Anthropogenic Impacts on Wetlands of Kerala, India: A Review of Literature

Kerala is blessed with numerous wetlands including rivers, streams, mangroves, backwaters, estuaries, canals, paddy fields, reservoirs, lakes and ponds. Wetlands are an integral part of the state and they endow man with numerous ecosystem services like purification of water, provision of food, flood protection, shoreline stabilization, support to biodiversity, recharge of underground water etc. At present wetlands are under threat as they are victims of population pressure, rapid urbanization and negligent land use pattern. Wetlands of Kerala have become polluted, fragmented and reclaimed for other purposes. If this trend continues, man is endangering not only humans but also other creatures on earth. Scientists and environmental conservationists realized the importance of wetlands and have studied the adverse effects of human activities on wetlands and have also suggested mitigation measures to conserve these fragile ecosystems. This paper is a review of published literature on the anthropogenic impacts on wetlands of Kerala and measures for their conservation

The protective and attractive covering of a vegetated embankment using coir geotextiles

This paper presents the results of a field experiment conducted in Kerala, South India, to test the effectiveness of coir geotextiles for embankment protection. The results reveal that treatment with geotextile in combination with grass is an effective eco-hydrological measure to protect steep slopes from erosion. In the context of sustainable watershed management, coir is a cheap and locally available material that can be used to strengthen traditional earthen bunds or protect the banks of village ponds from erosion. Particularly in developing countries, where coir is abundantly available and textiles can be produced by small-scale industry, this is an attractive alternative for conventional methods. This paper analyses the performance of coir geotextile in different treatments with respect to soil moisture content, protection against erosion and biomass production

Quality of Water in and Around Chandigarh Region - A Review

It is well documented that water is an essential component for the survival of all living beings and development processes on earth. Water is used for domestic purposes, industrial processes and agriculture. All these processes require good quality water. River water and underground water is generally used for almost all these processes. So it is very important to know the water quality of sources time to time for the sustainable development. In this paper we have discussed the quality of ground water, surface water and river water of Chandigarh and nearby places such as Parwanoo, Panchkula, S.A.S. Nagar (Mohali) on the basis of reports available online. The different water quality parameters such as hardness, alkalinity, Ca2+, Mg2+, BOD, COD, TDS, pH, conductivity, temperature etc was considered for this review study. Although very few studies have been conducted to check the water quality of this area but on carefully reviewing the available reports and published work, it has been observed that the water quality in some of the places is below the standards of water quality prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Proper functioning of Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) need to be checked and Industrial waste should be properly treated before going to the catchment areas

Spatial analysis of soil texture and peat soil by NDSI method at swamp area of Banyuasin District, Indonesia

Road construction in the swampy area should certainly face many problems related to the soil characteristics that are composed of soft soils. The understanding of soil condition to swamp areas is needed to determine the road trace and can be done using the remote sensing technology. The use of Normalized Difference Soil Index (NDSI) method is an alternative to the characterizing of the soil condition. The location of soil sampling is determined by NDSI, while the specific gravity, property index, and soil texture is analyzed by laboratory analysis. The classification of solid condition using NDSI method on composite band 65 obtained the range of reflectance values ranging (-1.0336) – (-0.4582) for water body, (-0.4582) – (-0.0645) for not openspaces and (-0.0645) – (0.4300) for open spaces. The classification of soil characteristics in the swamp area in Banyuasin regency consists of 3 classes, which are clay type with diameter <0.002 mm, medium soil with diameter 0.002 – 0.075 mm, and slightly rough for fine sandy soil with diameter 0.075 – 0.425 mm. In addition, in the study area, the peat depth is approximately measured as 50 – 100 cm and 100 – 200 cm

Treatment of phenanthrene and benzene using microbial fuel cells operated continuously for possible in situ and ex situ applications

