bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Paradigm Shift towards Urban Resilience
Authors: Ercoskun Ozge Yalciner
Published: November 2013

The global environmental situation is in decline, and cities are at the very centre of the problem. This has resulted in an urgent need for a radical and large-scale eco-technological overhaul. This chapter focuses on the paradigm shift towards sustainability and resilience, and particularly, how the new thinking of resilience can convert investments in urban infrastructure and development into resilient support systems, enabling both greater city prosperity and environmental regeneration. The objectives of this chapter are to search for new paths in the creation of resilient communities through the sustainable use of technologies; to discuss the significance of equity, economy, and traditional knowledge in resilient cities; to put forward a green approach that encompasses both mitigation and adaptation; and to explore potential and practical ways of creating urban resilience. A detailed review of existing definitions and policies related to urban resilience, as well as the role of eco-technologies and city planners in this process, is also presented. The chapter concludes by suggesting a set of urban design strategies and a list of key stakeholders as critical ingredients in the move towards urban resilience.
Purchasing Green Transport and Logistics Services
Authors: Evangelista Pietro , Huge-Brodin Maria , Isaksson Karin , Sweeney Edward
Published: November 2013

Environmental sustainability is an area of increasing importance for third party logistics (3PL) companies. As the design and implementation of services requires interaction between buyer and 3PL, the 3PLs are in a critical position to support the efforts towards greening operations of different supply chain participants. However the literature in this field reflects a gap between the perspectives of buyers and 3PLs. This chapter attempts to fill this void through an explorative case study analysis on the environmental attitude of 3PLs in order to derive implications for buyers’ behavior. The results indicate that the buyer’s role is critical in different ways in the development of green initiatives among 3PLs. An increased orientation towards longer-term contracts and joint development would likely enhance the level of green initiatives. Indirectly, the buyer has the opportunity to influence its 3PLs through interaction with employees on different levels in the company, including top management.
Approaches for Measuring Sustainability
Authors: Grigoroudis Evangelos , Kouikoglou Vassilis S. , Phillis Yannis A.
Published: November 2013

The environment provides the economy with resources (e.g., water, air, fuels, food, metals, minerals, and drugs), services (e.g., the cycles of H2O, C, CO2, N, O2; photosynthesis, and soil formation), and mechanisms to absorb waste. Economic growth is based on these three services, and since the global ecosystem does not grow, economic growth cannot continue indefinitely. The concepts of sustainability and sustainable development have received much attention among policy-makers and scientists as a result of the existence of limits to growth and the dramatic environmental changes of the last decades. Sustainability integrates environmental, economic, and societal aspects. It also covers different geographical scales: ecosystems, regions, countries, and the globe. In this chapter, the authors review various models of sustainability assessment. Since there is no universally accepted definition and measuring technique of sustainability, these different models lead to different assessments. They also present a discussion of the sustainability indicators, aggregation tools, and data imputation techniques used in each approach.
Integrating Project Strategy for Sustainable Development
Authors: Keeys Lynn A. , Huemann Martina , Turner Rodney
Published: November 2013

This chapter proposes a conceptual framework for integrating project strategy for Sustainable Development (SD) within the context of corporate sustainability strategy. Project SD strategy is the missing link between SD at the corporate level and project level. The framework draws on a literature review of concepts, definitions, and theories in strategic management, corporate sustainability, and projects. The conceptual framework presented in this book chapter has six key components. These are: (1) corporate sustainability strategy; (2) project understanding of SD and SD business case; (3) strategizing at project initiation stage; (4) project autonomy to negotiate and adapt in the project context; (5) project capability to translate corporate SD strategy to project SD strategy; and (6) project capability in stakeholder management. The premise of the framework is the compatibility of the socially constructed realities of the project and SD, as indicated in SD and project literature. The aim is to help develop new knowledge and insight into how business can integrate SD principles into core business operations such as projects from a process perspective, rather than sustainability content perspective. This chapter is based on doctoral dissertation research by the lead author.
Productive Use of Renewable Energy (PURE) for Economic Development in Developing Countries
Authors: Olla Phillip , Onwudinjo Nkemdilim
Published: November 2013

There has been an increase in the deployments of renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass energy due to the concerns regarding global warming. This growth in renewable energy projects along with the technological innovations is leading to lowering costs, which is making available an array of renewable energy options to developing nations to address the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Although Africa’s main discussions on renewable energy have been focused on large scale grid-connected power systems, this chapter presents the arguments that several renewable energy technologies are well-suited to providing modern energy services for low-income people. The article presents a comprehensive framework that highlights how to scale up a broad portfolio of micro-renewable energy solutions that can make a major contribution to achieving the MDGs.
Control and Conversion of Solar Power
Authors: Guo Liping
Published: November 2013

