Bøker i Environmental Footprints and E-serien

Bamboo is one of the most sustainable materials in nature due to its fast growth, rapid regeneration, outstanding mechanical properties, and applications in numerous industries. Latest technological advances have been allowing the plant to be studied and applied to exciting new projects. Being bamboo an icon of sustainable development, this book approaches the latest developments in the study of the plant, either as a natural resource or as a source of inspiration for more efficient designs. With the global urging demand for more sustainable practices, innovations in bamboo science and technology are key to the development of environmentally sound solutions.

Bamboo is considered one of the most sustainable and versatile building materials, driving the development of multiple techniques for its study and utilization. With new techniques to better analyze, comprehend, and exploit its uses, the plant can be used in numerous applications. From direct building material to composites, this book explores the latest developments in the application of bamboo in the sustainable construction industry.

This book presents five interesting chapters dealing with the sustainability of toys. The concept of sustainability has reached all industrial sectors these days and being practiced in almost all the sectors. One of the main sectors where sustainability has to be embedded to the core is the toy sector. Needless to enumerate the importance of sustainability in this sector especially when it comes to usage of chemicals and so on. There are various elements associated with the sustainability of toys and there is a dearth of published literature on this subject.

This book highlights the notion of Circular Economy under the umbrella of Sustainability because of the widespread momentum it is gaining. Today the whole world is certainly in emergent need of an alternative system to traditional economy which is linear, i.e. make, use and dispose to get rid-off the waste and very important to ensure continuous use of resources, which is possible by the advent of circular economy.  A circular economy aims to utilize the resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them during use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life vis-a-vis traditional linear model.  This book discusses circular economy in terms of assessment with various case studies.

This book highlights one of the most important water pollutants known as Microplastics. It has been reported that humans and the environment are dealing with microplastics particles in water and aquatic media. Despite the fact that such pollution might have mainly started out from the sea, it is now in lakes, rivers, ponds and even drinking water. This book presents as overview of microplastics in freshwater environments in different regions around the world. It discusses the ecotoxicological effects of microplastics, the removal/remediation techniques of microplastics and the role of water/wastewater treatment plants in spreading microplastics. This book is a valuable resource, covering wide aspects of microplastics from sources, detection and characterization to removal and their fate in treatment plants.

This book highlights the sustainability aspects of products and processes in forest science. The forest products sector supplies raw materials to several industrial sectors worldwide. These products can be classified as timber or non-timber products. Wood products are those that originate from the woody fraction and can include pulp, charcoal, firewood, and others. The non-timber products, on the other hand, have the products extracted from the different parts of the tree, such as bark, leaves, fruits, resins, oils, tannins, or even products extracted from non-woody biomass, such as palm heart or carnauba, among others. There are new studies and new products developed from forests worldwide each day. However, studies that evaluate the sustainability of these products and the processes related to their production are not so common. It is essential to highlight the sustainability aspects of these activities and the products obtained from them; such that steps can be taken to make the processes eco-friendly.Allied to ecological sustainability studies that evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of such activities arise. With this book, the authors through the approach of other products and processes of forest science, present the practical vision of aligning production with sustainability in an economically viable way. The book analyses different products and processes, ranging from technological production of engineered wood products to handcrafted resins with a high commercial appeal. With the expertise of different authors, who are researchers in various specific areas of forest sciences, this book helps expand research and presents new insights, assisting industry decision-makers and researchers working in the areas forest sciences.

There are multiple variants of environmental footprints such as carbon footprint, ecological footprint, water footprint, nitrogen footprint and so on. There are numerous developments in terms of measuring the environmental footprints of various products. Many new indicators are being developed in terms of footprints to measure the environmental performance of various products. The need to measure various environmental footprints of agricultural crops is obvious and does not need any explanation these days when the importance of sustainability is felt so much and being practiced in all industrial sectors, including agriculture. This book presents five interesting chapters pertaining to environmental footprints of crops.

This book includes both theoretical conceptualization and practical applications in the fields of product design, architecture, engineering, and materials. The book aimed to inspire scholars and professionals to look at nature as a source of inspiration for developing new project solutions. Moreover, being one of the literature's first direct associations of bionics with sustainability, the book can be used as a reference for those who seek to know more about the theory of bioinspired applications, as well as new technologies, methods, materials, and processes.

This book brings forth the fundamental understanding of the role of Industry 4.0 technologies in sustainable manufacturing supply chain. Readers will get an overview of the challenges, opportunities, and requirements for the implementation of digital technologies and how they can support manufacturing supply chains to be sustainable. The book presents many applications of Industry 4.0 including integration of IoT, AI, Big Data, Blockchain, Procurement 4.0, Logistics 4.0, and Lean 4.0 in different contexts. The book therefore provides a platform for researchers, academicians, and professionals from diverse backgrounds to gain state-of-the-art knowledge for using Industry 4.0 in sustainable manufacturing supply chains. Readers will also be able to identify the practical significance and opportunities for future work directions.

This book presents carbon footprint calculation and mitigation in the manufacturing and transportation sectors. Warning effects of global warming from every sector is of phenomenal importance at this moment and sector wise assessment and remediation are the key factors to mitigate the vulnerable green house gas emissions. This volume with its six chapters deals with the carbon footprint of manufacturing and transportation sectors.