Role of Water-Energy-Waste Inter-Relatedness to Drive Sustainability amid Climate Concerns

Author(s):  
Salil K. Sen ◽  
Junya Pookayaporn

The Sustainability value parity framework is proposed to deepen the understanding of the importance of ‘inter-relatedness' of water-energy-waste with the goal of balancing water usage, aligning energy intensity and optimizing waste utilization. Generic waste that is burgeoning is a deterrent to the practice of sustainability that aligns water, energy, infrastructure, health, food, and lifestyle (Sachs, 2007). This chapter delineates the gap between globalization at the macro-level and global citizenry at the grassroots-base and posits a value bridge assessed by appropriate thresholds of water - energy - waste. The emergent need to strengthen climate resilience and to usher into the sustainable pathway of climate-proofed development needs tuning of processes, lifestyle, hazardous substances and consumption. Climate change manifests as an over-arching risk that is strewn with unpredictability, multiple dimensions, uncertainties, spikes, imbalances leading to inequity.

Author(s):  
Salil K. Sen ◽  
Junya Pookayaporn

The Sustainability value parity framework is proposed to deepen the understanding of the importance of ‘inter-relatedness' of water-energy-waste with the goal of balancing water usage, aligning energy intensity and optimizing waste utilization. Generic waste that is burgeoning is a deterrent to the practice of sustainability that aligns water, energy, infrastructure, health, food, and lifestyle (Sachs, 2007). This chapter delineates the gap between globalization at the macro-level and global citizenry at the grassroots-base and posits a value bridge assessed by appropriate thresholds of water - energy - waste. The emergent need to strengthen climate resilience and to usher into the sustainable pathway of climate-proofed development needs tuning of processes, lifestyle, hazardous substances and consumption. Climate change manifests as an over-arching risk that is strewn with unpredictability, multiple dimensions, uncertainties, spikes, imbalances leading to inequity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Robert M. Anderson ◽  
Amy M. Lambert

The island marble butterfly (Euchloe ausonides insulanus), thought to be extinct throughout the 20th century until re-discovered on a single remote island in Puget Sound in 1998, has become the focus of a concerted protection effort to prevent its extinction. However, efforts to “restore” island marble habitat conflict with efforts to “restore” the prairie ecosystem where it lives, because of the butterfly’s use of a non-native “weedy” host plant. Through a case study of the island marble project, we examine the practice of ecological restoration as the enactment of particular norms that define which species are understood to belong in the place being restored. We contextualize this case study within ongoing debates over the value of “native” species, indicative of deep-seated uncertainties and anxieties about the role of human intervention to alter or manage landscapes and ecosystems, in the time commonly described as the “Anthropocene.” We interpret the question of “what plants and animals belong in a particular place?” as not a question of scientific truth, but a value-laden construct of environmental management in practice, and we argue for deeper reflexivity on the part of environmental scientists and managers about the social values that inform ecological restoration.


Author(s):  
Marsel Eliaser Liunokas

Timorese culture is patriarchal in that men are more dominant than women. As if women were not considered in traditional rituals so that an understanding was built that valued women lower than men. However, in contrast to the article to be studied, this would like to see the priority of women’s roles in traditional marriages in Belle village, South Central Timor. The role of women wiil be seen from giving awards to their parents called puah mnasi manu mnasi. This paper aims to look at the meaning of the rituals of puah mnasi maun mnasi and the role and strengths that women have in traditional marriage rituals in the village of Belle, South Central Timor. The method used for this research is a qualitative research method using interview techniques with a number of people in the Belle Villa community and literature study to strengthen this writing. Based on the data obtained this paper shows that the adat rituals of puah mnasi manu mnasi provide a value that can be learned, namely respect for women, togetherness between the two families, and brotherhood that is intertwined due to customary marital affrairs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 2225-2252
Author(s):  
E.V. Popov ◽  
V.L. Simonova ◽  
O.V. Komarova ◽  
S.S. Kaigorodova

