Contemplating the traditional rural architecture of Nalanda: A case study

The fundamental purpose of a building is to provide a comfortable and safe living environment, which protects from the extremes of surrounding environment, as well as give an opportunity of physical and psychosomatic development. The traditional buildings evolved gradually to meet the eventually changing human needs and lifestyle over a period of time, integrates the environmental and socioeconomic characters of the society in a well manner. These buildings have attained deep reconciliation with site surroundings, and thus, have minimal environmental impact. In spite of rapidly growing concept of advanced technological approach towards sustainability, the concept of indigenous technology and traditional architecture plays an active role. The main objective of this paper is to understand the principles and strategies for sustainability from traditional rural architecture and indigenous technologies. The methodology adopted is documentation of a traditional rural house of Nalanda, India, and analyse the environmental and socioeconomic aspects. The data has been collected from surveys, site measurements, literature, and other secondary sources. The thermal performance of a traditional house is analysed through computer aided simulations in the present investigation. This paper concludes with an appreciation of principles of traditional rural architecture and advocates their integration in the present scenario.

Universal Robotic Platform for Diagnosis and Spot Spraying of Trees and Shrubs

The number of threats to the plants is constantly increasing. The harmful impact of pests and plant diseases costs billions of dollars to the global economics each year. Chemical protection of plants from diseases and insects became an urgent problem in crop production, forestry and parks. The study aimed to develop an effective mobile robot for treating trees and shrubs from insects and diseases by spraying with chemicals. The work used monographic and general scientific research methods. A review of existing designs and technologies, as well as an analysis of publications in leading scientific journals, led to the conclusion that there is no one generally accepted technology for remote diagnosis and spot spraying of single trees and shrubs. Most of the technical means used have significant technical and environmental limitations. Currently, there is no unambiguous decision about which machine and technology to choose for solving the problems of remote diagnostics and spot spraying of single plant objects with a height of 2 to 4 meters. Taking into account the identified requirements, a robotic platform was developed for diagnosing and spot spraying of ornamental and fruit trees and tall shrubs. The developed robot is equipped with the necessary set of equipment for moving around the territory and spraying objects, has an increased cross-country ability, works according to a given program, has a minimal environmental impact, and can record data for diagnosing problems on plants. The proposed universal robot can work in agricultural, forest and urban areas, in warehouses and production facilities.

Strippable Polymeric Nanocomposites Comprising “Green” Chelates, for the Removal of Heavy Metals and Radionuclides

The issue of heavy metal and radionuclide contamination is still causing a great deal of concern worldwide for environmental protection and industrial sites remediation. Various techniques have been developed for surface decontamination aiming for high decontamination factors (DF) and minimal environmental impact, but strippable polymeric nanocomposite coatings are some of the best candidates in this area. In this study, novel strippable coatings for heavy metal and radionuclides decontamination were developed based on the film-forming ability of polyvinyl alcohol, with the remarkable metal retention capacity of bentonite nanoclay, together with the chelating ability of sodium alginate and with “new-generation” “green” complexing agents: iminodisuccinic acid (IDS) and 2-phosphonobutane-1,2,4-tricarboxylic acid (PBTC). These environmentally friendly water-based decontamination solutions are capable of generating strippable polymeric films with optimized mechanical and thermal properties while exhibiting high decontamination efficiency (DF ≈ 95–98% for heavy metals tested on glass surface and DF ≈ 91–97% for radionuclides 241Am, 90Sr-Y and 137Cs on metal, painted metal, plastic, and glass surfaces).

The main anammox-based processes, the involved microbes and the novel process concept from the application perspective

Anammox technology has been widely researched over the past 40-year from the laboratory-scale to full-scale. It is well-known that in actual applications, the solo application of anammox is not feasible. Since both ammonium and nitrite are prerequisites based on the reaction mechanism, the pre-treatment of wastewater is necessary. With the combination of anammox process and other pre-treatment processes to treat the actual wastewater, many types of anammox-based processes have been developed with distinct nitrogen removal performance. Thus, in order to heighten the awareness of researchers to the developments and accelerate the application of these processes to the treatment of actual wastewater, the main anammox-based processes are reviewed in this paper. It includes the partial nitritation/anammox process, the denitratation/anammox (PD/A) process, the denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation/anammox (DAMO/A) process, and more complex deuterogenic processes. These processes have made the breakthroughs in the application of the anammox technology, such as the combination of nitrification and PD/A process can achieve stability and reliability of nitrogen removal in the treatment of mainstream wastewater, the PD/A process and the DAMO/A have brought about further improvements in the total nitrogen removal efficiency of wastewater. The diversity of functional microbe characteristics under the specific condition indicate the wide application potential of anammox-based processes, and further exploration is necessary. A whole waste treatment system concept is proposed through the effective allocation of above mentioned processes, with the maximum recovery of energy and resources, and minimal environmental impact.

Solar energy gains momentum in the Sahel

Significance There are large regional variations in access to electricity, ranging from less than 10% electrification in Chad to a high of 70% in Senegal. Most countries are heavily reliant on thermal and hydro power; solar energy would allow them to utilise the region's many months of sun to increase their electricity output with minimal environmental impact. Impacts Despite the region’s dry climate and highly seasonal concentration of rainfall, hydropower will play an expanding role. Gas will provide a less carbon-intensive generating option for Mauritania and Senegal, but is less available to other Sahel countries. Local solar and wind installations could be key in supplying the numerous scattered rural communities and towns.

