You're using an outdated browser. Please upgrade to a modern browser for the best experience.
Subject:
All Disciplines Arts & Humanities Biology & Life Sciences Business & Economics Chemistry & Materials Science Computer Science & Mathematics Engineering Environmental & Earth Sciences Medicine & Pharmacology Physical Sciences Public Health & Healthcare Social Sciences
Sort by:
Most Viewed Latest Alphabetical (A-Z) Alphabetical (Z-A)
Filter:
All Topic Review Biography Peer Reviewed Entry Video Entry
Topic Review
Packaging Based on Design for Life Cycle
Though solutions are needed across all sectors, a material considered to have one of the highest potentials and needs for improvement is plastic. The problems resulting from incorrect handling of plastic waste have been identified to be threatening the environment in a variety of ways. Insufficient collection and waste treatment following the disposal lead to leakage directly into the environment, incineration, or landfilling of the ubiquitous material. The topic of plastic pollution and other end-of-life issues have also been picked up by the public since many products made from this material are used by private households. An example in this context is plastic packaging. With packaging having the largest share amongst plastic production and it being a fast-rotating consumer good, a societal focus has been set on plastic packaging as an environmental threat. Despite the immense benefits of plastic packaging to society, the accumulation and treatment of end-of-life plastics are creating a global environmental challenge. To reduce plastic debris in the environment, for example, in the oceans, it has become clear that a focus on design for life and end-of-life is a priority. This concept, also called Design for Life Cycle (DfLC), has been identified to play a major role in minimizing environmental impacts of all kinds of consumer products.
  • 884
  • 22 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Enhance the Efficiency of Thermophilic Anaerobic Digestion
Thermophilic anaerobic digestion (TAD) technology has been adopted worldwide mainly due to it being a pathogen-free process in addition to the enhanced biogas yield and short hydraulic retention time (HRT). Taking the high metabolic rate of the thermophilic microbial community with highly efficient enzymatic systems into consideration, thermophiles are being widely explored as efficient inocula for lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) degradation and improved biomethane production. The advantages of TAD over mesophilic anaerobic digestion (MAD), including improved kinetics, efficient degradation of organic matter, and economic and environmental sustainability, make it one of the best strategies to be operated at moderately high temperatures. 
  • 879
  • 14 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Prospects of Photovoltaic Materials Recycling and Disposal
The End-of-Life (EoL) management of photovoltaic (PV) modules has always present significant concern to the scientific community, especially when large scale emergence of PV waste is expected in the near future. As PV waste contains rare and hazardous materials as its composition, its unregulated disposal poses the problem of polluting the environment and wastage of potentially usable resources. Hence, researchers have delved into the recycling and recovery of materials from PV waste to improve the sustainability of the EoL management of PV modules.
  • 873
  • 21 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Exposure Effects Related to Nanomaterial Life Cycles
Nanoparticle-based biosensors are produced and utilized at different scales ranging from laboratory to industrial domains. While incorporating nanomaterials is beneficial to developing high-performance biosensors, at the stages of scale-up and disposal, it may lead to the unmanaged release of toxic nanomaterials. When considering the potential environmental impact and health safety of the scaled-up production of nano biosensors, it is necessary to examine the manufacturing, utilization, and end-of-life disposal of the nanomaterials used. 
  • 873
  • 06 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Microalgae Biomass and Biochemical Conversion
Among the available renewable resources, microalgae biomass, a third-generation feedstock, is promising for energy production due to its rich biochemical composition, metabolic elasticity, and ability to produce numerous bioenergy products, including biomethane, biohydrogen, and bioethanol.
  • 856
  • 16 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Microplastics in Sewage Sludge
The microplastics (MPs) refers to the set of particles of plastic material that have a size of less than 5 mm. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) represent the last barrier before the discharge of MPs into an aquatic ecosystem.
