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Elsevier

Books in Sustainable development

  • Nature's Blueprint

    Biomimicry for Sustainable Innovation
    • 1st Edition
    • Fayaz A. Malla + 1 more
    • English
    Nature's Blueprint: Biomimicry for Sustainable Innovation explores how nature’s time-tested patterns, processes, and designs can inspire innovative solutions to today’s pressing environmental and technological challenges. This book examines the field of biomimicry and highlights the need for sustainable development and eco-friendly innovations that are aligned with ecological principles. The book is organized into three parts. The first part introduces core concepts such as learning from nature’s genius, principles and patterns of life, and the ethical dimensions of biomimicry. The second part examines structural ingenuity, energy efficiency, circular systems, water management, and biomimetic materials through detailed case studies. Finally, the third part explores resilience, sustainable agriculture, transportation, urban design, and methods for measuring success. Nature's Blueprint: Biomimicry for Sustainable Innovation is for readers seeking nature-inspired solutions to ecological challenges. It’s an essential resource for advancing sustainable development worldwide.

  • Sustainability and Construction

    The Global Context and the New Zealand Perspective
    • 1st Edition
    • Kamal Dhawan + 3 more
    • English
    Sustainability and Construction: The Global Context and the New Zealand Perspective explores various dimensions of sustainability in construction. It commences with a comprehensive discourse on the sustainability concept and its construction context.Next, it examines sustainability across the various phases of a typical construction project—from inception, through operationalization, to end-of-life management—on one hand, and, on the other, the sustainability of associated processes and domains such as supply chains, logistics, delivery models, and waste management. The narrative is extended through sustainability rating schemes, regenerative built environment, and the context of technology in construction. A strategic organizational viewpoint is presented through an integrated treatment of corporate sustainability, its assessment, reporting, and benchmarking, against the backdrop of the sustainability imperative. Stakeholder perspectives and the “wickedness” of sustainable construction in New Zealand conclude the work.The unique treatment of the overarching themes impacting sustainability in the global construction industry and their intersection with the New Zealand standpoint delivers a well-balanced and thoroughly researched resource. It is a value-added, highly visual text for engineers, students, researchers, policy makers, and industry stakeholders alike.

  • Membranes for Structures

    Applications
    • 1st Edition
    • Josep Ignasi de Llorens
    • English
    A growing use of membranes for construction purposes has recently been encouraged by their environmentally friendly characteristics. To offer a timely and extensive, research-grounded compendium on structures made with fabrics and foils, the most relevant facets of the state of the art are covered in two sister titles.Membranes for Structures — Applications is steeped in fascinating, functional examples: in fact, a selection of detailed case studies is presented in Part One, preceded by the description of two relevant historical antecedents, which are the circus tent and the “envelat”. The particular case of the successful spoked wheel structural system for the construction of large stadiums is the subject of Part Two, including descriptions of four significant case studies. Two growing fields of application are the focus of Part Three, which is dedicated to façades that give buildings a unique appearance, and Part Five, which addresses replacements, renovations, and refurbishments—activ... that are frequently encountered in today’s construction industry. And Part Four presents the latest application developments in different countries across the globe, with achievements in China, Latin and North America, Japan, and Europe being highlighted.The well-amalgamated contributions, authored by international experts, produce a comprehensive reference to keep students and researchers as well as industry professionals and various other stakeholders abreast with the latest advancements.

  • Green Chemistry

    A Path to Sustainable Development
    • 1st Edition
    • Lalit Prasad + 3 more
    • English
    Green Chemistry: A Path to Sustainable Development provides updated information and knowledge on green chemistry, analyzes greener solutions for environmental sustainability, and includes principles and practices, metrics, green chemical technologies, and real-world applications. Chapters explore interdisciplinary approaches to green chemistry, as well as value added through by-products, conversion of waste to value added products, remodeling from a conventional approach to a greener approach, and the challenges, opportunities, and future scope of green chemistry. Finally, this book discusses green methodologies, processes, and new chemical development.

  • Smart Nation

    Redefining Nations for Global Sustainability
    • 1st Edition
    • Abdullah Alfaiz
    • English
    As digitalization continues to transform the world, nations and governments are mobilizing to adopt “smart” strategies for governance and citizen engagement, both locally and globally. Providing sought-after, interdisciplinary knowledge on the next frontier in the evolution of smart concepts, Smart Nation: Redefining Nations for Global Sustainability illustrates how comprehensive adoption and purposeful application of digital, interoperable instruments and ecosystems can shape integrated governance, leading to more efficient and equitable administrative efforts while fostering collaborative strategies that achieve sustainable outcomes across national boundaries.This comprehensive reference resource offers not only the latest research in this innovative context but also reviews successful international cases, providing practical insights into the revolutionary trajectories of these countries as they address complex challenges across social, economic, and environmental spheres, ultimately enhancing living standards.Authored by an expert with decades of experience in both academia and professional practice, this volume caters to a diverse audience across disciplines, offering a detailed development blueprint that supports ongoing innovation for the collective benefit of our planet.

