Small Earth Dams in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges

The study investigates the challenges and prospects of earth dams in Nigeria with emphasis on dams owned by the River Basin Development Authorities of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water resources using Cham dam in Gombe State as case study. The general causes of earth dam failure were considered with emphasis on failures due to engineering factors. The dam water provides raw water for the supply of potable wholesome water to the community all year round and some for irrigated agriculture that not only boost the local economy and reduces poverty but also support a viable livestock management. Cham dam failed in September 1998 after commissioning in December 1992 as a result of poor planning, inadequate study, inconsistent design, un-engineered construction and lack of dam safety monitoring team at site. Based on the findings, suggestions were given on how some earth dam failures in Nigeria can be minimized in terms of adequate feasibility studies, good design, appropriate construction and an improved maintenance culture. Keywords: Small earth dams, un-engineered construction, environmental management, prospects SED, hydraulic failure. DOI: 10.7176/JETP/9-5-02 Publication date:June 30th 201

Thermoeconomics: a holistic approach to technical development

The present days represent a crossroad in the history of humanity, and of the whole Earth. Complex dynamics both of growing the poverty distribution, and of increasing of ecological environmental and socio-economic degradation, are generating a difficult socio-economic system of despair from which it is very difficult to escape. Engineering and technological improvements can represent new possibilities for the renewal of the world, but a new indicator for the decision makers is required. The result, THDI, improves the usual HDI, by taking into account also the technical and ecological level by using the CO2 emissions and the sg quantities, related to the irreversibility of a process

Plan@Earth- NGO for turning waste as a resource

Plan@Earth is a Voluntary organisation registered as a charitable trust under the Travancore-Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Act (Reg No ER-313/09). It works in the area of environment conservation by offering solutions for waste management. Plan@Earth believes that “waste is not a trash but a resource” and proper waste management is the vital part for sustainable development of society. The activities of Plan@Earth are directed towards the 6 Rs namely, Reduce, Reuse, Refuse, Restructure, Remove and Recycle. The first 3 Rs are achieved through awareness classes, campaigns, street-plays. The other 3 Rs are achieved by training the community to segregate waste at source followed by door to door collection of waste from over 20000 households using push carts and directing clean and dry waste collected for recycling. The dry waste that cannot be recycled are washed and made into bags, file-folders, items of home décor using the method of up-cycling. With the help of the mechanical engineering dept of SNGCE College, Kolenchery, Plan@Earth has also developed a machine to make “Eco-Bricks” using discarded plastic packaging and sand. Every year Plan@Earth carries out nearly 200 awareness classes and uses mimes, skits, street plays and dramas performed by student volunteers to get the message across to the public. Each project in this NGO can support 20-25 women from poorer backgrounds as means for poverty alleviation

Suicide by Democracy-- An Obituary for America and the world

America and the world are in the process of collapse from excessive population growth, most of it for the last century, and now all of it, due to 3rd world people. Consumption of resources and the addition of 4 billion more ca. 2100 will collapse industrial civilization and bring about starvation, disease, violence and war on a staggering scale. The earth loses about 2% of its topsoil every year, so as it nears 2100, most of its food growing capacity will be gone. Billions will die and nuclear war is all but certain. In America, this is being hugely accelerated by massive immigration and immigrant reproduction, combined with abuses made possible by democracy. Depraved human nature inexorably turns the dream of democracy and diversity into a nightmare of crime and poverty. China will continue to overwhelm America and the world, as long as it maintains the dictatorship which limits selfishness. The root cause of collapse is the inability of our innate psychology to adapt to the modern world, which leads people to treat unrelated persons as though they had common interests. The idea of human rights is an evil fantasy promoted by leftists to draw attention away from the merciless destruction of the earth by unrestrained 3rd world motherhood. This, plus ignorance of basic biology and psychology, leads to the social engineering delusions of the partially educated who control democratic societies. Few understand that if you help one person you harm someone else—there is no free lunch and every single item anyone consumes destroys the earth beyond repair. Consequently, social policies everywhere are unsustainable and one by one all societies without stringent controls on selfishness will collapse into anarchy or dictatorship. The most basic facts, almost never mentioned, are that there are not enough resources in America or the world to lift a significant percentage of the poor out of poverty and keep them there. The attempt to do this is bankrupting America and destroying the world. The earth’s capacity to produce food decreases daily, as does our genetic quality. And now, as always, by far the greatest enemy of the poor is other poor and not the rich. Without dramatic and immediate changes, there is no hope for preventing the collapse of America, or any country that follows a democratic system. Those interested in all my writings in their most recent versions may download from this site my e-book ‘Philosophy, Human Nature and the Collapse of Civilization Michael Starks (2016)- Articles and Reviews 2006-2016’ by Michael Starks First Ed. 662p (2016). All of my papers and books have now been published in revised versions both in ebooks and in printed books. Talking Monkeys: Philosophy, Psychology, Science, Religion and Politics on a Doomed Planet - Articles and Reviews 2006-2017 (2017) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071HVC7YP. The Logical Structure of Philosophy, Psychology, Mind and Language in Ludwig Wittgenstein and John Searle--Articles and Reviews 2006-2016 (2017) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071P1RP1B. Suicidal Utopian Delusions in the 21st century: Philosophy, Human Nature and the Collapse of Civilization - Articles and Reviews 2006-2017 (2017) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0711R5LG