  • 853
  • 27 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Operationalizing SLR Resilience with Leading Indicators
Over the last century, eustatic sea-level rise (SLR) has increased more rapidly than it has at any time over the past three millennia. This rapid change, compounded by additional changes in relative vertical elevation at specific locations due to subsidence and isostatic effects, poses a significant threat to coastal communities. The potential impacts to communities include coastal and inland flooding, salt-water intrusion, and coastal erosion. These risks, which are expected to be exacerbated by continuing and accelerating rates of SLR in the future, have precipitated a need to design and implement adaptation measures to curtail future losses and make communities more resilient
  • 853
  • 31 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Port-Related Shipping Gas Emissions
The global increase in shipping activity has contributed to the degradation of air quality, which particularly affects traffic-dense port areas. Due to the environmental and public health impacts of air quality in port cities, a number of inventories using varying methodologies have been conducted over the past two decades to manage gas emissions in specific areas. 
  • 851
  • 23 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Wetland-Microbial Fuel Cell Systems
Water, energy, and food are indispensable for sustainable economic development. Despite nutrients, especially phosphorus and nitrogen, being essential for plant growth and thus food supplies, those present in wastewater are considered an environmental burden. While microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are receiving much interest, combining wastewater treatment with an MFC has emerged as an option for low-cost wastewater treatment. Among others, a constructed wetland (CW) coupled with an MFC (CW-MFC) has the potential to provide a low carbon footprint and low-energy wastewater treatment, as well as nutrient and energy recovery from wastewater. The organic and nutrient removal and power generation by the integrated CW-MFC systems are affected by a number of factors including the organic loading rate, hydraulic retention time, system design, plant species, dissolved oxygen, substrate/media type, influent feeding mode, electrode materials and spacing, and external resistance. 
  • 849
  • 14 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Optimizing Smart Energy Infrastructure in Smart Ports
To lessen the environmental impact of the maritime industry, ports must decarbonize in conformity with various standards such as the European Green Deal and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this regard, they must demonstrate integrated low-emission energy production, distribution, and supply, as well as sustainable alternative infrastructure for refueling ships, cargo handling equipment, and other vehicles inside port boundaries. To address this issue, ports must progress toward smartening their operations. This requires intelligent infrastructure and components, with smart energy infrastructure being one of the most crucial ones. It is a part of port energy management systems (EMSs) and works based on modern technology to balance energy demand, distributions, and supply while transitioning to renewable energies. 
  • 848
  • 06 Dec 2023
Topic Review
The Status of Embodied Carbon in Building Practice
Embodied carbon data exist to evaluate all life-cycle stages of buildings in the U.S, however the data development are mainly focus on A1-A3 stage, more effort are needed to collect data on life cycle B and C stages. In addition, not all databases are regularly maintained and with back-end documentation of their data sources and methodologies easily available for end-users. A robust database is the backbone of reliable LCA analyses. Data collection and reporting guidelines are needed for supply-chain specific and facility-specific data and for transport and construction data. Guidelines for data standardization and transparency are also needed.
  • 842
  • 28 Mar 2022
Topic Review
The Oil Spill Models
Oil spills may have devastating effects on marine ecosystems, public health, the economy, and coastal communities. To predict in near real time oil spill transport and fate with increased reliability, these models are usually coupled operationally to synoptic meteorological, hydrodynamic, and wave models. 
  • 837
  • 05 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Desalination with Solar Stills in Mexico
Access to freshwater for rural populations is increasingly difficult worldwide. Even in coastal regions with abundantly available seawater, this is not suitable to meet the population’s basic needs. Desalination with solar stills represents a simple, inexpensive, and accessible alternative to obtaining freshwater. 
  • 830
  • 28 May 2022
Topic Review
Importance of Greenery in Hot Areas
Global warming and climate change are critical issues that raise attention on a global level. Worldwide, some cities are warming twice as fast as the surrounding rural areas. Greenery is one of the most influential factors in reducing the outdoor air temperature and enhancing the microclimate in hot areas. 
