While technological advancement leads to societal benefits in terms of economic growth, it also brings with it challenges in its impact on the environment or human health. Sustainable development seeks a uniform means of comparing the economic benefits with the environmental and health costs associated with the implementation of a new technology. This revised encyclopedia investigates sustainability initiatives across a range of industries, providing insight into future opportunities for technological development. A broad spectrum of human challenges have only become more intense since publication of the first edition. For example, climate change is now observed across the globe as a contributor to large scale weather events, including extreme drought in Australia, intense wildfires in California, and flooding along the great rivers of Africa, North and South America. Land in the Amazon rain forest is destroyed to provide increased cropland, contributing to climate change. Expansion of the use of biomass as a raw material in chemical processing leads to food shortages. In many cases, these challenges have the greatest impact on the poorest nations, and the most polluting manufacturing facilities are located in the poorest communities, demonstrating social justice challenges. Encyclopedia of Sustainable Technologies, Four Volume Set provides a comprehensive analysis of the challenges of modern technology, and the innovations that are leading to better use of limited resources and improved resiliency as we learn to adapt to a changing world. Each chapter examines in depth a technological solution to support a specific human need, evaluates it relative to its impacts on the environment and human health, and considers the social justice issues underlying its development. The new edition provides a stronger link between manufacturing and climate change, updates on new technologies for the generation, distribution and storage of energy, new concepts in resiliency and modularity that have changed manufacturing and chemical processes, and emphasizes the trade-offs required to obtain desired products while minimizing environmental impact.
Table of Contents
1. Sustainable Food and Water2. Sustainable Energy
3. Sustainable Built Environment
4. Systems Analysis and LCA
5. Sustainable Manufacturing
6. Sustainable Digital Technologies
Authors
Martin Abraham State University of New York Brockport, USA.Prof. Martin Abraham serves as Provost and Professor of Chemistry at SUNY Brockport. The primary research focus area has been green engineering and sustainability, with an emphasis on issues of sustainable energy. He has over 75 refereed publications and over 30 additional publications, has authored or edited nine books, has participated in three patent applications, and has given over 200 technical presentations. He was selected as the 2012 Business Advocate of the Year by the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce, is Editor for the journal Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy, and previously served on the Executive Committee of the TechBelt Initiative and the Boards for the Youngstown Business Incubator and OH WOW! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children's Center for Science & Technology. He is a Fellow of the American Chemical Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and a registered Professional Engineer.