Inverse Molecular Design Techniques for Green Chemical Design in Integrated Biorefineries

Over the past decades, awareness of the increase in environmental impact due to industrial development and technological advancement has gradually increased. Green manufacturing is one of the key approaches that begin to address environmental issues. With the current global attention, methodologies to incorporate green manufacturing into the design of green products through the green process route are much needed. However, it is challenging for industries to achieve this, as there is no definite definition of green. This work presents a systematic approach that provides a clear and consistent green manufacturing definition with a measurement method in terms of both product and process. With the consistent green definitions, the developed approach designs a product that satisfies green property and other product performance properties. In addition, the developed approach synthesises the production process that fulfils green manufacturing definitions and financial considerations for the designed product. A case study on the design and production of green biofuel is solved to illustrate the efficacy of the approach. Green product design is obtained by identifying molecular building blocks that fulfil the targeted properties using an inverse molecular design technique. The goal is to design a chemical product that is environmentally friendly while fulfilling customer requirements. Moreover, a superstructural mathematical optimisation approach is used to determine optimal conversion pathways that have minimal environmental impact on the production of the identified green product. The utilisation of multi-objective optimisation allows the design of product and process to strike a good balance between operational and environmental performances.

Substrate treatment for the increment of electric power potential from plants microbial fuel cells

Plants microbial fuel cells (PMFC) is novel sytem that generates renewable, clean, and sustainable electricity with minimal environmental impact. However, PMFC has limitations in power generation and current density, since its production values is lower than other renewable technologies. Different studies show that the highest limitation for energy generation through MFC is the high resistivity of the cathode, and the solution is to replace the metallic electrodes with non-metallic materials to obtain a better performance, however, the application of these materials requires complex interdisciplinary work. This study conducted three experimental tests using metallic electrodes for the extraction of electrons and combined a black earth substrate with different natural materials, types of plants, and water to determine their influence in the increment of the electric power output.

The effects of the depth of fertilization on losses of nitrogen and phosphorus and soil fertility in the red paddy soil of China

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) losses from agroecosystems are dominant nonpoint pollution. To minimize the losses of N and P, the optimal depth of fertilization was explored using a soil column study with the red paddy soil as the research objects. The losses of N and P were measured under five depths of fertilization (0, 5, 7.5, 10, and 12.5 cm) as well as no fertilization. The results showed that ammonia volatilization was significantly decreased with increasing fertilization depth within 0–10 cm, and there was no significant difference among the 10 cm, 12.5 cm, and no-fertilization treatments. Comparing with surface fertilization (0 cm), N and P losses by runoff could be reduced by 30.7–67.1% and 96.9–98.7% respectively by fertilization at 5–12.5 cm. In addition, deep fertilization (5–12.5 cm) did not increase N and P losses by leaching at the depth of 40 cm. Total N and P contents in the tillage layer of soil were increased by 5.1 to 22.8% and by −1.0 to 7.5%, respectively. Fertilization at 10cm depth has the potential to minimal environmental impact in the red paddy soil of south China, at this depth, NH3 volatilization was reduced by 95.1%, and N and P losses by runoff were reduced by 62.0% and 98.4%, respectively, compared with surface fertilization.

Recent Advances in Understanding the Influence of Zinc, Copper, and Manganese on the Gastrointestinal Environment of Pigs and Poultry

Zinc, copper, and manganese are prominent essential trace (or micro) minerals, being required in small, but adequate, amounts by pigs and poultry for normal biological functioning. Feed is a source of trace minerals for pigs and poultry but variable bioavailability in typical feed ingredients means that supplementation with low-cost oxides and sulphates has become common practice. Such trace mineral supplementation often provides significant ‘safety margins’, while copper and zinc have been supplemented at supra-nutritional (or pharmacological) levels to improve health and/or growth performance. Regulatory mechanisms ensure that much of this oversupply is excreted by the host into the environment, which can be toxic to plants and microorganisms or promote antimicrobial resistance in microbes, and thus supplying trace minerals more precisely to pigs and poultry is necessary. The gastrointestinal tract is thus central to the maintenance of trace mineral homeostasis and the provision of supra-nutritional or pharmacological levels is associated with modification of the gut environment, such as the microbiome. This review, therefore, considers recent advances in understanding the influence of zinc, copper, and manganese on the gastrointestinal environment of pigs and poultry, including more novel, alternative sources seeking to maintain supra-nutritional benefits with minimal environmental impact.

Durability and Mechanical Properties of Concrete Reinforced with Basalt Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (BFRP) Bars: Towards Sustainable Infrastructure

Reducing the fingerprint of infrastructure has become and is likely to continue to be at the forefront of stakeholders’ interests, including engineers and researchers. It necessary that future buildings produce minimal environmental impact during construction and remain durable for as long as practicably possible. The use of basalt fiber-reinforced polymer (BFRP) bars as a replacement for carbon steel is reviewed in this article by examining the literature from the past two decades with an emphasis on flexural strength, serviceability, and durability. The provisions of selected design and construction guides for flexural members are presented, compared, and discussed. The bond of BFRP bars to the surrounding concrete was reportedly superior to carbon steel when BFRP was helically wrapped and sand coated. Experimental studies confirmed that a bond coefficient kb = 0.8, which is superior to carbon steel, may be assumed for sand-coated BFRP ribbed bars that are helically wrapped, as opposed to the conservative value of 1.4 suggested by ACI440.1R-15. Code-based models overestimate the cracking load for BFRP-reinforced beams, but they underestimate the ultimate load. Exposure to an alkaline environment at temperatures as high as 60 °C caused a limited reduction in bond strength of BFRP. The durability of BFRP bars is influenced by the type of resin and sizing used to produce the bars.