  • 819
  • 14 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation in Mining Waste
Mining waste represents a global issue due to its potential of generating acidic or alkaline leachate with high concentrations of metals and metalloids (metal(loid)s). Microbial-induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) is an engineering tool used for remediation. MICP, induced via biological activity, aims to precipitate calcium carbonate (CaCO3) or co-precipitate other metal carbonates (MCO3). MICP is a bio-geochemical remediation method that aims to immobilize or remove metal(loid)s via enzyme, redox, or photosynthetic metabolic pathways. Contaminants are removed directly through immobilization as mineral precipitates (CaCO3 or MCO3), or indirectly (via sorption, complexes, or inclusion into the crystal structure). Further, CaCO3 precipitates deposited on the surface or within the pore spaces of a solid matrix create a clogging effect to reduce contaminant leachate. Experimental research on MICP has shown its promise as a bioremediation technique for mining waste. 
  • 818
  • 05 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Energy Transition in Greece
The global challenge of Reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, recent technological developments and cost reductions of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), the widespread diversification of gas supply sources and the demand for decentralized power generation are leading to a complete and irreversible phase-out from solid fossil fuels, i.e., coal and lignite. For the European Union (EU) regions with high dependence of their local economy on the solid fossil fuel industry, the process of decarbonization will require a significant productive diversification in the medium term and, above all, an immediate solution to the problem of thousands of jobs lost in the coming years. 
  • 817
  • 18 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Electricity Day-Ahead Market Conditions and Market Price Forecasting
Participants in deregulated electricity markets face risks from price volatility due to various factors, including fuel prices, renewable energy production, electricity demand, and crises such as COVID-19 and energy-related issues. Price forecasting is used to mitigate risk in markets trading goods which have high price volatility. Forecasting in electricity markets is difficult and challenging as volatility is attributed to many unpredictable factors.
  • 810
  • 21 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Isolation of Bioactive Molecules from Waste Streams
Waste is a heterogeneous and complex matrix, the selective isolation of, for example, polyphenolic compounds, is challenging due to its energy efficiency and at least partially its selectivity. Extraction is handled as an emerging technology in biorefinery approaches. Conventional solid liquid extraction with organic solvents is hazardous and environmentally unfriendly. New extraction methods and green solvents open a wider scope of applications.
  • 809
  • 06 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Sea Ice Motion Tracking Based on Satellite Videos
Sea ice tracking is essential for many regional and local level applications, including modeling sea ice distribution, ocean atmosphere, climate dynamics, as well as safe navigation and sea operations. Most operational sea ice monitoring techniques rely on satellite-borne optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors, augmented by scatterometer and passive microwave imagery. Herein, previous ice tracking works are studied and classified into two categories: traditional tracking methods and DL-based tracking. Specifically, traditional ice tracking methods can be broadened to include cross correlation-based, optical flow-based and so on.
  • 802
  • 26 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Applications of Biochar in Agriculture
Biochar has gained attention as an alternative source of solid energy and for the proper disposal of agricultural biomass waste (ABW). Microwave-assisted pyrolysis (MAP) is a promising approach for the production of biochar. The use of biochar as a soil amendment can be an attractive option for farmers. The incorporation of biochar into soil has been shown to improve soil fertility, water retention, and crop productivity. This can lead to reduced dependence on synthetic fertilizers and increased agricultural yields. The development of a biochar economy has the potential to create new job opportunities and increase the national gross domestic product (GDP). Small-scale enterprises can play a significant role in the production and distribution of biochar, providing value-added products and helping to promote sustainable agriculture.
  • 796
  • 08 Jun 2023
  • Page
  • of
  • 16
Featured Entry Collections
>>

Featured Books

>>
Encyclopedia of COVID-19
Encyclopedia of Engineering
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
Academic Video Service
Feedback