, improve underutilized crops, and domesticate new crops to bolster genetic, agroecosystem, and food system diversity. Implementing the new era of domestication requires that researchers, funders, and policymakers boldly invest in basic and translational research. Humans need more diverse food systems in the Anthropocene—the process of domestication can help build them.

Based on an extensive literature review and research interviews of energy experts, this article asks: what are the remaining impediments to clean energy systems and how can a Post-Kyoto Protocol climate framework be designed to overcome them? The article begins by exploring commercially available 'clean' energy systems and practices relating to energy end-use and infrastructure, energy supply, carbon capture and storage, and non-CO2 related greenhouse gas emissions. The article then examines a selection of persistent financial, market, information and intellectual property barriers. Lastly, it articulates the implication of these barriers for the design of future national and international climate change policies.

In an era of environmental crisis, the world is at a perilous moment. The fight between sustainability and economical choice has been a contentious matter and the world is facing environmental uncertainties today. The main purpose of the present study is to prepare an integrated exploration of the development of consciousness in all business categories. This study also focuses on the indispensable roles and impact of top management in merging the commitment and abilities to environmental leadership and thus, adds a contemporary insight into how businesses, economic stakeholders, government authorities, and the general human sphere can mitigate the runaway menace of environmental issues. Finally, the current authors conclude that the environment is the supernatural force that is making life a possibility on the planet. Therefore, every human operation should be regulated by the approaches mentioned in this study and efforts made through the strategic principles and theories of leadership.

In recent years, sustainability concerns have gained increasing attention among countries and stakeholders worldwide. Towards the transition to sustainable rural development, the rural web framework (RWF) has become a consistent tool. Indicators from the RWF have been used to explore sustainable rural development for decision-making tasks, which improves the social, economic, and environmental performance of rural regions. However, the application of the RWF in studies is on the decline. Furthermore, there is a lack of literature reviews on the importance of the RWF and its relationship with different facets of sustainable development. We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) (a) to explore how studies have used the RWF in the context of sustainable development and (b) to identify areas for further research. This study found that the RWF has mostly been used in developed countries, with fewer applications in developing countries. We suggest that there should be increased application of the RWF, particularly in developing countries, to broaden the rural web–sustainable development discourse and its relevance. This paper presents several areas where the indicators of the RWF can be applied to illustrate their relevance for policy decisions towards the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

This study examined the effects that sustainable fashion education had on college students��� attitudes, subjective norms, knowledge, and intention to make sustainable apparel choices. In addition, relationships were analyzed and interpreted between intention and attitudes, subjective norms, and knowledge. The need for this research stems from changes in the fashion industry that required the adoption of new business models. The circular economy model embraces a culture that makes, consumes, enriches, or returns the product to supply chains. For the circular model to be successful, all stakeholders must understand the role one plays in creating a sustainable industry. The consumer is an essential player in the circular model. Overconsumption and underutilization of clothing by the consumer are currently not sustainable. This quantitative study was guided by Ajzen���s theory of planned behavior that predicts individual intention to engage in a behavior in which the person can exert self-control. This study followed a quasi-experimental design with paired t test and correlational analysis, collecting from a sample of 97 college students. Pretest and posttest survey data was gathered from college students before and after they completed a series of online learning modules about fast fashion and sustainable fashion. This study provided evidence that educational intervention influences a significant change in subjective norms, attitudes, knowledge, and intention. Research findings show that subjective norms and attitudes had significant relationships with intention to make sustainable apparel choices. The findings from this research support a need for education about the impacts apparel and clothing choices have on our environment. Results also provide evidence that education makes a positive impact. Conclusions from the research provide implications for FCS professionals exploring topics and approaches for educating others about sustainable apparel production, consumption and care, and a return to production.