Solar energy conversion is one of the most addressed topics in the field of renewable energy. Solar radiation is usually converted into two forms of energy: thermal and electrical energy. Solar electricity has applications in many systems such as rural electricity, water pumping, and satellite communications. A solar power system consists of solar panels, dc-dc converters, controller, and load. Charging a rechargeable battery requires a regulated dc voltage. However, the voltage supplied by a solar panel can vary significantly depending upon the day, time, weather condition, and irradiation from the sun. Since solar power is unregulated, it cannot be supplied to the load directly. Solar power is harvested and stored by charging rechargeable batteries. A dc-dc converter is connected between the solar panel and the battery to charge the battery with a regulated voltage. Therefore, solar power can be properly converted and controlled to provide required electrical power to the load, and excessive power can be sent back to the electrical grid.
Solar Photovoltaic Servo Tracking Controlled System
Authors: Shibli Murad
Published: November 2013

Renewable energy has known a great interest during the last two decades. Solar energy is viewed as the cleanest renewable source of energy for the future since it is the least polluting and the most inexhaustible of all known energy sources. Subsequently, technologies that enable the use of solar energy focus on solar thermal collectors and on the photovoltaic effect of semiconductors to generate electricity directly from sunlight. In the case of solar energy, it is shown that optimal energy is obtained when the rays of the sun are incident normally on the collecting surface. Therefore, several techniques and experiments have been conducted recently to develop efficient solar tracking systems. Solar panel tracking systems optimize energy output of photovoltaic panels by positioning them to follow the sun’s path throughout the day. The sun’s position in the sky varies both with installation location, the seasons, and the time of day.
Polymer Solar Cells
Authors: Zaharia Catalin
Published: November 2013

Currently, the active materials used for the fabrication of solar cells are mainly inorganic. Materials such as silicon (Si), gallium-arsenide (GaAs), cadmium-telluride (CdTe), and cadmium-indium-selenide (CIS). Nevertheless, the large production cost for the silicon solar cells is one of the major drawback in this field. This chapter is dedicated to a critical presentation of another type of photovoltaics, called polymer, or plastic, solar cell technology. Polymer solar cells have attracted significant attention in the past few years due to their potential of providing environmentally safe, lightweight, flexible, and efficient solar cells.
Energy Optimization of Power Station for a Small Research Institute
Authors: Ani Vincent Anayochukwu
Published: November 2013

Renaissance University, Agbani has a research institute with internet facility that accommodates 200 computers for student training, research and browsing. This facility becomes impossible to run due to the inability of the public utility to provide steady, reliable and efficient power. A 250KVA generating set was denoted by the school Administration and latter installed for this facility. After the installation, the facility cut off from public utility and depends wholly on Diesel generator. From experience with the performance of the existing generating sets as regards emissions and operating costs due to high cost of maintenance and diesel, a hybrid system (Diesel-Solar PV) was proposed. This paper investigates and analyzes the economic and environmental benefits of the proposed project to existing diesel generator. From the analyses, the proposed system (solar PV-diesel) has less total net present cost and less emission as a result of less fuel consumption and higher efficiency operation of the diesel genset when compared to the existing system (diesel only).
A Location-Based Power Conservation Scheme for MANETs
Authors: Al-Bahadili Hussein , Halasa Azmi
Published: November 2013

In a Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET), a mobile node consumes its power in message communication, message processing, and other operation missions. The amount of power a mobile node consumes for communication is the highest and the dominant as compared to what a node consumes for other tasks. The power consumed in communication is proportional to the square of the nodes’ radio transmission range (R); therefore, minimizing R contributes to a significant reduction in power consumption and consequently increases node battery-power lifetime. This chapter presents a description and performance evaluation of a new efficient power conservation scheme, namely, the Location-Based Power Conservation (LBPC) scheme. It is based on the concept of reducing R by utilizing locally available nodes’ location information to adjust R according to one of the three proposed radius adjustment criteria: farthest, average, and random. So that instead of transmitting with full power to cover up to its maximum radio transmission range (Rmax), the transmitting node adjusts R to less than Rmax, which provides a power conservation factor equivalent to (R/Rmax)2.
Green Communications
Authors: Volos Haris I. , Datla Dinesh , Chen Xuetao , He An , Amanna Ashwin , Newman Timothy R. , Hasan S. M. Shajedul , Reed Jeffery H. , Bose Tamal
Published: November 2013