Subject. The emergence of new ways of interaction between sellers and buyers, the formation of new sales channels and product promotion based on the use of digital economy tools is at the heart of improving the business processes. Social networks became a tool for development; their rapid growth necessitates theoretical understanding and identification of potential application in enterprise's business process digitalization. Objectives. We explore the role of social media in the digitalization of business processes, systematize the impact of social networks on business processes of enterprises in the digital economy. Methods. The theoretical and methodological analysis of social networks as a tool for digitalization of company's business processes rests on the content analysis of domestic and foreign scientific studies, comparison, generalization and systematization. Results. We highlight the key effects of the impact of social networks on the business processes of the company; show that the digitalization of business processes should be considered in the context of a value-based approach, aimed at creating a value through the algorithmization of company operations. We determine that social networks are one of the most important tools for digitalization of company's business processes, as they have a high organizational and management potential. We also systematize the effects of social media on company's business processes. Conclusions. We present theoretical provisions of the impact of social networks on business processes of enterprises, which will enable to model and organize ideas about the development of digital ecosystems and the formation of business models.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aranza Denisse Vital-Grappin ◽  
Maria Camila Ariza-Tarazona ◽  
Valeria Montserrat Luna-Hernández ◽  
Juan Francisco Villarreal-Chiu ◽  
Juan Manuel Hernández-López ◽  
...  

Microplastics (MPs) are distributed in a wide range of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems throughout the planet. They are known to adsorb hazardous substances and can transfer them across the trophic web. To eliminate MPs pollution in an environmentally friendly process, we propose using a photocatalytic process that can easily be implemented in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). As photocatalysis involves the formation of reactive species such as holes (h+), electrons (e−), hydroxyl (OH●), and superoxide ion (O2●−) radicals, it is imperative to determine the role of those species in the degradation process to design an effective photocatalytic system. However, for MPs, this information is limited in the literature. Therefore, we present such reactive species’ role in the degradation of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) MPs using C,N-TiO2. Tert-butanol, isopropyl alcohol (IPA), Tiron, and Cu(NO3)2 were confirmed as adequate OH●, h+, O2●− and e− scavengers. These results revealed for the first time that the formation of free OH● through the pathways involving the photogenerated e− plays an essential role in the MPs’ degradation. Furthermore, the degradation behaviors observed when h+ and O2●− were removed from the reaction system suggest that these species can also perform the initiating step of degradation.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 707
Author(s):  
Petros Vasilakos ◽  
Yongtao Hu ◽  
Armistead Russell ◽  
Athanasios Nenes

Formation of aerosol from biogenic hydrocarbons relies heavily on anthropogenic emissions since they control the availability of species such as sulfate and nitrate, and through them, aerosol acidity (pH). To elucidate the role that acidity and emissions play in regulating Secondary Organic Aerosol (SOA), we utilize the 2013 Southern Oxidant and Aerosol Study (SOAS) dataset to enhance the extensive mechanism of isoprene epoxydiol (IEPOX)-mediated SOA formation implemented in the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model (Pye et al., 2013), which was then used to investigate the impact of potential future emission controls on IEPOX OA. We found that the Henry’s law coefficient for IEPOX was the most impactful parameter that controls aqueous isoprene OA products, and a value of 1.9 × 107 M atm−1 provides the best agreement with measurements. Non-volatile cations (NVCs) were found in higher-than-expected quantities in CMAQ and exerted a significant influence on IEPOX OA by reducing its production by as much as 30% when present. Consistent with previous literature, a strong correlation of isoprene OA with sulfate, and little correlation with acidity or liquid water content, was found. Future reductions in SO2 emissions are found to not affect this correlation and generally act to increase the sensitivity of IEPOX OA to sulfate, even in extreme cases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5033
Author(s):  
Linda Novosadová ◽  
Wim van der Knaap