The growing population and increasing urbanization have led to a surge in domestic wastewater generation, posing significant challenges for effective and sustainable treatment. The present study demonstrates a novel and sustainable approach for the onsite treatment of domestic wastewater using an integrated settler-based biofilm reactor (ISBR) with efficient biogas generation. The ISBR provides an optimized environment for the growth of biofilm, facilitating the removal of organic pollutants and pathogens. Moreover, the ISBR enables the recovery of a valuable resource in the form of biogas, thus enhancing the overall utility of the treatment process. The performance of the ISBR was comprehensively evaluated at laboratory scale through treating the actual domestic wastewater generated from the hostel of Manipal University Jaipur. The ISBR system was operated under an ambient environment at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 24 h. The results demonstrated remarkable efficiency in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), and coliforms removal, with average removal efficiency being more than 90%. According to the COD mass balance analysis, 48.2% of the influent COD was recovered as bioenergy. The chromatogram revealed a high percentage of methane gas in the collected biogas sample. The field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) analysis of the accumulated sludge in the ISBR system depicted the morphology of methanogenic bacteria. Both the experimental and theoretical results confirmed the feasibility and sustainability of the ISBR system at the onsite level.

Activities involving land use, land-use change,forestry, and agriculture (LUCF) can help reducegreenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphereby increasing biotic carbon storage, by decreasing GHGemissions, and by producing biomass as a substitutefor fossil fuels. Potential activities includereducing rates of deforestation, increasing landdevoted to forest plantations, regenerating secondaryforest, agroforestry, improving the management offorests and agricultural areas; and producing energycrops.Policymakers debating the inclusion of a variety ofLUCF activities in the Clean Development Mechanism(CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol need to consider themagnitude of the carbon contribution these activitiescould make. Existing estimates of the cumulative GHGoffset potential of LUCF activities often take aglobal or regional approach. In contrast, land-usedecisions are usually made at the local level anddepend on many factors including productive capacityof the land, financial considerations of thelandowner, and environmental concerns. Estimates ofGHG offset potential made at a local, or at mostcountry, level that incorporate these factors may belower, as well as more useful for policy analyses,than global or large regional estimates. Whilecountry-level estimates exist for forestry activities,similar estimates utilizing local information need tobe generated for agricultural activities and biofuels,as well as for the cumulative potential of all LUCFactivities in a particular location.