Bioelectrochemical systems could have potential for bioremediation of contaminants either in situ or ex situ. The treatment of a mixture of phenanthrene and benzene using two different tubular microbial fuel cells (MFCs) designed for either in situ and ex situ applications in aqueous systems was investigated over long operational periods (up to 155 days). For in situ deployments, simultaneous removal of the petroleum hydrocarbons (>90% in term of degradation efficiency) and bromate, used as catholyte, (up to 79%) with concomitant biogenic electricity generation (peak power density up to 6.75 mWm−2) were obtained at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 10 days. The tubular MFC could be operated successfully at copiotrophic (100 ppm phenanthrene, 2000 ppm benzene at HRT 30 days) and oligotrophic (phenanthrene and benzene, 50 ppb each, HRT 10 days) substrate conditions suggesting its effectiveness and robustness at extreme substrate concentrations in anoxic environments. In the MFC designed for ex situ deployments, optimum MFC performance was obtained at HRT of 30 h giving COD removal and maximum power output of approximately 77% and 6.75 mWm−2 respectively. The MFC exhibited the ability to resist organic shock loadings and could maintain stable MFC performance. Results of this study suggest the potential use of MFC technology for possible in situ/ex situ hydrocarbon-contaminated groundwater treatment or refinery effluents clean-up, even at extreme contaminant level conditions

Strategic Building Energy Management, Policies, and Insulation Materials

The building sector is responsible for 15% of energy consumption and 40% of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the world. Among the various building energy uses, heating and cooling require 40% of the energy in residential houses and 27% in commercial buildings. To reduce energy use in heating and cooling, it is important that improved insulation be used that will increase the thermal resistance of heat flow from outside in summer months and from inside in winter months. This research focuses on the selection of best insulation materials in buildings from the standpoints of energy saving and greenhouse gas potential using a decision-making process known as Analytical Hierarchal Process (AHP). A modified form of AHP was used to compare various synthetic and natural insulation materials on various attributes based on their thermal, environmental, and cost performance. Out of eleven materials considered, coir, a natural fiber, performs better than fiberglass, the best performing synthetic fiber, and hemp, another natural fiber, performs almost equal to fiberglass. This thesis also discusses the building energy codes and barriers to building energy transition. The role of strategic building energy management is demonstrated trough a case study which has shown that implementation of energy audit and conservation measures can save both energy and money in the long term.MSEEnergy Systems Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer ScienceUniversity of Michigan-Dearbornhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/167361/1/Mrinal Jha - Final Thesis.pd

Emergent non-agrarian livelihoods and resource linkages in the agroecosystems of a river basin: A case study of Chalakudy river basin, Kerala

River basin as a nascent unit of natural resource governance based on the principles of equity, subsidiarity and sustainability is yet to be apprised as a socio-ecological entity that can move beyond centralisation tendencies in resource governance. The frequent and prevalent conceptualization of it as exclusive, homogenous and largely agricultural was investigated in the present work by analysing the multiple boundaries, emergent livelihoods and resource relations in the various agro-ecological zones of the Chalakudy river basin which is one of the most heavily exploited inter-state and inter-linked river basins in the highly populated biodiversity hotspot of the Southern Western Ghats in peninsular India. The coexistence of multiple, dynamic and often overlapping boundaries was found to encompass an inclusive region of resource engagement which was coined as the ‘inclusive basin’ within which natural resource governance was envisaged through polycentric interest groups. Within the inclusive Chalakudy river basin, the livelihoodpatterns and processes in the various agro-ecological zones (AEZs) were observed to beshifting out of agriculture which was reflected in the relations to the resources of land andwater. It was observed that the transformation of livelihoods and resource relationsfollowed varied patterns in the AEZs significantly different from each other. In the highhills contractual casual plantation employment was replacing the permanent labour system along with diversification into manufacturing and service sector occupations, in the foothills the emergent and dominant characteristic was noted to be a mix of casual employment activities in tourism, agriculture and other NR based activities, in themidlands largest share of main workforce was in casual or temporary service sector activities, in the lowlands service sector was the main work provider along with construction and informal manufacturing and in the coastal lands service sector casual works, construction sector and traditional and emergent manufacturing activities prevailed. These non-agrarian work emergences had resulted in households beingprimarily non-farm or pluri-active in their main livelihood orientations. The land in the river basin was found to be owned by these non-farm and mixed means households in the various AEZs. Agriculture was still found to be the major landuse in private land holdings even though it was undertaken in highly fragmented holdingsdominated by market oriented perennial tree crops cultivation as a subsidiary livelihood activity. Landless and marginal land holders with non-agrarian occupations were also found to undertake agriculture as a subsidiary activity in leased in lands. While in the highlands, intensive irrigation was noticed as emergent phenomena, in the foothills irrigation was no longer a grave concern due to large scale shifts to rubber. In the mid and lowlands, irrigation water from surface water sources was seen to ensure domestic water security rather than livelihood security through recharge of groundwater aquifers. In the coastal lands, groundwater aquifers were intensively tapped for irrigating fragmented homesteads. There were clear caste and gender differentials in livelihoods, resource ownership and access across the zones. The multiple boundaries of concern including livelihood and resource use boundaries were also found to be differently drawn in the various AEZs. The non-prominence of agriculture as a livelihood option and the changed resource relations in these zones had led to formation of various interest groups outside of agriculture which has significant influence on river basin governance envisaged through communities of interests. These also include the non- ownership based interest groupssuch as the women, tribals, dalits, lease farmers, migrant labourers and a large casuallabour force in the informal non-farm sectors having varied and nebulous relationshipwith the basin resources. A mosaic of these diverse and significantly different AEZs andinterest groups that forge multiscalar connections according to the issues of concern in aninclusive basin forms the hybrid socio-ecological identity of a river basin as a naturalresource management unit

