Summary

Environmental science emerged from the fields of natural history and medicine during the Enlightenment. Today, it provides an integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems. Environmental studies are incorporating more of the social sciences in order to understand human relationships, perceptions and policies towards the environment. This entry collection features information about design and technology for improving environmental quality in every aspect.

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Entries
Topic Review
Circular Economy (CE)
The circular economy (CE) is considered one of the best solutions to support sustainable development. The CE is utilized because the earth is a closed economic system, and all business activities of production and consumption must be based on a secure dual system.
  • 1.1K
  • 19 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Achieving Sustainability in Solar Energy Firms in Turkey
Lean principles and sustainability are considered important terms in business. Solar firms are witnessing great competition to fulfill energy requirements, suffering from a huge amount of waste, negatively affecting the sustainability dimensions. Thus, the aim of the study is to build a framework for solar energy firms to achieve sustainability through adopting lean principles, which will help to fix many problems as waste and costs. The method included reviewing the literature to explore the founding of the relation between the two terms, and using a questionnaire that was directed to the responsible people in Turkish solar energy firms. The results of the survey were analyzed to: (1) Find out what the responsible people think about the two terms lean and sustainability; (2) Measure the probable relationship between lean principles and sustainability dimensions by applying a linear regression test; (3) Use the results of point number two to build the framework. The result showed there was a high level of relative importance about the two terms from the point of view of managers and experts in solar firms. In addition, the study found a relationship between adopting pull and flow principles of lean, and achieving economic and social dimensions of sustainability, this finding is represented in a framework. 
  • 901
  • 19 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Alternative Clinker Technologies for Reducing Carbon Emissions
The production of one ton of Ordinary Portland Cement releases considerable amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. As the need and demand for this material grows exponentially, it has become a challenge to increase its production at a time when climate-related problems represent a major global concern. The two main CO2 contributors in this process are fossil fuel combustion to heat the rotary kiln and the chemical reaction associated with the calcination process, in the production of the clinker, the main component of OPC. The current entry presents a critical review of the existent alternative clinker technologies (ACTs) that are under an investigation trial phase or under restricted use for niche applications and that lead to reduced emissions of CO2.
  • 2.7K
  • 24 Jan 2022
Topic Review
The Ancient Peat Plateaus' Vulnerability in Western Siberia
Based on the data of the plant macrofossil and palynological composition of the peat deposits, the evolution and current state of polygonal peatlands were analyzed at the southern limit of continuous permafrost in the Pur-Taz interfluve. Paleoreconstruction shows that peat accumulation began in the Early Holocene, about 9814 cal. year BP, in the Late Pre-Boreal (PB-2), at a rate of 1 to 1.5 mm year−1. Intensive peat accumulation continued in the Boreal and early Atlantic. The geocryological complex of polygonal peatlands has remained a stable bog system despite the predicted warming and increasing humidity. However, a rather rapid upper permafrost degradation and irreversible changes in the bog systems of polygonal peatlands occur with anthropogenic disturbances, in particular, a change in the natural hydrological regime under construction of linear objects.
  • 1.1K
  • 19 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Microplastics Disposal and Water Resources
Microplastics (MPs) can also function as indicators for metals, antibiotics, toxic chemicals, pathogenic bacteria Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB)-forming dinoflagellates across the continents, especially through ballast water, serving as “hotspots” in ballast waters for developing and spreading multiple drug-resistant human pathogens through co-selection mechanisms.
  • 1.0K
  • 19 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Cyanobacteria Controlling Agricultural Plant Diseases
Cyanobacteria, also called blue-green algae, are a group of prokaryotic microorganisms largely distributed in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. They produce a wide range of bioactive compounds that are mostly used in cosmetics, animal feed and human food, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries, and the production of biofuels. Nowadays, the research concerning the use of cyanobacteria in agriculture has pointed out their potential as biofertilizers and as a source of bioactive compounds, such as phycobiliproteins, for plant pathogen control and as inducers of plant systemic resistance. The use of alternative products in place of synthetic ones for plant disease control is also encouraged by European Directive 2009/128/EC. 
  • 1.3K
  • 19 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Plastic Waste Disposal in South African Townships
Twenty-first century human behaviour continues to escalate activities that result in environmental damage. This calls for environmentally friendly solutions, such as waste recycling and handling, to deal with the increased amount of waste, especially plastics. The plastic materials manufacturing sector is booming, particularly packaging; while only a fraction of its waste is recycled, another fraction is destroyed, and the larger part continues to pollute the environment. In addition to other waste disposal activities, destroying plastic or incineration (which could be for energy recovery) is usually subjected to strict legal requirements because of its effect on the environment. However plastic is destroyed or disposed of, it poses a serious challenge in both the short term and the long term to humans and their natural environment if the process is not efficiently managed.
  • 2.4K
  • 30 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Plastic Waste into Supports for Nanostructured Heterogeneous Catalysts
Plastics are ubiquitous in our society and are used in many industries, such as packaging, electronics, the automotive industry, and medical and health sectors, and plastic waste is among the types of waste of higher environmental concern. The increase in the amount of plastic waste produced daily has increased environmental problems, such as pollution by micro-plastics, contamination of the food chain, biodiversity degradation and economic losses. The selective and efficient conversion of plastic waste for applications in environmental remediation, such as by obtaining composites, is a strategy of the scientific community for the recovery of plastic waste. The development of polymeric supports for efficient, sustainable, and low-cost heterogeneous catalysts for the treatment of organic/inorganic contaminants is highly desirable yet still a great challenge; this will be the main focus of this work. Common commercial polymers, like polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene therephthalate, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride, are addressed herein, as are their main physicochemical properties, such as molecular mass, degree of crystallinity and others. Additionally, we discuss the environmental and health risks of plastic debris and the main recycling technologies as well as their issues and environmental impact. The use of nanomaterials raises concerns about toxicity and reinforces the need to apply supports; this means that the recycling of plastics in this way may tackle two issues. Finally, we dissert about the advances in turning plastic waste into support for nanocatalysts for environmental remediation, mainly metal and metal oxide nanoparticles.
  • 1.4K
  • 18 Jan 2022
Topic Review
A Sustainable Circular Plastics Economy in The Netherlands
The circular economy (CE) has become a key sustainability discourse in the last decade. The Netherlands seeks to become fully circular by 2050 and the EU has set ambitious circularity targets in its CE Action Plan of 2015. The plastics sector, in particular, has gained a lot of attention as it is a priority area of both the EU and Dutch CE policies. However, there has been little research on the different and often contested discourses, governance processes and policy mechanisms guiding the transition to a circular economy and society. There is thus a dominance of technocentric imaginaries, and a general lack of discussion on holistic, and transformative visions, which integrate the full social, political, and ecological implication of a circular future. 
  • 5.9K
  • 02 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Environmental Biofilms in Livestock Buildings
Biofilms are three-dimensional biological structures composed of microbial communities embedded in cohesive self-produced extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). EPS can drastically vary between biofilms but is generally composed of water and a complex mixture of polysaccharides, extracellular DNA (eDNA), proteins, and amyloid fibers. The presence of EPS, along with spatial organization and specific signaling systems, triggers a diversification of cell types and emerging community functions, including a fantastic adaptation to environmental fluctuations and the action of antimicrobials, in comparison to their free planktonic homologs.
  • 775
  • 18 Jan 2022
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