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Abstract Plastics have been reported as one of the major pollutants among various pollutants that are disposed of in the environment. They play a pivotal part in human life as they are cost-effective and are versatile. Plastics are known to have a mixture of many chemical components and are used for various domestic applications. Despite various useful applications, plastics take a long time to degrade. The burning of plastics releases chemicals such as phosgene and dioxides that are considered a hazard to the ecosystem. The toxic debris that is released from the plastics enters the food chain and water bodies in the form of microplastics. Microplastic-polluted foods and the presence of meager amounts of phthalates in toys lead to serious health consequences such as congenital diseases and malignant cancers. The dioxins released from the plastic polymers are lethally persistent organic pollutants which cause tumor and neurological damage in humans. Inadequate waste management practices have led to significant plastic pollution of water bodies. Plastics tend to settle on beaches, which decreases esthetic and recreation values. In this article, we have discussed ways for resource recovery from plastic wastes and the possible effects of plastics on the environment and available safety regulations for the use of plastics. This article also discusses scientific literature about the remediation of plastics using various methods, which can help to promote further improvement of the existing system by competent authorities and researchers.

Abstract Anaerobic digestion (AD) technology has piqued scientists’ interest in light of the growing demand for renewable energy and environmental preservation. This paper discusses the analysis of national biogas producing capacity, energy demand, and methods for meeting that demand. Also, public health and environmental issue, biogas technology and their utilization, current national scenario, and future in the biogas field have been discussed. The Government of India (GOI) has been providing subsidies or financial support through various programs. They support the rural area for generating biogas and also announced the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative for the generation of compressed biogas (CBG) for the installation of 5000 plants up to 2023-24. These plants are expected to produce 15 million metric tonnes (MMT) of CBG per annum, which is about 40% of the current compressed natural gas (CNG) consumption of 44 MMT per annum in the region.

Abstract Characterization of the effects of cruise ship emissions on local air quality is scarce. Our objective was to investigate community level concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) associated with cruise ships in James Bay, Victoria, British Columbia (BC), Canada. Data obtained over four years (2005–2008) at the nearest air quality network site located 3.5 km from the study area, a CALPUFF modeling exercise (2007), and continuous measurements taken in the James Bay community over a three-month period during the 2009 cruise ship season were examined. Concentrations of PM2.5 and nitrogen oxide (NO) were elevated on weekends with ships present with winds from the direction of the terminal to the monitoring station. SO2 displayed the greatest impact from the presence of cruise ships in the area. Network data showed peaks in hourly SO2 when ships were in port during all years. The CALPUFF modeling analysis found predicted 24-hour SO2 levels to exceed World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines of 20 μg m−3 for approximately 3% of 24-hour periods, with a maximum 24-hour concentration in the community of 41 μg m−3; however, the CALPUFF model underestimated concentrations when predicted and measured concentrations were compared at the network site. Continuous monitoring at the location in the community predicted to experience highest SO2 concentrations measured a maximum 24-hour concentration of 122 μg m−3 and 16% of 24-hour periods were above the WHO standard. The 10-minute concentrations of SO2 reached up to 599 μg m−3 and exceeded the WHO 10-minute SO2 guideline (500 μg m−3) for 0.03% of 10-minute periods. No exceedences of BC Provincial or Canadian guidelines or standards were observed.

Diesel engines have proved its utility in transport, agriculture and power sector. Environmental norms and scared fossil fuel have attracted the attention to switch the energy demand to alternative energy source. Oil derived from Jatropha curcas plant has been considered as a sustainable substitute to diesel fuel. However, use of straight vegetable oil has encountered problem due to its high viscosity. The aim of present work is to reduce the viscosity of oil by heating from exhaust gases before fed to the engine, the study of effects of FIT (fuel inlet temperature) on engine performance and emissions using a dual fuel engine test rig with an appropriately designed shell and tube heat exchanger (with exhaust bypass arrangement). Heat exchanger was operated in such a way that it could give desired FIT. Results show that BTE (brake thermal efficiency) of engine was lower and BSEC (brake specific energy consumption) was higher when the engine was fueled with Jatropha oil as compared to diesel fuel. Increase in fuel inlet temperature resulted in increase of BTE and reduction in BSEC. Emissions of NO from Jatropha oil during the experimental range were lower than diesel fuel and it increases with increase in FIT. CO (carbon monoxide), HC (hydrocarbon), CO(2) (carbon dioxide) emissions from Jatropha oil were found higher than diesel fuel. However, with increase in FIT, a downward trend was observed. Thus, by using heat exchanger preheated Jatropha oil can be a good substitute fuel for diesel engine in the near future. Optimal fuel inlet temperature was found to be 80 degrees C considering the BTE, BSEC and gaseous emissions. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Management of natural resources is pivotal for sustained economic growth—the increasing ecological footprints causing biocapacity deficit threaten the resource conversation agenda. The study identified the potential causes and consequences of natural resource depletion in a broad cross-section of 138 countries. Ecological footprints, international migrant stocks, industrial value-added, and population growth influenced natural resource capital across countries. The results show that ecological footprints, industrial value-added, and population growth are the detrimental factors of resource capital. In contrast, continued economic growth is helpful to conserve natural resources for future generations. The rise and fall in the natural resource degradation are evident in the wake of international migrants’ stocks to support an inverted U-shaped relationship between them. The Granger causality inferences confirmed the one-way linkages, running from international migrant stocks, economic growth, and population growth to natural resource degradation. It verifies migrants-led, affluence-led, and population-led resource degradation. Ecological footprints Granger causes industrial value-added across countries. The forecasting estimates suggested that economic growth would likely to influenced greater in magnitude to resource degradation by its innovation shocks of 4.791%, followed by international migrant stocks, population growth, ecological footprints, and industrial value added by their innovation shocks of 4.709%, 1.829%, 1.247%, and 0.700%, respectively. The study concludes that international migrant stocks should manage smartly, causing more resource degradation via a channel of increasing biocapacity deficit across countries.