The exponential growth of wireless systems makes their carbon footprint hard to ignore. This chapter presents statistics related to the energy consumption of cellular networks' infrastructure in order to motivate the need for more efficient and environmentally friendly communications. A definition of the term “Green Communications” is provided along with different metrics that can be used to quantify energy efficiency for the various aspects of wireless infrastructure. In addition to topics related to cellular infrastructure, the chapter presents a brief review of key techniques that can be potentially used for improving energy efficiency. Furthermore, since improving energy efficiency is not by itself sufficient for low-carbon systems, possible ways of using and managing energy harvested from renewable sources such as solar and ambient RF signals are discussed. Moreover, the concept of Wireless Distributed Computing is introduced to illustrate how a group of wireless devices can share their resources for achieving a set of common goals. Finally, resource allocation is examined for managing the trade-offs involved when simultaneously minimizing the carbon footprint and performing the necessary communication and computation tasks in mobile devices.
3D Digital City Platforms as Collaborative and Decision-Making Tools for Small Municipalities and Rural Areas
Authors: Maclennan Barbara L. , Bergeron Susan J.
Published: November 2013

This chapter explores how the development and implementation of a 3D digital city platform can be utilized in the context of solid waste management and sustainable planning in a small municipality or largely rural areas with limited resources. By leveraging 3D visualization and Web 2.0 functionality to allow stakeholders to collaborate on equal footing, digital city platforms can help with day-to-day management of solid waste assets and facilities, planning for solid waste and recycling facilities and drop-offs, mapping and planning efficient waste hauler routes, and identifying issues such as underserved populations and illegal dumping.
Web-Based Digital Habitat Ecosystems for Sustainable Built Environments
Authors: Pillai Kamatchi , Ozansoy Cagil
Published: November 2013

This chapter introduces the Digital Ecosystem (DE) concept and its application in the home environments. DEs are clusters of distributed and diverse digital components, which interact with each other in a self-organising, scalable, and sustainable manner. This could be viewed similar to the interaction of living organisms in a biological ecosystem. The DE concept has traditionally found widespread use in the business environments. However, the concept can well be applied to the home environment, giving rise to the concept of Digital Habitat Ecosystem (DHE). Thus a DHE refers to a cluster of devices for measurement, control, and sensing of environment parameter with the help of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The primary incentive behind this chapter is to show how the DHE concept can be used for maximising the utilisation of vital resources, such as water and electricity, in the home environment and leading to a more sustainable living. Furthermore, the work outlined in this chapter proposes Digital Habitat Ecosystem Architecture (DHEA), which integrates the various digital elements of a home network in a holistic manner. However, there are some current digital system architectures such as Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) available these days; this chapter discusses the shortcomings of the SOA architecture and how the proposed DHEA will rectify the same. In addition, this chapter gives an overview of the static web based model of the home management system, how dynamic DHE varies from those existing models.
ICT Based Pest Management System for Sustainable Pulse Production
Authors: Sharma O P , Singh Niranjan , Bhardwaj Archana , Vennila S , Bhagat Someshwar , Mehta Neelam , Kumar Kamlesh
Published: November 2013

“E-National Pest Reporting and Alert System” in pulse crops is a unique ICT based decision support system, which is very effective and easy to operate through a centralized server system at National Centre for Integrated Pest Management, New Delhi, connected with internet and mobile phones. This system has developed to cater to the needs of rural farmers of India, who grow pulse crops. The useful information is collected, stored, processed, and interpreted, and the appropriate advisories are sent to the registered farmers through centralized server system. They apply suitable corrective measures as per advisories at right time, and thereby, heavy loss caused by various pests can be checked/minimized below economic threshold level. Based on the past experiences and larger response of the stakeholders, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Govt. of India, suggested that this program should be extended and implemented in all pulse growing states. This system is quiet useful bottom to top level officials/policy makers, involved in E-Pest Surveillance programme.
Real-Time Visual Simulation of Urban Sustainability
Authors: Isaacs John P. , Blackwood David J. , Gilmour Daniel , Falconer Ruth E.
Published: November 2013

Sustainable decision making for strategic planning is a challenging process: requiring an understanding of the complex interactions among environmental, economic and social factors. Commonly, such decisions are dominated by economic factors hence there is a need for a framework that supports inclusive decision making throughout all stages of urban and rural planning projects. Towards this the authors have developed the Sustainable City Visualization Tool (S-CITY VT) which comprises 1) indicators (these provide the basis for assessment and monitoring of sustainability) selected according to scale and development 2) modelling techniques that provide indicator values, as not all of the indicators can be measured, and allows spatio-temporal prediction of indicators 3) Interactive 3D visualisation techniques to facilitate effective communication with a wide range of stakeholders. The sustainability modelling and 3D visualisations are shown to have the potential to enhance community engagement within the planning process thus enhancing public acceptance and participation within the urban or rural development project.
Energy-Aware Intelligence in Smart Spaces
Authors: Park Sangho , Kautz Henry
Published: November 2013