The present research offers an exploration into the biophilic approach and the role of its agents in urban planning in questions of building a green, resilient urban environment. Biophilia, the innate need of humans to connect with nature, coined by Edgar O. Wilson in 1984, is a concept that has been used in urban governance through institutions, agents’ behaviours, activities and systems to make the environment nature-inclusive. Therefore, it leads to green, resilient environments and to making cities more sustainable. Due to an increasing population, space within and around cities keeps on being urbanised, replacing natural land cover with concrete surfaces. These changes to land use influence and stress the environment, its components, and consequently impact the overall resilience of the space. To understand the interactions and address the adverse impacts these changes might have, it is necessary to identify and define the environment’s components: the institutions, systems, and agents. This paper exemplifies the biophilic approach through a case study in the city of Birmingham, United Kingdom and its biophilic agents. Using the categorisation of agents, the data obtained through in-situ interviews with local professionals provided details on the agent fabric and their dynamics with the other two environments’ components within the climate resilience framework. The qualitative analysis demonstrates the ways biophilic agents act upon and interact within the environment in the realm of urban planning and influence building a climate-resilient city. Their activities range from small-scale community projects for improving their neighbourhood to public administration programs focusing on regenerating and regreening the city. From individuals advocating for and educating on biophilic approach, to private organisations challenging the business-as-usual regulations, it appeared that in Birmingham the biophilic approach has found its representatives in every agent category. Overall, the activities they perform in the environment define their role in building resilience. Nonetheless, the role of biophilic agents appears to be one of the major challengers to the urban design’s status quo and the business-as-usual of urban governance. Researching the environment, focused on agents and their behaviour and activities based on nature as inspiration in addressing climate change on a city level, is an opposite approach to searching and addressing the negative impacts of human activity on the environment. This focus can provide visibility of the local human activities that enhance resilience, while these are becoming a valuable input to city governance and planning, with the potential of scaling it up to other cities and on to regional, national, and global levels.


2017 ◽  
Vol 474 (16) ◽  
pp. 2713-2731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Athinoula L. Petrou ◽  
Athina Terzidaki

From kinetic data (k, T) we calculated the thermodynamic parameters for various processes (nucleation, elongation, fibrillization, etc.) of proteinaceous diseases that are related to the β-amyloid protein (Alzheimer's), to tau protein (Alzheimer's, Pick's), to α-synuclein (Parkinson's), prion, amylin (type II diabetes), and to α-crystallin (cataract). Our calculations led to ΔG≠ values that vary in the range 92.8–127 kJ mol−1 at 310 K. A value of ∼10–30 kJ mol−1 is the activation energy for the diffusion of reactants, depending on the reaction and the medium. The energy needed for the excitation of O2 from the ground to the first excited state (1Δg, singlet oxygen) is equal to 92 kJ mol−1. So, the ΔG≠ is equal to the energy needed for the excitation of ground state oxygen to the singlet oxygen (1Δg first excited) state. The similarity of the ΔG≠ values is an indication that a common mechanism in the above disorders may be taking place. We attribute this common mechanism to the (same) role of the oxidative stress and specifically of singlet oxygen, (1Δg), to the above-mentioned processes: excitation of ground state oxygen to the singlet oxygen, 1Δg, state (92 kJ mol−1), and reaction of the empty π* orbital with high electron density regions of biomolecules (∼10–30 kJ mol−1 for their diffusion). The ΔG≠ for cases of heat-induced cell killing (cancer) lie also in the above range at 310 K. The present paper is a review and meta-analysis of literature data referring to neurodegenerative and other disorders.


Author(s):  
Alaigul Karabaevna Bekboeva

This article considers the role of the media as a partner of the state and society, as well as spontaneity. Due to this, media serve as one of the factors in the formation of national self-consciousness and its elements, such as shame. The author analyzes such element of national identity as national shame. It is proved that national shame as a social phenomenon has a social meaning of the regulator of human relationships in social existence. It is noted that national shame is socially determined, has a permanent character, and its socially significant semantic principles are passed from generation to generation as a form of behavior through implantation and interspersing it as a daily norm of people's behavior, giving each act a value-significant meaning.


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