AbstractAchieving gender equality and women’s empowerment in food systems can result in greater food security and better nutrition, as well as more just, resilient and sustainable food systems for all. This chapter uses a scoping review to assess the current evidence on pathways between gender equality, women’s empowerment and food systems. The chapter uses an adaptation of the food system framework to organize the evidence and identify where evidence is strong, and where gaps remain. Results show strong evidence on women’s differing access to resources, shaped and reinforced by contextual social gender norms, and on links between women’s empowerment and maternal education and important outcomes, such as nutrition and dietary diversity. However, evidence is limited on issues such as gender considerations in food systems for women in urban areas and in aquaculture value chains, best practices and effective pathways for engaging men in the process of women’s empowerment in food systems, and how to address issues related to migration, crises and indigenous food systems. While there are gender-informed evaluation studies examining the effectiveness of gender- and nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs, evidence indicating the long-term sustainability of such impacts remains limited. The chapter recommends key areas for investment: improving women’s leadership and decision-making in food systems, promoting equal and positive gender norms, improving access to resources, and building cross-contextual research evidence on gender and food systems.

Abstract The growing concerns of global warming and depleting oil/gas reserves have made it inevitable to seek energy from renewable energy resources. Many nations are embarking on introduction of clean/renewable solar energy for displacement of oil-produced energy. Moreover, solar photovoltaic (PV)–diesel hybrid power generation system technology is an emerging energy option since it promises great deal of challenges and opportunities for developed and developing countries. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (K.S.A) being enriched with higher level of solar radiation, is a prospective candidate for deployment of solar PV systems. Literature indicates that commercial/residential buildings in K.S.A. consume about 10–45% of the total electric energy generated. The aim of this study is to analyze long-term solar radiation data of Dhahran (East-Coast, K.S.A.) to assess the techno-economic feasibility of utilizing hybrid PV–diesel–battery power systems to meet the load of a typical residential building (with annual electrical energy demand of 35,120 kWh). The monthly average daily solar global radiation ranges from 3.61 to 7.96 kwh/m 2 . National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable (HOMER) software has been employed to carry out the present study. The simulation results indicate that for a hybrid system composed of 4 kWp PV system together with 10 kW diesel system and a battery storage of 3 h of autonomy (equivalent to 3 h of average load), the PV penetration is 22%. The cost of generating energy (COE, US$/kWh) from the above hybrid system has been found to be 0.179 $/kWh (assuming diesel fuel price of 0.1$/l). The study exhibits that for a given hybrid configuration, the operational hours of diesel generators decrease with increase in PV capacity. The investigation also examines the effect of PV/battery penetration on COE, operational hours of diesel gensets for a given hybrid system. Concurrently, attention is focussed on un-met load, excess electricity generation, fuel savings and reduction in carbon emissions (for different scenarios such as PV–diesel without storage, PV–diesel with storage, as compared to diesel-only situation), COE of different hybrid systems, cost of PV–diesel–battery systems, etc.

This paper analyzes India's progress towards a sustainable energy future by AD2030. The India energy scenario is analyzed, taking into account governmental plans, and using the latest planning tools. The importance of hydro, nuclear and renewable sources in the integrated energy system is brought out in the India case study. The study highlights strategies and policy requirements for a sustainable energy infrastructure for India. These findings could be quite relevant, especially to other developing countries, in their quest for sustainable development.

AbstractThe idea of integrated hybrid renewable energy systems (IHRES) is gaining attention for electrification of rural areas where on‐grid electricity supply is uneconomical. From this point of view, the technical and economic feasibility analysis is carried out for a standalone IHRES in a remote area of Malnad region in Karnataka, India. Solar and wind energy are the prominent renewable resources available in the selected area for study. In the present study, lithium‐ion, lead‐acid and zinc‐bromide batteries effect on “PV‐WT‐DG‐Battery” system is examined and compared. The control strategies used in the study are “load following (LF)” and “predictive dispatch (PD).” The simulation results reveal that the “cost of energy (COE)” and “net present cost (NPC)” are found to be low in zinc‐bromide batterybased system with “PD control strategy.” The NPC and COE are found to be $55 262 and $0.35 per kWh for optimal system. Zinc‐bromide batteries are best suited for remote electrification with less load demand. The sensitivity analysis shows that there is a minimal effect on the performance of the planned IHRES upon variation in the “inflation rate,” “discount rate,” and “diesel price.”