The improvement of energy efficiency in our society has become an urgent issue for sustainability under global warming. The authors present research issues on sensor-based smart environments for energy-aware intelligence, and showcase a study of algorithms for monitoring human activities that provides the context awareness to the smart environments. In order to build energy-aware environments, it is desirable to embed intelligence into the environment itself so that the environment can interpret human behavior in order to adjust itself to human activities occurring in the environment. This is achievable by integrating the environment and the intelligent computing facilities. The computing facility embedded in the environment is equipped with intelligent algorithms that can monitor salient features indicative of the events and learn and recognize changes in the environment. Recent developments in sensor-based intelligent systems can provide suitable algorithms and facilities for building such energy-aware smart environments. The authors present a framework for monitoring human activities in daily living toward the energy-aware intelligence that can detect and learn inhabitants’ behavior patterns in the smart environment.
Finding the Sweet Spot of Sustainability in the Energy Sector
Authors: Higginson Nancy , Vredenburg Harrie
Published: November 2013

Energy security and sustainability have become two of the most critical and fundamentally interdependent issues of our time. Canada is a key player in the global energy industry and home to a major oil sands hydrocarbon reserve which, after 50 years of massive investments and technological advancements, has evolved from a “fringe” oil supply to one of strategic importance in global energy security. However, the resource is in its early stages of development, and efforts to fully exploit it have been hampered by a range of factors, including strong opposition from various stakeholder groups. This Chapter provides a framework for a systems-based approach to managing the oil sands that integrates stakeholder management and domain-based collaboration theory.
Organic Production in Serbia
Authors: Filipović Vladimir , Roljević Svetlana , Bekić Bojana
Published: November 2013

Faculty research is focused on the present state of organic agricultural production in the Republic of Serbia, with emphasis on existing legislation and activities planned in the next period, as well on the parallel between organic agriculture and basic principles of green economy, which represents great perspective of Serbia considering its natural potential. Having in mind that the green economy is recognized by leading world organizations for environmental protection as one of factors that could support realization of sustainable development concept through “greening” economy and opening of new “green” workplaces, the goal of this chapter is to indicate the potential and importance of the larger participation of farmers in organic production as one of the most realistic “green” chances of Serbia.
Environmental Sustainability Initiatives in the Agrifood Supply Chain
Authors: Manikas Ioannis , Ieromonachou Petros , Bochtis Dionysis
Published: November 2013

The aim of this study is to identify a wide range of environmentally sustainable initiatives in food supply chain operations and activities. Data for this pilot study were collected through a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire consisted of nine questions. The survey was distributed through email, both as an online link as well as an electronic document that could be returned via email or in hardcopy. A total of 214 UK-based companies involved in the Agrifood products distribution sector were contacted. A correlation analysis shows that company perceptions about factors affecting decisions for the implementation of sustainable practices shares a relationship with the company’s expectations when applying sustainable initiatives. Further research built on this preliminary study will lead to the development of a model that will enable adoption of sustainable measures based on a needs and strengths analysis of the companies.
Hydrology and Integrated Water Resource Management for Sustainable Watershed Management in Kenya
Authors: Ondieki Christopher Misati
Published: November 2013

Degradation of watersheds and diminishing water resources lead to unsustainable environmental and socio- economic development. The hydrological characteristics are desirable for sustainable water resource exploitation. Hydrological and water resources research were examined in three case watersheds in Kenya leading to the need for integrated water resources management, environmental conservation, and watershed management plans as a result of the major challenges of climate change and variability and uncoordinated watershed resource utilization. Well-managed hydro-meteorological networks at different scales of hydrological systems have been proposed to assess potential for optimal resource use and harmony involving all stakeholders for reduced water stress and future water conflicts. Updates of information and methodologies for watershed management that emphasize collaborative efforts and use of sustainable best practices would require input of various stakeholders including Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA), Basin Authorities, and National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA).
Application of Quantitative Methods in Natural Resource Management in Africa
Authors: Ayuk Elias T. , Fonta William M. , Kouame Euphrasie B.
Published: November 2013