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF FLAX FIBRES

Metadata merged with duplicate record (http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/483) on 20.12.2016 by CS (TIS).This is a digitised version of a thesis that was deposited in the University Library. If you are the author please contact PEARL Admin ([email protected]) to discuss options.This thesis aims to investigate the sustainability of bast fibres specifically flax fibres as the reinforcement for polymer matrix composites (referenced to glass fibres) by undertaking a quantitative Life Cycle Assessment using the eight environmental impact classification factors of global warming, acidification, eutrophication, human toxicity, aquatic toxicity, ozone depletion, photochemical oxidants creation and non-renewable/abiotic resource depletion. A data set was compiled from numerous literature sources to complete the Life Cycle Inventory for the production of flax fibres. Three scenarios were studied for the production of either flax sliver (pre-spun fibre) or yarn (post-spun fibre): low (no-till combined with warm water retting), average (conservation tillage with stand/dew retting) and high (conventional tillage with bio-retting) energy routes considering different agricultural and fibre preparation (retting) methods. The best agricultural practice for the flax fibre production is identified from this study as the no-till method combined with warm water retting. The environmental credentials for flax fibre can be further improved by using organic fertilisers and biological control of pests. Spinning is the most energy intensive fibre processing operation hence by eliminating this operation energy use and the associated environmental impacts could be reduced. Based on the energy analysis continuous glass fibre reinforcement appears to be superior to spun flax yarn but glass fibre mat and flax sliver are equivalent and embody similar quantities of energy per tonne. The environmental benefit arising from substitution of glass fibres by natural fibre is dependent on the chosen reinforcement format. The key consideration is to use sliver (pre-spun fibres) as reinforcement in polymer matrix composites instead of yarn

Anthropogenic, direct pressures on coastal wetlands

Coastal wetlands, such as saltmarshes and mangroves that fringe transitional waters, deliver important ecosystem services that support human development. Coastal wetlands are complex social-ecological systems that occur at all latitudes, from polar regions to the tropics. This overview covers wetlands in five continents. The wetlands are of varying size, catchment size, human population and stages of economic development. Economic sectors and activities in and around the coastal wetlands and their catchments exert multiple, direct pressures.Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS-YIC) scholarship and SKLECECNU project 111 scholarship<, Natural Resources Canada contribution no. 20200070; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) Scientific Employment Stimulus Programme (CEECIND/01635/2017). and (CEECIND/00095/2017), (UID/MAR/00350/2019CIMA) and (UID/MAR/04292/2019)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio