The environment of our planet is degrading at an alarming rate because of non-sustainable urbanization, industrialization and agriculture. Unsustainable trends in relation to climate change and energy use, threats to public health, poverty and social exclusion, demographic pressure and ageing, management of natural resources, biodiversity loss, land use and transport still persist and new challenges are arising. Since these negative trends bring about a sense of urgency, short term action is required, whilst maintaining a longer term perspective. The main challenge is to gradually change our current unsustainable consumption and production patterns and the nonintegrated approach to policy-making. This book covers the broad area including potential of rhizospheric microorganisms in the sustainable plant development in anthropogenic polluted soils, bioremediation of pesticides from soil and waste water, toxic metals from soil, biological treatment of pulp and paper industry wastewater, sustainable solutions for agro processing waste management, solid waste management on climate change and human health, environmental impact of dyes and its remediation. Various methods for genotoxicity testing of environmental pollutants are also discussed and chapters on molecular detection of resistance and transfer genes in the environmental samples, biofilm formation by the environmental bacteria, biochemical attributes to assess soil ecosystem sustainability, application of rhizobacteria in biotechnology, role of peroxidases as a tool for the decolorization and removal of dyes and potential of biopesticides in sustainable agriculture. It offers a unique treatment of the subject, linking various protection strategies for sustainable development, describing the inter-relationships between the laboratory and field eco-toxicologist, the biotechnology consultant, environmental engineers and different international environmental regulatory and protection agencies.

The worldwide consumption of resources is causing environmental damage at a rate that cannot be sustained. Apart from the resulting environmental and health problems, this trend could threaten economic growth due to rapidly decreasing natural resources and the cost of addressing these issues. The public sector has a responsibility to stimulate the marketplace in favor of the provision of more resource-efficient and less polluting goods, services, and works in order to support environmental and wider sustainable development objectives. Green Public Procurement Strategies for Environmental Sustainability provides innovative insights on the adoption and implementation of green public procurement for sustainable practice in order to contribute to environmental protection. The content within this publication examines climate change, sustainable development, and document analysis and is designed for policymakers, environmentalists, managers, suppliers, development agencies, government officials, academicians, researchers, students, and professionals.

Sustainability is based on a simple and long-recognized factual premise: Everything that humans require for their survival and well-being depends, directly or indirectly, on the natural environment. The environment provides the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. Recognizing the importance of sustainability to its work, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been working to create programs and applications in a variety of areas to better incorporate sustainability into decision-making at the agency. To further strengthen the scientific basis for sustainability as it applies to human health and environmental protection, the EPA asked the National Research Council (NRC) to provide a framework for incorporating sustainability into the EPA's principles and decision-making. This framework, Sustainability and the U.S. EPA, provides recommendations for a sustainability approach that both incorporates and goes beyond an approach based on assessing and managing the risks posed by pollutants that has largely shaped environmental policy since the 1980s. Although risk-based methods have led to many successes and remain important tools, the report concludes that they are not adequate to address many of the complex problems that put current and future generations at risk, such as depletion of natural resources, climate change, and loss of biodiversity. Moreover, sophisticated tools are increasingly available to address cross-cutting, complex, and challenging issues that go beyond risk management. The report recommends that EPA formally adopt as its sustainability paradigm the widely used "three pillars" approach, which means considering the environmental, social, and economic impacts of an action or decision. Health should be expressly included in the "social" pillar. EPA should also articulate its vision for sustainability and develop a set of sustainability principles that would underlie all agency policies and programs.

Many large firms and multinational corporations are beginning to develop innovative environmental strategies that acknowledge the fact that sound environmental policies can actually enhance economic competitiveness and increase market share. Rather than simply focusing on regulatory compliance and crisis management, they are moving toward greater internalization of environmental goals. Environmental Strategies for Industry explores this transition in depth.

This book discusses the impacts of climate change that are already being felt on every continent and provides the scientific basis for a number of modern approaches and state-of-the art methods for monitoring the environment, social behavior and human expectations concerning protection of the environment. The book approaches these issues from the perspectives of various disciplines, from physics to the social sciences, and highlights both current challenges and future prospects. On 1 January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – 12 of which involve taking action on climate change – officially came into force. To achieve sustainable development, it is and will remain crucial to harmonize three interconnected core elements: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection.