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)’s natural resource base constitutes the sub-continent’s greatest asset. These Natural Resources (NRs), both renewable and non-renewable, are the backbone of the continent as they play very critical functions in the livelihood strategies of the people. There are a wide range of questions and issues concerning the proper management of these NRs. One of the issues relates to the economics of resource preservation, which includes questions associated with the quantifiable benefits of resource preservation, the environmental costs and benefits of Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) strategies, the economic impact of land use changes, and valuation of ecosystem goods and services. The other issue concerns the ecosystem and economic system interaction. Particular themes of interest are the co-management of natural resources, trans-boundary natural resource management, and the management of resources to reconcile revenue generation, social development, and environmental services of natural resources. This chapter reviews the literature on quantitative approaches that have been undertaken to enhance the understanding of selected Natural Resource Management (NRM) problems on the continent. The review suggests that a wide range of quantitative approaches have been applied in the context of the African resource economics literature, but this review also identifies some specific areas that have received little attention.
Towards Sustainable Mining
Authors: Jarvie-Eggart Michelle Edith
Published: November 2013

Early efforts to address sustainability within the mining industry (GMI and ICMM) did not create a common set of protocols by which individual operations could be clearly ranked on their performance. The Mining Association of Canada’s Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) program provides protocols to address biodiversity, tailings management, crisis management, safety and health, energy/GHGs, and aboriginal/community engagement. The TSM program has been mandatory for MAC members to implement at their Canadian operations since 2004. Progress along these indicators shows how well the industry is doing at addressing sustainability along each concept, and where further progress is still needed.
Project Manager as a Pivot Point for Implementing Sustainability in an Enterprise
Authors: Maltzman Richard , Shirley David
Published: November 2013

In this chapter, the authors provide a rationale for asserting a special importance of the project manager with respect to implementing sustainability at their enterprise, due to their being at a key “pivot point.” This does not come without challenges, and here the authors convey those specific challenges for project managers. They show that one of these challenges is adopting a sustainability thinking mindset, a mindset that has its roots in the “larger scheme of things, and the long-haul,” even though project managers are often (necessarily) focused on their immediate scope, and short-term deliverables for demanding stakeholders. Finally, the authors advise project managers with some specific techniques to overcome the prior challenges.
Social Media-Based Communities of Practice for Education in Citizenship and Sustainability
Authors: Florou Dimitra , Gouscos Dimitris
Published: November 2013

In this chapter we support the view that communities of practice (CoPs) with the support of social media can serve the education for citizenship and sustainability, with a clear benefit on citizens' culture towards future public reforms. This has led to the development and implementation of the policy for sustainability, which is a European and national strategic objective. The chapter begins with a small analysis of public sector reform towards sustainability and the presentation of the basic principles of education for sustainability and citizenship (ESDC) and the model of CoPs and the social media that facilitate their use. It focuses on the analysis of the three models of belonging -engagement, imagination, alignment- in the application of CoPs for ESDC. In combination with this analysis we demonstrate that CoPs can be supported by social media. Finally the chapter reinforces the view that the development of such communities in education offers on the long run the ability to remodel the public sphere, strengthen public consultation, promote proposals from the citizens, promote the policy of sustainability, and finally, the efficient use of new technologies, both in society and education.
Energy Efficient Residential Block Design
Authors: Hisarligil Hakan , Karaaslan Sule
Published: November 2013

This chapter presents a methodological approach to residential block design for sustainable urban development for hot-summer and cold-winter climates. Taking Ankara as a case, its focus is on developing an energy efficient design process as regards residential block geometry with optimum performance for both climate and energy use. The numerous variables analyzed are orientation, building geometry and envelope, heating and cooling loads of buildings, and microclimatic conditions including solar radiation, air, and wall temperature, and wind speed. It is also important in this study to demonstrate the potential use of “free and user-friendly” simulation tools for such analysis in the early design phase for those who are not experts but have moderate knowledge of urban microclimate and energy. For this aim Weather Tool v2.00 for climate and passive design analysis, CASAnova 3.0 for building energy analysis, and ENVI-met 3.0 for microclimatic analysis are used.
The Effect of Farmer Capacities, Farm Business Resources and Perceived Support of Family, Friends and Associational Networks on Intentions to Invest in Renewable Energy Ventures in the UK
Authors: Mbzibain Aurelian
Published: November 2013

The specific role of farmers and their actual or potential involvement with RE adoption and the wider community is potentially important but has not been addressed by research. This research carried out a postal survey of 2000 (response rate of 20.1%) farmers in the West Midlands region of the UK to investigate some of the factors affecting farmers’ intentions to invest in RE production and associated enterprises. Multivariate linear regressions showed that the farmer’s level of education, level of farm diversification, land tenancy status and farm business turnovers were the most important factors affecting intentions. It also emerged that perceived support of family, friends and associational networks was a significant positive influence on farmer’s investment intentions. The policy implications for these results are discussed.
Responsible Management Education in Practice
Authors: Tavanti Marco
Published: November 2013

The Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) offer a platform for institutional commitment and leadership engagement toward business ethics and poverty alleviation. The author reviews the principles in light of a need for a renewed management education centered on social responsibility, sustainability and partnership values. The PRME present a possibility for universities to engage with United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other multi-stakeholder partnerships. The participating institutions share a commitment for a renewed management education where private organizations become positive agents for world benefit. The process of adopting and integrating the PRME into existing programs and curricula is instrumental for educating ethical, sustainable, and socially responsible leaders for the 21st century.
How Can Sustainable Development Redefine Project Management Processes?
Authors: Eid Mohamed
Published: November 2013

The relationship between Project Management (PM) and Sustainable Development (SD) is tested in this chapter through its application on the construction industry. When PM is embedded in construction projects, it has the capacity to be a significant leverage point of great influence, and it becomes one of the cornerstones for rethinking the relationships between PM, SD, and the Construction Industry. The work presented discusses the need for integrating sustainable development into project management processes to ensure a better outcome for the construction industry, which is directly related to the degradation of our quality of life on the economic, social, and environmental levels. The author explores the origins and philosophies behind sustainability, the core of project management processes, the strategic implications of the construction industry practices, and puts forward the “systems thinking and points of leverage” approach to facilitate an efficient environment of integration. Thinking and acting sustainably requires not only incremental change but also a revolution in approach, a shift of perspective; sustainable project management processes are possible to achieve.
A Paradigm of Constructing Industrial Symbiosis and Coupling in China’s County-Region Economic Sustainable Development
Authors: Li Guangming
Published: November 2013

This chapter introduces the sustainable development of county-region economy under the constraint of natural resources and environment in China when parts of classic industries along the south-eastern coast are shifting to the poorer mountain areas and middle-western areas. It argues that the county regional economic development at the stage should focus on the agricultural growing and breeding their processing sectors, natural resource exploitation and its processing, manufacturing, tourism, and ecological industrial (shift) park, according to the resource endowment. The local government should guide the scientific planning of county-region industries’ layout, structure, symbiosis, and coupling relationships. By means of environmental cost internalization, region industries’ symbiosis and coupling size, roles of social network, cultivation of innovative culture, guidance of government subsidy, pressure from public monitoring, the market mechanism, and economic incentives will play roles in resource allocation. In practice, the local government or industrial authority can design the “lack in” value chain parts and package them into some feasible and profitable projects open to the market investors, encourage firms to participate regional industrial symbiosis and coupling, and construct a complete industrial chain or network, in order to realize the integration of closed-circuit industry, higher value-added ecological agriculture, tourism and related service sectors, creative economic industrial park, urbanization, and ecological environment. This will avoid the heavy-damage from traditional industrialization and urbanization on county-regional ecological environment, and then realize the harmony development of county-regional recycle economy, society, and environment.
Mind the Gap Please!
Authors: Wong Sam
Published: November 2013

This chapter scrutinises the World Bank’s nine guiding principles for investment strategies on renewable energy in developing countries. Drawing on two World Bank-funded solar lighting projects in Bangladesh and India as examples, it demonstrates a wide gap in investment strategies between the Bank and local people. It suggests that a rigid distinction of renewable and non-renewable options risks restricting poor people to adopt an energy-mix approach to cope with poverty. The economic assumptions of the strategic choice for renewable energy investment pay inadequate attention to the cultural norms that shape people’s preferences for energy sharing. A lack of participation of NGOs and local communities in shaping the Bank’s investment strategies also undermines the effectiveness of its renewable energy policies in the long term. This chapter suggests that the World Bank re-conceptualises the complex relationships between energy and poverty and seeks a better understanding of local people’s daily energy consumption practices.
Assessing the Barriers to Greener Fiscal Measures and Ecological Tax Reform in the Transport Sector
Authors: Browne David , Caulfield Brian , O’Mahony Margaret
Published: November 2013

The objective of this chapter is to: (1) appraise the purpose of fiscal measures in the transport sector; (2) provide an overview of potential fiscal measures and their application; and (3) examine potential barriers to the introduction of more efficient pricing and ecological tax reform (ETR) in the transport sector. It is concluded that, although vehicle and fuel taxation measures vary between jurisdictions, ultimately policy-makers should consider calibrating vehicle and fuel taxation to ensure that externalities are internalised, costs are shifted from vehicle ownership to use and that marginal variable costs are transparent to the network user. However, it is possible that achieving ETR through full internalisation of external costs could be contentious due to political concerns over the potental impact on lower socio-economic groups and rural communities as well as commercial concerns over the competitiveness of the freight sector and macroeconomic impacts.
Sustainable Transport and Quality of Life Analysis of Cycling Impact in Italy
Authors: Privitera Donatella
Published: November 2013