  • Greening Our Economy for a Sustainable Future

    • 1st Edition
    • Simon Grima + 3 more
    • English
    Greening Our Economy for a Sustainable Future examines the green economy by balancing social needs, the environment, and the economy. It argues that different economic models must be developed to address the environment caused by economic expansion. The book not only looks at the opportunities of having a green economy, but also goes into areas such as greenwashing, social washing, sustainability, economics, and more. In addition, it addresses how one can improve well-being through a symbiotic relationship between economic growth and environmental stewardship.

  • Adaptive Engineering

    A Sustainable Development Endeavor
    • 1st Edition
    • David S.-K. Ting + 1 more
    • English
    It was with a great insight when Stephen Hawking uttered, “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.” Incidentally, this also paraphrases Albert Einstein’s saying, “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” Adaptive Engineering: A Sustainable Development Endeavor aims at complementing sustainable development and technologies with adaptation. This entails engineering innovations that go hand in hand with responsible human behavior change.The book presents various aspects of adaptive engineering in combination with civil and structural engineering, architecture, urban design and infrastructure, as well as environmental engineering, coastal engineering, climate change, ecology, energy management, and much more. It commences with a comprehensive review of the state of the art of adaptive engineering. It then elucidates multiple engineering fronts that have proven to be robust and versatile, paving the way to a resilient, green tomorrow. The contributions from a diverse group of experts present a balanced reference compendium to keep professional engineers, students and researchers, policy makers, and various industry stakeholders abreast with the latest advancements.

  • Progress in Sustainable Development

    Sustainable Engineering Practices
    • 1st Edition
    • David S.-K. Ting + 1 more
    • English
    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-frie... 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.

  • Sustainable Utilization of Carbon Dioxide in Waste Management

    Moving Toward Reducing Environmental Impact
    • 1st Edition
    • Abdel-Mohsen O. Mohamed + 2 more
    • English
    Sustainable Utilization of Carbon Dioxide in Waste Management addresses all aspects of sustainable use of carbon dioxide in waste management processes and provides best practices and process improvements for carbon sequestration in the management of a variety of waste types, including carbide lime waste, construction waste, and reject brine effluents, amongst others. The book also provides underlying research on the environmental impacts of these wastes and the need for carbon capture to emphasize the importance and need for improvements of these processes. Overall, this information will be key to determining lifecycle benefits of CO2 for each newly improved waste process. This is an important source of information for environmental and sustainability scientists and engineers, as well as academics and researchers in the field who should be trying to achieve increased carbon capture in any form of waste process to reduce environmental impact.

  • Materials and Sustainable Development

    • 2nd Edition
    • Michael F. Ashby
    • English
    Materials and Sustainable Development, Second Edition, written by noted materials selection authority Mike Ashby, provides a structure and framework for analyzing sustainable development and the role of materials in it. The book's aim is to introduce ways of exploring sustainable development to readers in a way that avoids simplistic interpretations and approaches complexity in a systematic way. There is no completely 'right' answer to questions of sustainable development, instead, there is a thoughtful, well-researched response that recognizes concerns of stakeholders, conflicting priorities, and the economic, legal and social aspects of the technology and its environmental legacy. The intent of the book is not to offer solutions to sustainability challenges but rather to improve the quality of discussion and enable informed, balanced debate. This updated edition has been updated to reflect new insights, regulatory trends and other developments that have occurred since publication of the previous edition.

  • Natural Resources Conservation and Advances for Sustainability

    • 1st Edition
    • Manoj Kumar Jhariya + 3 more
    • English
    Natural Resources Conservation and Advances for Sustainability addresses the latest challenges associated with the management and conservation of natural resources. It presents interdisciplinary approaches to promote advances in solving these challenges. By examining what has already been done and analyzing it in the context of what still needs to be done, particularly in the context of latest technologies and sustainability, the book helps to identify ideal methods for natural resource management and conservation. Each chapter begins with a graphical abstract and presents complicated or detailed content in the form of figures or tables. In addition, the book compares the latest techniques with conventional techniques and troubleshoots conventional methods with modifications, making it a practical resource for researchers in environmental science and natural resource management.