Reviews the latest advances in biofuel manufacturing technologies and discusses the deployment of other renewable energy for transportation Aimed at providing an interface useful to business and scientific managers, this book focuses on the key challenges that still impede the realization of the billion-ton renewable fuels vision. It places great emphasis on a global view of the topic, reviewing deployment and green energy technology in different countries across Africa, Asia, South America, the EU, and the USA. It also integrates scientific, technological, and business development perspectives to highlight the key developments that are necessary for the global replacement of fossil fuels with green energy solutions. Green Energy to Sustainability: Strategies for Global Industries examines the most recent developments in biofuel manufacturing technologies in light of business, financial, value chain, and supply chain concerns. It also covers the use of other renewable energy sources like solar energy for transportation and proposes a view of the challenges over the next two to five decades, and how these will deeply modify the industrial world in the third millennium. The coming of age of electric vehicles is also looked at, as is the impact of their deployment on the biomass to biofuels value chain. Offers extensive updates on the field of green energy for global industries Covers the structure of the energy business; chemicals and diesel from biomass; ethanol and butanol; hydrogen and methane; and more Provides an expanded focus on the next generation of energy technologies Reviews the latest advances in biofuel manufacturing technologies Integrates scientific, technological and business perspectives Highlights important developments needed for replacing fossil fuels with green energy Green Energy to Sustainability: Strategies for Global Industries will appeal to academic researchers working on the production of fuels from renewable feedstocks and those working in green and sustainable chemistry, and chemical/process engineering. It is also an excellent textbook for courses in bioprocessing technology, renewable resources, green energy, and sustainable chemistry.

The prevailing global environmental crisis is primarily because of non-standardized parameters for environmental regulation. Unplanned expansion of economic activities, consideration for environmental conservation and several associated problems are emerging due to degradation in quality of ambient environment such as clean air, safe drinking water and quality of food, particularly in developing nations. Due to poor/casual execution of EIA protocol, newly developing countries are preferred destination for establishing pollution emitting industries, which results in degradation and depletion of natural resources. Lack of environmental policy intervention is another major attraction for establishing such industries in these nations. In order to ensure sustainable development, the highest priority issues include the monitoring and eradication of environmental problems which arise due to economic development. Initiation of any form of economic development primarily results in loss of forests and thus biodiversity, followed by deterioration in quality of air and contamination of natural resources. The worst impact of non-standardized economic development is the contamination of air, water and soil. Sustainable development ensures responsible interface with the environment to minimize the depletion or degradation of natural resources and ensure long term environmental quality. It involves integrated approaches in understanding the importance of environmental management systems and policy inventions leading to improved environmental performance. The present book is proposed to address the environmental concerns associated with economic development and approaches involved to attain sustainable economic development, which include monitoring of the quality of air, deforestation, quality of water resources, soil erosion and degradation of the natural environment.

This book is a cornerstone resource for a wide range of organizations and individuals concerned with sustainable development at national or local levels, as well as for international organizations concerned with supporting such development. Whilst the focus is on integrated strategies for sustainable development, the approaches and methods covered are equally relevant to poverty reduction, environmental and sectoral strategies, programme development and review. Agenda 21 called for all countries to develop sustainable development strategies. For such strategies to be effective there needs to be a real commitment. In every country, government at all levels, the private sector, and civil society, must work together in a true partnership, in transparent ways which enable genuine stakeholder participation. The necessary mechanisms and processes need to be coordinated to enable continuous learning and improvement. This resource book provides flexible, non-prescriptive guidance on how to develop, assess and implement national sustainable development strategies. It sets out principles and ideas on process and methods, and suggests how these can be used. It is based on an analysis of past and current practice, drawing directly from experience in both developed and developing countries. Following a discussion of the nature and challenges of sustainable development and the need for strategic responses to them, the heart of the book covers the main tasks in strategy processes. Individual chapters offer a rich range of guidance, ideas and case studies.