In the last 20 years cities have undergone considerable changes. The current phase of expansion, which took place in the absence of demographic pressures, has diluted urban space into functional areas, scattered randomly throughout the area. The authors therefore identify new mobility needs, met mainly by private means, with implications in terms of congestion and air pollution. Sustainable mobility is a priority intervention for the EU. This chapter studies, after a discussion of the importance of sustainable mobility, cycling in Italy from an economic and strategic perspective. Promoting cycling is important for individual health, environmental sustainability, and transport demand management. In Italy, very few people use a bicycle on a regular basis. The analysis relies on national aggregate data as well as case studies of large and small cities in an Italian region.
Energy Efficient Data Query, Processing and Routing Techniques for Green Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Behzadan Afshin , Anpalagan Alagan
Published: November 2013

While wireless sensor networking plays a critical role in many important applications, it also contributes to the energy footprint - which continues to increase with the proliferation of wireless devices and networks worldwide. Energy-efficiency becomes a major concern in the development of next generation sensor systems and networks. This chapter discusses data management techniques from energy efficiency point of view for green wireless sensor networks.
Are Biofuels a Factor of Sustainable Development in a Food Insecurity Context in Africa?
Authors: Dabat Marie-Hélène , Blin Joël , Hanff Elodie
Published: November 2013

Bearing in mind the strong link between energy and development, and given the country’s heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels, this chapter discusses the opportunity for substituting fossil fuels with biofuels in a Sahelian country, Burkina Faso. Biofuel opportunities are discussed taking into account technical, agronomic, and land potentials in this country. Diversification of energy resources with biofuels would reduce the growth of fuel imports in the short term, improve overall public finances, provide a chance to develop agriculture, and provide benefits for the locals. However, if they are to generate sustainable socio-economic development, biofuel projects need to be mindful of food security and economic incentives, and should be part of national agricultural strategies. The chapter shows that a number of conditions must be met to ensure the advantages of biofuels outweigh the disadvantages: prioritising domestic use over exports; supporting the emergence of decentralised systems; localising dedicated crops in order to avoid competition with food crops; regulating the edible oil market; removing technical obstacles to production and processing; and prioritising projects implying family-farming rather than agri-business.
Indicators of Land Degradation Vulnerability due to Anthropic Factors
Authors: Imbrenda V. , D’Emilio M. , Lanfredi M. , Ragosta M. , Simoniello T.
Published: November 2013

Land degradation is one of the most impacting phenomena on natural resource availability, both in quantitative and qualitative terms. In order to provide efficient tools for territorial sustainable management in areas affected by land degradation, it is important to define suitable models and indicators able to identify exposed areas and their vulnerability level, so as to provide an effective support for decision makers in identifying intervention priorities and planning mitigation/adaptation strategies. This work is focused on the evaluation at high spatial detail of land degradation vulnerability due to anthropic factors, which is a crucial issue in areas devoted to farming practices. Vulnerability is evaluated by integrating a new indicator of the mechanization level the authors recently developed, with a set of census based indicators of land management. The new indicator is independent of census data being based on land cover data; thus, it can provide a better spatial characterization and a more frequent updating compared to commonly adopted indices that are evaluated at municipal scale. By analyzing data for the whole Southern Italy, such an indicator was integrated for the first time at full spatial resolution to obtain a final vulnerability index of land management. This comprehensive index enabled a more accurate estimation of the land degradation vulnerability due to anthropic factors allowing the discrimination of priority areas within the municipal areas.
Desert in Bengal Delta‑Changes in Landscape, Changes in Livelihood
Authors: Saroar Md. Mustafa , Routray Jayant K.
Published: November 2013

This study is aimed to assess the impacts of various climate induced events and the sustainability of adoption of coping and adaptive measures against these impacts. The study was conducted through participatory rural appraisal (PRA) and focus group discussion (FGD) in three sites of Kalapara Upazila (Sub-district), located along the Bay of Bengal in Southwest Bangladesh. Finding suggests that although flooding, cyclones, storm surges, and seasonal droughts have different attributes, they have commonality in bringing severe salinity in soil, sub-soil water, and surface water bodies that severely affects the livelihood security of natural resource-dependent coastal population. Indigenous knowledge and diffusion of vernacular technologies have helped a large majority of people to adopt various coping and adaptation strategies against the salinity problem for long. However, in a changing nature of salinity (i.e. a discrete isolated event has been turning to a perpetual event), which is resulting from climate change induced sea level rise (CC-SLR), most of their adopted coping and adaptation measures have failed to address their livelihood security on a sustained basis. To bolster their efforts toward adoption of adaptation strategies for sustainable livelihood, a range of avenues for interventions are identified.
Reverse Logistics for Sustainable Waste Management Processes
Authors: McLeod Fraser , Cherrett Tom
Published: November 2013