  • Participatory Modelling for Resilient Futures

    Action for Managing Our Environment from the Bottom-Up
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 30
    • English
    Participatory Modelling for Resilient Futures: Action for Managing Our Environment from the Bottom-Up, Volume One provides an important contribution to environmental management by introducing an integrative framework for participatory research for better land use and natural resource planning, organized around compelling recent case studies. It is a valuable guide for the increasing number of students looking for solutions in sustainability science and also practitioners who are on the ground working with local communities to improve specific places. The book was developed in response to the need to provide a clear and synthetic account, in accessible and non-technical language, of the way in which innovative integrative research can help solve real world human-environment interaction problems at a range of levels and scales, e.g., participatory modelling to secure a sustainable future for a natural protected area, working with stakeholders to break the deadlock on renewable energy implementation in Europe or tackling social exclusion and reducing food carbon footprint through local agroecology schemes.

  • Handbook of Spent Hydroprocessing Catalysts

    • 2nd Edition
    • Meena Marafi + 2 more
    • English
    Handbook of Spent Hydroprocessing Catalysts, Second Edition, covers all aspects of spent hydroprocessing catalysts, both regenerable and non-regenerable. It contains detailed information on hazardous characteristics of spent and regenerated catalysts. The information forms a basis for determining processing options to make decisions on whether spent catalysts can be either reused on refinery site after regeneration or used as the source of new materials. For non-regenerable spent catalysts, attention is paid to safety and ecological implications of utilizing landfill and other waste handling and storage options to ensure environmental acceptance. As such, this handbook can be used as a benchmark document to develop threshold limits of regulated species.

  • Sustainable Construction Materials

    Copper Slag
    • 1st Edition
    • Ravindra K. Dhir OBE + 3 more
    • English
    Sustainable Construction Materials: Copper Slag, as part of a series of five, the book aims to promote the use of sustainable construction materials. It is different to the norm and its uniqueness lies in developing a data matrix sourced from 400 publications, contributed by 712 authors from 337 institutions in 40 countries from 1964 to 2015, on the subject of copper slag as a construction material, and systematically, analysisng, evaluating and modelling this information for use in cement, concrete, geotechnics and road pavement applications. Related environmental issues, case studies and standards are also discussed. The work establishes what is already known and can be used. It would also help to avoid repetitive research and save valuable resources, which can instead be directed towards new research to progress the use of sustainable construction materials. The book is structured in an incisive and easy to digest manner. As an excellent reference source, the book is particularly suited for researchers, academics, design engineers, specifiers, contractors, developers and certifying and regulatory authorities, seeking to promote sustainability within the construction sector.

  • Sustainable Apparel

    Production, Processing and Recycling
    • 1st Edition
    • Richard Blackburn
    • English
    Sustainability is an issue that increasingly concerns all those involved in the apparel industry, including textile manufacturers, apparel designers, retailers and consumers. This important book covers recent advances and novel technologies in the key areas of production, processing and recycling of apparel. Part One addresses sustainable finishing and dyeing processes for textiles. The first two chapters concentrate on the environmental impact of fabric finishing, including water consumption, emissions and waste management. Further chapters focus on plasma and enzymatic treatments for sustainable textile processing, and the potential for improving the sustainability of dyeing technologies. Part Two covers issues of design, retail and recycling, and includes discussions of public attitudes towards sustainability in fashion, methods of measuring apparel sustainability and social trends in the re-use of apparel.

  • Sustainable Catalytic Processes

    • 1st Edition
    • Basudeb Saha + 2 more
    • English
    The development of catalysts is the most sophisticated art in chemical sciences. It can be read like a story book when the critical scientific contents are presented in a chronological manner with short and simple sentences. This book will meets these criteria. To address the sustainability issues of existing chemical manufacturing processes or producing new chemicals, researchers are developing alternate catalysts to eliminate toxic chemicals use and by-products formation. Sustainable Catalytic Processes presents critical discussions of the progress of such catalytic development. This book of contemporary research results in sustainable catalysis area will benefit scientists in both industries and academia, and students to learn recent catalysts/process development.

  • Materials and Sustainable Development

    • 1st Edition
    • Michael F. Ashby
    • English
    This book, from noted materials selection authority Mike Ashby, provides a structure and framework for analyzing sustainable development and the role of materials in it. The aim is to introduce ways of exploring sustainable development to readers in a way that avoids simplistic interpretations and approaches complexity in a systematic way. There is no completely "right" answer to questions of sustainable development – instead, there is a thoughtful, well-researched response that recognizes concerns of stakeholders, the conflicting priorities and the economic, legal and social aspects of a technology as well as its environmental legacy. The intent is not to offer solutions to sustainability challenges but rather to improve the quality of discussion and enable informed, balanced debate.

