Skip to main content

2014 | Buch

Environment and Sustainable Development

herausgegeben von: M.H. Fulekar, Bhawana Pathak, R K Kale

Verlag: Springer India

insite
SUCHEN

Über dieses Buch

Global society in the 21st century is facing challenges of improving the quality of air, water, soil and the environment and maintaining the ecological balance. Environmental pollution, thus, has become a major global concern. The modern growth of industrialization, urbanization, modern agricultural development and energy generation has resulted in the indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources for fulfilling human desires and needs, which has contributed in disturbing the ecological balance on which the quality of our environment depends.

Human beings, in the truest sense, are the product of their environment. The man-environment relationship indicates that pollution and deterioration of the environment have a social origin. The modern technological advancements in chemical processes/operations have generated new products, resulting in new pollutants in such abundant levels that they are above the self-cleaning capacity of the environment. One of the major issues in recent times is the threat tohuman lives due to the progressive deterioration of the environment from various sources. The impact of the pollutants on the environment will be significant when the accumulated pollutants load will exceed the carrying capacity of the receiving environment.

Sustainable development envisages the use of natural resources, such as forests, land, water and fisheries, in a sustainable manner without causing changes in our natural world. The Rio de Janeiro-Earth Summit, held in Brazil in 1992, focused on sustainable development to encourage respect and concern for the use of natural resources in a sustainable manner for the protection of the environment.