This chapter highlights some of the innovative approaches that have been taken by businesses involved in reverse logistics for the removal of waste from urban areas. The chapter reviews some of these approaches and suggests which could be used more widely, recognising the specific limitations which may restrict their applicability. These innovative approaches include: the use of delivery vehicles to take-back waste/recyclate to out-of-town facilities such as a freight consolidation or recycling centre; combining commercial and household waste collections; deploying public transport vehicles to carry specialist recyclate; using multi-modal transport; ‘smart’ bin technology and pipelines for the removal of waste from buildings.
Energy from Waste
Authors: Arora Kalpana , Kumar Ashwani , Sharma Satyawati
Published: November 2013

Considering the confrontation of waste disposal and minimizing Green House Gas (GHG) emission, technologies of Waste To Energy (WTE) production seem appealing. It provides one key solution for two major concerns regarding energy crisis and waste management. Energy from biomass can be seen as a promising alternative for fossil fuels, which are getting scarce and more costly day by day. Since a significant amount of organic waste from agriculture, industries, and community sources is collected annually, it can be convertible to useful energy forms like biohydrogen, biogas, bioalcohols, etc., through various Waste-To-Energy Routes (WTERs) for sustainable development. The adoption of this WTE technology will help the world not only in saving the traditional energy resources, but also in reducing GHG emission, and lowering environmental impact. With all these advantages, WTE industry is expected to experience a noticeable growth in the coming years and make greater contribution in supplying renewable energy. The review presents the technical, economical, and environmental aspects of various WTE techniques and focus on the benefit that this thermochemical conversion is a step forward towards sustainable development.
Encouraging the Development of Renewable Energy
Authors: Viardot Eric
Published: November 2013

The development of Renewable Energy (RE) has become a major societal challenge. Even though RE technology is improving fast, the general public has been slow to adopt it. Meanwhile many RE cooperatives have been created; they act as social entrepreneurs in utilizing the social capital of a community to engage the public. Thus, the purpose of this chapter is to consider how they can contribute to the adoption of RE. The author uses an exploratory research design with a multiple case approach drawing on nine RE cooperatives. The chapter discusses a number of actions implemented by cooperatives in order to develop the adoption of RE. These are related to the diminishing of the RE costs, the use of educational campaigns, and the setting of RE projects at local level; the specific status of cooperatives is another facilitating factor. The author concludes by drawing future directions for research and stressing the cultural challenges for the RE cooperative model.
Impacts of High Wind Power Penetration on the Frequency Response Considering Wind Power Reserve
Authors: Badmasti Bakhtiar , Bevrani Hassan , Naghshbandy Ali Hessamy
Published: November 2013

With high wind power penetration, imbalance between generation and consumption is increased, and as a consequence the frequency deviation from the nominal value will be magnified. For frequency control purpose in conventional power systems, the synchronous generators are only responsible. However, it is expected that the renewable energy sources (RESs) are also needed to contribute in frequency control issue in near future. In this paper, impacts of high wind penetration on the frequency control are studied, and an approach is introduced for creating the secondary reserve for doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) wind turbines. This reserve can contribute to load frequency control (LFC) task. Simulation results on updated standard IEEE 39-bus system are presented and it is shown that the wind turbines can contribute in LFC service, successfully.
Management and Utilisation of Natural Resources in Special Nature Reserves
Authors: Drašković Božo , Zubović Jovan , Domazet Ivana
Published: November 2013

Special nature reserves are particularly regulated land areas designated for protection and utilization of natural resources at their disposal. In this chapter, the authors present a pioneering attempt to analyze management efficiency and utilization effectiveness of natural resources in protected nature reserves in Serbia based on an empirical research. Moreover, the authors explore the regulations that define the protection, management, and conservation of natural values and goods in Serbia, with a purpose of evaluating opportunities for development and implementation of Environmental Accounting (EA). EA is still at an early stage of development, especially from the standpoint of its incorporation into the developed standard models of company accounting. There still exist several unexplored problems to be solved at the level of national accounts, such as the expression of environmental damage, resource consumption, sustainable use of natural capital, evaluating environmental benefits, and free gifts of nature. The chapter is completed with a case study based on an empirical study in the field of environmental management in one protected area in Serbia, Zasavica.