  • Research Approaches to Sustainable Biomass Systems

    • 1st Edition
    • Seishu Tojo + 1 more
    • English
    Researchers, students and engineers working with biofuels and biomass are increasingly expected to comprehend a new holistic systems perspective that begins with wise crop breeding and cultivation techniques and informs the entire conversion to energy process. This volume provides diverse examples of successfully implemented sustainable biomass research in Asia, highlighting the challenges faced by designers of new biomass production facilities and tips on how to develop approaches to overcome them. In addition to providing an authoritative guide on the utilization of the authors’ sample feedstocks, rice straw and sunflower, the authors provide lessons relevant to stakeholders involved with all manner of biomass production projects by drawing out important comparisons and contrasts that must be taken into account when deciding how to utilize biomass as an energy resource in a way that is economically feasible and environmentally sustainable.

  • Transparency for Sustainability in the Food Chain

    Challenges and Research Needs EFFoST Critical Reviews #2
    • 1st Edition
    • Gerhard Schiefer + 1 more
    • English
    Transparency for Sustainability in the Food Chain lays out the key issues and challenges in food safety, food quality, chain integrity, the link with consumers, and the technological base of tracking and tracing systems. This succinct volume brings readers up to speed on the state of the art in these areas, and the research trends in specific domains. Transparency in the food sector, especially to consumers, is one of the priority issues on the agenda of consumer policy representatives. Food scandals and deficiencies in consumer communication have drawn increasing demands for food policies that ensure that food is safe and of the quality consumers expect. Further, consumers increasingly expect that food production processes limit negative impacts on the environment and consider social concerns. Moving toward improved transparency requires action by stakeholders of the food chain but also knowledge on where and how to move. Researchers and professionals working in food sourcing, regulation, safety, and distribution will benefit from this clear overview.

  • Sustainable Energy Management

    • 1st Edition
    • Mirjana Radovanovic + 2 more
    • English
    While the last few decades have witnessed incredible leaps forward in the technology of energy production, technological innovation can only be as transformative as its implementation and management allows. The burgeoning fields of renewable, efficient and sustainable energy have moved past experimentation toward realization, necessitating the transition to more sustainable energy management practices. Energy Management is a collective term for all the systematic practices to minimize and control both the quantity and cost of energy used in providing a service. This new book reports from the forefront of the energy struggle in the developing world, offering a guide to implementation of sustainable energy management in practice. The authors provide new paradigms for measuring energy sustainability, pragmatic methods for applying renewable resources and efficiency improvements, and unique insights on managing risk in power production facilities. The book highlights the possible financial and practical impacts of these activities, as well as the methods of their calculation. The authors’ guidelines for planning, analyzing, developing, and optimizing sustainable energy production projects provide vital information for the nations, corporations, and engineering firms that must apply exciting new energy technology in the real world.

  • Agricultural Ecology and Environment

    • 1st Edition
    • B.R. Stinner + 2 more
    • English
    The increased use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in crop production has adversely affected both the environment and the agricultural economy. Not only has it led to environmental pollution, but also the increasing costs of chemical inputs and the low prices received for agricultural products have contributed to economic unprofitability and instability.The International Symposium on Agricultural Ecology and Environment was organised in order to discuss ways of achieving the goals of economically and environmentally sustainable agriculture. It is apparent that a truly multidisciplinary effort is required and for this reason the meeting was attended by authors from many different disciplines and geographical locations. Although their papers reflect a wide diversity of agroecosystem types and examples, several common themes emerge: the increased importance of biotic control of ecosystem processes in lower input systems; the key role of soil organic matter in stabilizing nutrient cycling; the importance of agricultural landscape diversity and complexity; the importance of studying ecological processes in natural and agricultural ecosystems; the critical need to integrate socio-economic and ecological approaches.

  • Sustainable Vehicle Technologies

    Driving the Green Agenda
    • 1st Edition
    • Institution of Mechanical Engineers
    • English
    This book contains the papers from the IMechE’s Sustainable Vehicle Technologies 2012 conference. An innovative technical conference organised by the Automobile Division of the IMechE, it follows on from the 2009 Low Carbon Vehicle conference, which established a high standard with presentations primarily focussed on powertrain technology. The conference examines the latest advances in technology with a view towards understanding the consequences of carbon dioxide reduction over the entire vehicle lifecycle. Papers cover all aspects of the finite resources available for vehicle production, operation and recycling.