This book will be beneficial as a source of educational material to post-graduate research scholars, teachers and industrial personnel for maintaining the balance in the use of natural sources for sustainable development.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
1. Emergence of Green Technologies Towards Sustainable Growth
Abstract
Environmental technology (abbreviated as envirotech) or green technology (abbreviated as greentech) or clean technology (abbreviated as cleantech) is the application of the environmental science and green chemistry to conserve the natural environment and resources and to curb the negative impacts of human involvement. A growing wave of global environmentalism is forcing manufacturers to produce greener products through greener processes. Sustainable growth demands that market should take steps both to expand the number of green-oriented products they receive and to reduce heavy environmental footprint. For the technology industries at large, going green requires transformation along virtually every step of every value chain.
This chapter deals with the 4 principal requirements for sustainable development, 12 principles of green engineering, 5 major attributes of green technology and 9 Rs for waste minimisation and waste to wealth paradigm shift and addresses ‘end-of-life’ issues. Emphasis should be laid on ecosystem protection and reduction in the waste and greenhouse gas emission within the limits of the carrying capacity of the ecosystem. Under no circumstances, the biodiversity should be sacrificed in the name of development. Safety, health and environmental (SHE) issues must be given top priority in all developmental ventures so that sustainable development with environment and health security is ensured for all the time. Special emphasis is laid on adoption of environmental carrying capacity–based planning process. Policy and regulation based on scientific and economic tools (natural resource accounting, polluter pays, damage assessment, risk-based standards and remediation) are the key ingredients for sustainable consumption and development.
Tapan Chakrabarti
2. Sustainable Development: An Earnest Hope
Abstract
Sustainable development is a widely used and highly debatable concept leading to board acceptance with very diverse interpretations. The ambiguity pertaining to the definition of the term and its myriad approaches makes it even more complex and multidimensional in nature. However, no matter how we define it and what approach we adopt the essence of all the efforts towards sustainability or sustainable development is to reduce and lessen the wasteful consumption and inevitable impacts that led to the demise of great generations and summoned the present and future generations. Our technologically sound and advanced super generation has the wisdom to understand, learn from the past mistakes, and create alternatives to overcome the challenges. The mantra and passport to the sustainable development lie in rooting and inculcating new set of values, principles, and ethics for a bright and sustainable future of our generations and the mother earth. This chapter discusses the conceptual framework of sustainable development and addresses why sustainable development is inevitable.
Sangeeta Singh
3. Soil Seed Bank Dynamics: History and Ecological Significance in Sustainability of Different Ecosystems
Abstract
The existence and potential importance of the soil seed bank have been recognized by ecologists and evolutionary biologists since the dawn of modern biology, from Darwin (1859) to Mall and Singh (2011) and Hong et al. (2012). The earlier studies of soil seed banks began in 1859 with Darwin, when he observed the emergence of seedlings using soil samples from the bottom of a lake. However, the first paper published as a scientific research report was written by Putersen in 1882, studying the occurrence of seeds at different soil depths (Roberts 1981). Very early ecologists started to investigate the nature and the density of living seeds in the soil and the soil seed bank (Darwin 1859; Chippindale and Milton 1934; Nordhagen 1937; Bannister 1966; Barclay-Estrup and Gimingham 1975), and in modern times to determine the significance of soil seeds in the regeneration of different plant communities (Thompson and Grime 1979; Roberts 1981; Mallik et al. 1984; Simpson et al. 1989; Thompson et al. 1997; Miller and Cummins 2001; Lemenih and Teketay 2006; Tessema et al. 2011b; Mall and Singh 2001; Hong et al. 2012) and the similarity between the soil seed bank and aboveground vegetation (Tessema et al. 2011b). A soil seed bank, which begins at dispersal and ends with the germination or death of the seed (Walck et al. 2005), is a reserve of mature viable seeds located on the soil surface or buried in the soil (Roberts 1981) that provides a memory of past vegetation and represents the structure of future populations (Fisher et al. 2009). Seeds are a crucial and integral part of an ecosystem that show the past history of standing vegetation and its future deviation. An understanding of the population dynamics of buried viable seeds is of practical importance in conservation of different communities and weed management in agriculture (Fenner 1985; Fenner and Thompson 2005). The balance between trees and grasses, however, is often highly disturbed as a consequence of heavy grazing and poor management (Pugnaire and Lazaro 2000). This study aimed to gain a better understanding of soil seed bank dynamics in different ecosystems of the world. All plants establish themselves by the expansion and subsequent fragmentation of vegetative parts such as tillers, rhizomes, or runners by the successful establishment of a soil seed bank or bulbils (Freedman et al. 1982). During the past decade, there has been a rapid increase of the number of studies assessing seed density and species richness and the composition of soil seed banks in a wide range of plant communities (Thompson et al. 1997). In India, the soil seed bank has been estimated in humid tropical forest (Chandrashekara and Ramakrishnan 1993), grasslands, irrigated and dry land agro-ecosystems (Srivastava 2002), tropical dry forest (Khare 2006), jhum cultivation (Saxena and Ramakrishnan 1984; Sahoo 1996), Himalayan moist temperate forest (Viswanth et al. 2006), and wastelands and roadsides (Yadav and Tripathi 1981).