Vor dem Hintergrund eines zunehmenden globalen Energiebedarfs und der Gefahr einer anthropogenen Störung des Klimasystems durch die Emission von Treibhausgasen gilt es, tragfähige Strategien und Perspektiven für eine nachhaltige Energieversorgung zu entwickeln. Der verstärkten Nutzung erneuerbarer Energien wird dabei vielfach eine Schlüsselrolle zur Bewältigung dieser Herausforderungen zugesprochen. Einer weit verbreiteten Ausschöpfung der auch in Deutschland in großem Maße verfügbaren Potenzialen an regenerativen Energieträgern stehen jedoch häufig noch die damit verbundenen hohen Kosten im Vergleich zu fossilen Energieträgern entgegen. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es daher zu untersuchen, welchen Beitrag erneuerbare Energieträger in einem wettbewerblichen Marktumfeld langfristig zur Energieversorgung leisten können und in welchem Umfang erneuerbare Energieträger durch die Internalisierung der Treibhausgasvermeidungskosten in den Energiepreisen profitieren können. Zur Bewertung der Rolle erneuerbarer Energieträger sind mit Blick auf das Gesamtenergiesystem Interdependenzen zwischen der Nutzung erneuerbarer Energieträger und den übrigen Sektoren des Energiesystems zu berücksichtigen. Neben der Vernetzung des Energiesystems in horizontaler Richtung durch Prozessketten über Sektoren hinweg und in vertikaler Richtung durch die Konkurrenz regenerativer mit fossilen Energietechnologien sind dabei auch Kopplungen über Energiepreise, deren Höhe über die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit einer regenerativen Energietechnologie entscheidet, sowie die energie- und preisseitigen Effekte durch Einführung energiepolitischer Instrumente zu beachten. Aufgrund dieser Systemzusammenhänge wird daher ein auf dem Ansatz der linearen Programmierung basierendes intertemporales Energiesystemmodell verwendet, in dem die Energiewirtschaft Deutschlands von der Primär- bis zur Nutzenergie technologisch detailliert abgebildet und hinsichtlich der Systemkosten optimiert wird. Um die Wechselwirkungen innerhalb des Energiesystems aufzuzeigen, werden sich z. T. ergänzende methodische Verfahren entwickelt und eingesetzt. Neben einem Bilanzierungsmodell zur Ermittlung von die Prozessvorketten berücksichtigender Indikatoren zählen hierzu ein auf der Dualitätstheorie beruhendes Verfahren zur Dekomposition der Energie- und Zertifikatspreise, Methoden der Sensitivitätsanalyse zur Ermittlung der fundamentalen preisbestimmenden Faktoren und Techniken der parametrischen Programmierung, um neben Variationen der Modelleingangsdaten Treibhausgasvermeidungskostenkurven und Angebotskurven regenerativ erzeugten Stroms unter Berücksichtigung der systemaren Zusammenhänge im Energiesektor abzuleiten. Mit Hilfe des entwickelten Energiesystemmodells und der Analysemethoden werden die zukünftigen Entwicklungsperspektiven erneuerbarer Energien im deutschen Energiesystem bis zum Jahr 2050 szenariogestützt untersucht. In den Szenarien werden einerseits die mit einer Quote erneuerbarer Energien in der Stromerzeugung verbundenen energie-, kosten- und emissionsseitigen Auswirkungen betrachtet und andererseits der Beitrag erneuerbarer Energien in Konkurrenz mit alternativen Minderungsoptionen zur Erreichung von Treibhausgasminderungszielen dargestellt. Weiterhin werden in simultanen Variationen die Wechselwirkungen zwischen beiden Instrumenten und ihre Auswirkungen speziell auf die Stromerzeugungsstruktur und die Strompreise beleuchtet. Against the background of an increasing global energy demand and the danger of an anthropogenic disturbance of the climate system by the emission of greenhouse gases, it is necessary to develop sustainable strategies and perspectives for the future energy system. The increased usage of renewable sources is identified from many sides as a key element in strategies to overcome these challenges. However, a widely utilisation of the also in Germany large existing potentials of renewable energy carriers is currently still opposed by the associated high costs relative to fossil energy sources. The intention of the submitted thesis is to analyse the contribution of renewable energy sources in the long-run under competitive market conditions to the energy supply and to study the extent to which renewable energy sources can benefit from the internalisation of greenhouse gas abatement costs in the energy prices. To assess the role of renewable energy sources in the context of the entire energy system, interdependencies between the utilisation of renewable energy sources with other aspects and sectors of the energy system have to be taken into account. In addition to the interconnectedness of the energy system in the horizontal direction by process chains across sectors and in the vertical direction by the competition of renewable with conventional fossil technologies also the linkage by energy prices, which serve as benchmark for the competitiveness of a renewable energy technology, and the energy and price related effects caused by the introduction of policy instruments have to be considered. Due to these interactions within the system, a linear programming based dynamic energy system model is used, which depicts technologically detailed the German energy sector from the primary energy supply to the end-use energy demand side and optimises the energy system with respect to its total costs. In order to reveal the interactions and dependencies within the energy system, several partially complementary methodologies have been developed and applied to the model. Apart from a balance model that allows the calculation of specific indicators under consideration of previous process chains, the methodology comprises a method for decomposing energy and certificate prices based on the duality theory, the method of sensitivity analysis to identify the fundamental price-determining activities and parametric programming techniques to derive greenhouse gas abatement cost curves and renewable electricity supply cost curves. With the help of the developed energy system model and analysis tools, the future development perspectives of renewable energy in the German energy system until the year 2050 are studied in various scenarios. In these scenarios, on the one side the energy-, cost- and emission related effects associated with a quota for the electricity production from renewable sources are studied, on the other side the contribution of renewable energy sources to given greenhouse gas abatement targets in competition with alternative abatement measures is examined. Furthermore the interdependencies between these two policy instruments on each other and their effects on the structure of the electricity sector and on the electricity prices are highlighted.