  • Engineering for Sustainability

    A Practical Guide for Sustainable Design
    • 1st Edition
    • Gerald Jonker + 1 more
    • English
    This book provides engineers with the necessary information to design sustainable processes, products and value chains. It describes the current consensus on sustainable development for four context levels: Planet, Society, Business, and Engineers. It also presents all required design steps: from problem definition, via synthesis of potential solutions, analysis of solutions, improvements to the final solution evaluation. For each design step, methods and guidelines are provided in relation to the goal of obtaining a sustainable solution; a solution that meets both the needs of people and all specific context constraints with regard to the planet and prosperity.

  • Sustainability of Construction Materials

    • 1st Edition
    • Jamal Khatib
    • English
    Until recently, much of the development of building materials has predominantly focused on producing cheaper, stronger and more durable construction materials. More recently attention has been given to the environmental issues in manufacturing, using, disposing and recycling of construction materials. Sustainability of construction materials brings together a wealth of recent research on the subject.The first part of the book gives a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the sustainability of the following building materials: aggregates; timber, wood and bamboo; vegetable fibres; masonry; cement, concrete and cement replacement materials; metals and alloys; glass; and engineered wood products. A final group of chapters cover the use of waste tyre rubber in civil engineering works, the durability of sustainable construction materials and nanotechnologies for sustainable construction.With its distinguished editor and international team of contributors, Sustainability of construction materials is a standard reference for anyone involved in the construction and civil engineering industries with an interest in the highly important topic of sustainability.

  • The Petroleum Engineering Handbook: Sustainable Operations

    • 1st Edition
    • M.R. Islam + 1 more
    • English
    This is the first book in the petroleum sector to shed light on the real obstacles to sustainable development and provides solutions to each problem encountered. Each solution is complete with an economic analysis that clarifies why petroleum operations can continue with even greater profit than before while ensuring that the negative environmental impact is diminished. The new screening tools and models proposed in this book will provide one with proper guidelines to achieve true sustainability in both technology development and management of the petroleum sector.

  • Ecotextiles

    The Way Forward for Sustainable Development in Textiles
    • 1st Edition
    • M Miraftab + 1 more
    • English
    This book includes a carefully-chosen and edited selection of 23 papers from the Ecotextile 2004 Conference held at the University of Bolton. Ecotextiles is divided into five main parts. Part one deals with recycling and use of waste as raw materials in such areas as clothing and carpet manufacture. Part two discusses sustainability and eco-design with papers on improved design, use of sustainable fibres and manufacturing techniques. Part three reviews sustainable development and renewables, including discussion of topics such as composites made from textile waste. Part four considers waste management in such areas as dyeing and effluent treatment. The final part of the book assesses novel technologies, including new fibres and finishing techniques.As pressure from governments and consumers continues to grow, Ecotextiles is a valuable reference for the textile industry on best practice in sustainable production.

  • Local Environmental Sustainability

    • 1st Edition
    • S Buckingham + 1 more
    • English
    The importance of local programmes in driving sustainable development has been enshrined in Local Agenda 21, arguably the most influential output of the 1992 Rio 'Earth' Summit. Its importance has been reiterated more recently by the Johannesburg Summit in 2002.Local Environmental Sustainability sets the context for local environmental sustainability and, in particular, considers how local government can promote sustainable development by building partnerships with different groups and organisations in the local community. Using case studies, individual chapters focus on different types of regional and local initiatives, the partnerships that have made them possible, and the key issues in making them effective.Local Environmental Sustainability provides a blueprint for both local governments and local communities to work together effectively for a more sustainable future.

  • Checklist for Sustainable Landscape Management

    Final Report of the EU Concerted Action AIR3-CT93-1210
    • 1st Edition
    • J.D. van Mansvelt + 1 more
    • English
    This work is an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, widely-calibrated checklist for EU sustainable landscape management, which is intended to serve both as an analytical tool of reference as well as a design tool for local, regional and European policy making on sustainable developments.The tool has been developed out of a multidisciplinary study in EU countries which was designed to find out what would be the overall requirements for a sustainable management of the landscape of rural areas. Could these stipulations be brought together in a comprehensive system with sufficient consistency to comply with the notion that the landscape is an entity, which should be managed accordingly? Cooperation of the scientific experts with those involved in the practical side, and alternating plenary reporting with subgroup visits to farms in the rural landscapes of the participants' countries, allowed for the development of some truly interdisciplinary teamwork. Organic agriculture has been included to find out how organic agriculture contributes to the rural landscape.