Upama Mall, Gopal S. Singh
4. Challenges and Prospects in Exploring Marine Microbial Diversity
Abstract
The marine realm is one of the major habitats of the biosphere and covers around 70 % of the Earth’s surface. Eighty to ninety percent of all life forms of the Earth are present only in the oceans. The microbial diversity is enormous in marine habitat. The knowledge of the oceanic biodiversity, as a whole, is limited, in spite of the advances in sampling techniques and use of in situ methods to study natural communities. Apart from natural variations in biodiversity, pollution of coastal waters and bio-invasions through human activity also alter the biodiversity drastically. Industrial effluents, discharges, land reclamation, and other anthropogenic effects are found to cause damage or create imbalance in coastal diversity and modify it significantly. This phenomenon is observed all around the world. Thus, better understanding of the relations between diversity at different topological levels as well as between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is essential. This could have important implications in conservation management. Further it is being increasingly realized that the marine environment is an inexhaustible resource of biomolecules of commercial importance including antibiotics and enzymes. Marine diversity is also considered important to find solution for the expensive problem of biofouling, which is a serious impediment for maritime industries such as shipping, thermal and nuclear power plant maintenance. The potential of marine isolates against inhibition of primary foulers is opening a realm for the development of nontoxic, environmentally friendly natural product antifouling agents (NPAs).
K. B. Akondi, V. V. Lakshmi
5. Bioprospecting of Plant Essential Oils for Medicinal Uses
Abstract
Essential oils of plant origin have a long history of use by various civilizations in the world. They find place in almost all traditional systems of medicine like Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, and Chinese traditional system of medicine. Essential oils extractable by steam distillation and various solvents from different parts of plants constitute complex mixtures of low molecular weight compounds. Terpenes and terpenoids form the major constituents of essential oils and determine the aroma as well as biological properties. Traditionally essential oils are prescribed by the healers for a vareity of ailments ranging from skin infections to cancer. Many of these treatments have stood the test of time. As such essential oils offer tremendous scope for reverse pharmacological studies. With the use of HPTLC, HPLC, GC, NMR, GCMS, and the entry of phytochemists, the essential oil research has matured in to a science of its own. We are presenting an overview of the biological properties and potential applications of essential oils in medicine.
Jayant Shankar Raut, Sankunny Mohan Karuppayil
6. Air Pollution Scenario over Delhi City
Abstract
The rise in population and growth in economic activity have led to an increase in pollution in Delhi. About 55 % of Delhi’s population live within 500 m of the roads with a high level of pollution which leads to higher exposure of population to air pollutants, thus resulting in health problems. In order to analyse the air pollution scenario in Delhi, a study has been conducted of the different criteria pollutants, e.g. NO2, SO2, CO, PM2.5 and PM10, along with a study of surface ozone (O3) for the period 2008–2011. The data of 10 stations of the air quality monitoring network of the India Meteorological Department along with the data collected by the Central Pollution Control Board have been analysed. The data of respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) shows that its concentration in Delhi’s air is double that of the national limit. Significant changes have been noticed from year to year in concentrations of all pollutants in Delhi, which may be due to meteorological factors and changes in emissions from different sources of air pollutants. The level of surface ozone has been found rising due to high vehicular emissions in the city. The inverse relationship between surface ozone concentration and relative humidity indicates that the major photochemical paths for the removal of ozone become effective when humidity increases in Delhi. The study of CO/NOx ratios in comparison to ratios of SO2/NOx reveals that CO/NOx ratios are higher which indicates that vehicular emissions are the major sources of air pollution in Delhi.
Siddhartha Singh, S. K. Peshin
7. Nanotechnology: Perspective for Environmental Sustainability
Abstract
“Environmental nanotechnology” is considered to play a key role in the shaping of current environmental engineering and science. The conventional environmental remedial techniques seem to be relatively ineffectual in the face of currently extensively expanding load of pollutants that permeate the air, water, and soil environment. Nanotechnology can provide a way to purify the air and water resources by utilizing nanoparticles as a catalyst and/or sensing systems. In the present research chapter, the potential of nanotechnological products and processes and their application to clean up the environment contaminants have been discussed. Water treatment and purification techniques based on nanotechnology have been highlighted. These also include the environmental and energy application of nanotechnology which focuses on clean technology, reducing global warming, eco-friendly and efficient energy-generating techniques, eco-friendly surface coating, remediation techniques, and environmental monitoring. Environmental nanoscience products, devices, and processes have an impact on socioeconomic aspects for maintaining a clean environment for sustainable development.
M. H. Fulekar, Bhawana Pathak, R. K. Kale
8. An Overview of Environmental Remediation Using Photocatalyst
Abstract
In recent years a lot of emphasis has been placed on the role of photocatalytic oxidation in environmental remediation. In the presence of appropriate photocatalysts, harmful organic and inorganic compounds can be degraded and mineralized. The introduction of nanoparticulate photocatalysts has tremendously enhanced the catalytic efficiency of specific materials. In this chapter, the different synthetic techniques for generation of nanoparticulate photocatalysts have been discussed. An attempt has been made to explain the mechanism of photocatalysis. The different photocatalyst materials available and their suitability for various environmental remediation purposes have also been highlighted.
Dimple P. Dutta
9. Role of Biopolymers in Industries: Their Prospective Future Applications
Abstract
Surfactants are surface-active compounds capable of reducing surface and interfacial tension at interfaces between liquids, solids, and gases, thereby allowing them to mix or disperse readily as emulsions in water or other liquids. The demand for eco-friendly products is high; therefore, an increasing interest in biosurfactants has resulted. Biosurfactants are amphiphilic compounds of microbial origin having advantages in biodegradability and effectiveness at extreme temperatures or pH and in having lower toxicity. These molecules are very effective in various fields nowadays. At present biosurfactants are mainly used in studies on enhanced oil recovery and hydrocarbon bioremediation. The solubilization and emulsification of toxic chemicals by biosurfactants have also been reported. Biosurfactants also have potential applications in agriculture, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, detergents, personal care products, food processing, textile manufacturing, laundry supplies, and the metal treatment and processing, pulp and paper processing, and paint industries.
Ria Rautela, Swaranjit Singh Cameotra
10. Green Federalism: A Historic Leap Towards Sustainable Human Development
Abstract
India is engaged with the international community to collectively and cooperatively address the challenge of sustaining accelerated economic growth while dealing with the common threat of climate change. The ecological, ideological and political disruption accompanying the rapid economic growth has pushed welfare indicators to remain firmly in red, as nations have compromised environmental and social standards in order to gain high economic standards. The current growth model being intrinsically deleterious uses vast resources and generates enormous waste. In spite of investing huge amounts of money towards mitigation, the world remains many steps behind the adversity it creates. As a result, there are growing concerns about the economic growth patterns and the risk of causing irreversible damages to environmental base, needed to sustain life and economic prosperity. Natural capital, which powers the economy, is rarely reflected in the national accounts, and economic speculations of econometricians have always superseded the laws of ecology. This indicates that environmental idealism is honored more in the word than in the deed, resulting in current climate crisis; and global warming, the dire outcome of greenhouse gas emissions, is the price, world pays for over ambitious growth. India does not have legally binding commitments towards greenhouse gas mitigation. However, as a responsible and enlightened member of the international community, India has made or is in the process of making positive policy interventions in order to improve its domestic capacity towards attaining inevitable green transitions. The cost of not adopting green growth path would be high, in terms of foregone greener development.Recognizing that the opportunity cost for green investment is currently low with a potential to grow exponentially, India's investment in climate change is ramping up. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is as much a part of its climate change strategy as adaptation efforts. The policy interventions which would result in emission cuts include increasing the proportion of renewable component in the country's energy mix, introducing fuel efficiency standards for vehicles and appliances, reducing energy intensity, adopting market-based mechanisms to trade energy-efficiency certificates, afforestation, sustainable land use practices and bringing in a new building code. The benefits accruing out of these vindicate that India is doing much more than the countries, which are bound by international law to take targeted emission cuts. Thus India's constructive approach and proactive contribution towards the issue demonstrates that country's commitment to actions shall improve its accountability and transparency. Additionally, India has also launched eight missions as part of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) in specific areas, which involve assessment of the impact of climate change and actions needed to address the issue. However, there are gaps impeding the progress on the green growth path.In this study, we propose an improved economic configuration based on the robust index, which helps confront the contemporary development processes. Such a restructuring of present development context through the concept of Green Federalism would possibly rebuild the natural capital, and steer the economic growth towards sustainability by shifting production and consumption from destructive to regenerative forms. It would potentially close: a) the Green Economy price-gap by internalizing the costs of environmental externalities; b) the time-gap for achieving green growth by investing in the Green Economy today; and c) the political-gap by enabling government investment in initiatives that reward environmental conservation. The proposed index advocates rethinking the foundations of modern consumerism that paradoxically undermine nature and jeopardize human prosperity. It will enable rewriting the rules for business, investors as well as consumers and create more sustainable and equitable future economies. The framework so devised would focus on the economic-environmental interface that enables efficient mobilization of financial, technological and human capital to meet Green Economy goals. By unpacking the links between different strands of green economy and the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals), the paper demonstrates that the green federalism is in effect an opportunity for India, rather than a burden. And, pursuit towards green economy will involve a paradigm shift, wherein the generation of wealth will not increase social disparities, environmental risks and ecological scarcities, thereby unfolding into the desired human development and inclusive growth.
Indira Dutta, Jiya Shahani
11. Economic Sustainability in Light of Consumer Behaviour: Gandhian Perspectives
Abstract
Human species is at crossroads. Since the era of industrialisation, rate of growth of economy has recorded rapid rise, especially since the later half of the twentieth century. In recent past, it is increasingly being realised that path that human kind has taken may not be sustainable.
In Western thought, sustainability debate is around economic sustainability. Sustainability argument has two sides: production and consumption. The latter is hardly addressed in Western thought. Neoclassical economics emphasises mainly on technological solutions to sustainability. The present lifestyle relies on exploitation of natural resources.
‘How much should we consume?’ ‘What strategies for changing consumer behaviour actually work?’ These are some questions that human society has now started asking. It is necessary to visit alternative paradigms. Gandhian economic thought is one such paradigm. The paper is divided into three sections. First section briefly explains contemporary scenario, and it is argued that perpetual growth of economy and hence consumption is a myth. The second section contains review of Gandhian vision with special reference to materialism as portrayed in Hind Swaraj. In the third section, we propose to review concept of sustainable consumption in light of Gandhian thought.
Nimisha Shukla, Sudarshan Iyengar
12. Global Warming and Agriculture: Institutional Arrangement for Sustainable Development
Abstract
India is a signatory country of Kyoto Protocol. Impact of global warming has been manifested on several fronts such as rise in temperature, extreme weather, erratic rain, rising of sea level and displacement of human settlement near the sea shore. Apart from humans, agriculture has been great casualty of global warming. At international level, several studies have examined the effects of climate change on global agricultural trade, highlighting the impacts on yields, commodity prices and imports and exports for individual countries. Negotiations amongst nations are centred on emission cut and transfer of technology. Emission of greenhouse gases is related with economic development so it cannot be easily checked without jeopardising the national growth. Transfer of technology requires huge investment which most of the developing nations cannot afford. In this critical situation, agriculture offers an alternate method of mitigation which requires less investment and technology but dedicated involvement of developing nations in utilising agriculture and agroforest for reducing global warming under clean development mechanism. Contribution of primary sector to national GDP is low in comparison to industry and service sector; despite the fact its impact on national economy cannot be underemphasised. Approximately 60 % of Indian agriculture is rainfed, so extreme temperature and erratic rain have major impact on agriculture in terms of low productivity, food shortage, high price of agricultural commodity, blockage of flow of agricultural credit, huge non-performance asset in financial system, burden on fiscal budget and trade imbalance. Indian agriculture sector is characterised by cooperative institutions in credit, production, processing and marketing. Cooperative institutions have a well-developed structure from national level up to village level making presence in 98 % in villages of India. Farming community can be sensitised on global warming through training and education.
A. K. Asthana
13. Green Buildings: Opportunities and Challenges
Abstract
Infrastructure industry is experiencing a rapid growth in India. India is a country where infrastructure is the main hurdle for the growth of Indian businesses. In 2010 budget, the total allocation for infrastructure is 173,552 crores, which is 46 % of total allocation. In today’s scenario, buildings which are present already are contributing 45 % of worldwide energy use. The greenhouse gas emissions from these buildings are contributing mainly for global warming, acid rain, etc. Our demand on natural and finite resources such as energy, water and building materials can be reduced, and our contribution to environmental quality can also be enhanced by incorporating green building principle into the design, construction and renovation.
Green buildings are designed and constructed to maximise the whole life cycle performance, conserve resources and enhance the comfort of occupants. This is achieved by the use of technology such as fuel cells and solar-heated water tanks and by attention to natural elements such as maximising natural lights and building orientation. This research paper is going to analyse the market opportunities available for green buildings and barriers in accepting green buildings.
R. R. Singh, Suhail Sharma
14. Mathematical Models in Sustainable Development
Abstract
Mathematical modeling plays useful roles towards sustainable development in arriving at the understanding, prediction and control of developmental processes. For long term prediction ordinary differential equation models are used. We have described exponential and logistic equation models as used in studies of growth of population, water quality, fishery and economy. Equilibrium solutions and their stability have been illustrated. For controlling developmental process, the relevant utility function is maximized with the equation of growth as constraint. This methodology is illustrated from an example of economic growth model. It is concluded that for sustainable development, it is necessary to build comprehensive mathematical models of human-environmental systems.
R. N. Singh
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
Environment and Sustainable Development
herausgegeben von
M.H. Fulekar
Bhawana Pathak
R K Kale
Copyright-Jahr
2014
Verlag
Springer India
Electronic ISBN
978-81-322-1166-2
Print ISBN
978-81-322-1165-5
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-1166-2