Doing Biopolitics Differently? Radical Potential in the Post-2015 MDG and SDG Debates

Post print On institutional repository or subject-based repository after a 18 months embargo, withdraw

Local Source Tsunami Inundation Modelling for Poverty Bay, Gisborne

After the Boxing Day 2004 Sumatran Tsunami, a review of tsunami hazard and risk for New Zealand identified Gisborne as the urban area with the greatest risk. Gisborne could experience gt;500 fatalities and extensive damage to infrastructure during a severe tsunami. The severity of a tsunami is likely to be low for distance sources given the effectiveness of the Pacific Tsunami Warning System. However, there is a substantial risk from local sources, as no local warning system of any kind exists. Prompt evacuation is probably the most cost-effective tsunami mitigation strategy available for New Zealand coastal locations, including Gisborne. This requires both knowledge of the extent of tsunami inundation, and sufficient warning of the tsunami arrival. Hence, there are two main objectives for this investigation: 1. Determine the likely extent of tsunami inundation for Gisborne City and surrounding populated coastal locations in Poverty Bay, using a combination of hydrodynamic tsunami modelling and GIS. The modelling will simulate historical events, particularly the largest historical tsunami, the May 1947 local tsunami. Modelling will consider potential events based on the Maximum Credible Earthquake for local sources associated with the Hikurangi Deformation Front. 2. Create inundation maps of Poverty Bay that can be used for future town planning and emergency plans

Geoengineering and Non-Ideal Theory

The strongest arguments for the permissibility of geoengineering (also known as climate engineering) rely implicitly on non-ideal theory—roughly, the theory of justice as applied to situations of partial compliance with principles of ideal justice. In an ideally just world, such arguments acknowledge, humanity should not deploy geoengineering; but in our imperfect world, society may need to complement mitigation and adaptation with geoengineering to reduce injustices associated with anthropogenic climate change. We interpret research proponents’ arguments as an application of a particular branch of non-ideal theory known as “clinical theory.” Clinical theory aims to identify politically feasible institutions or policies that would address existing (or impending) injustice without violating certain kinds of moral permissibility constraints. We argue for three implications of clinical theory: First, conditional on falling costs and feasibility, clinical theory provides strong support for some geoengineering techniques that aim to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Second, if some kinds of carbon dioxide removal technologies are supported by clinical theory, then clinical theory further supports using those technologies to enable “overshoot” scenarios in which developing countries exceed the cumulative emissions caps that would apply in ideal circumstances. Third, because of tensions between political feasibility and moral permissibility, clinical theory provides only weak support for geoengineering techniques that aim to manage incoming solar radiation

Infrastructure, innovation and industry as solutions for breaking inequality vicious cycles

Currently, poverty and inequality are crucial social issues around the world. They demand objective evaluations with the purpose of defining policies and prioritizing actions. Most of the times the most important problem lies on the fact that individuals under poverty circumstances or belonging to vulnerable collectives cannot escape these conditions by themselves and need external assistance or interventions. Another added difficulty is that both poverty and inequality can be studied from different angles and require a multidimensional approach whose definition is not straightforward. There exists a vicious cycle defined by a collection of determinants or events that lead to a phenomenon in which various disadvantages work circularly so that it is impossible for individuals or households to break the cycle. In this context, setting the background in which these vicious cycles arise can be helpful in order to conduct in-depth studies as a first step to establishing possible solutions. Even though many researchers have proposed alternative schemes for the poverty’s vicious circle, none has been introduced for inequality. In this contribution, a meaningful and integrated cycle is defined for inequality at two different levels: first of all, at an individual level; secondly, at a collective level in which a certain group is made vulnerable. This cycle includes similar parameter as those comprised in the poverty cycle such as income, access to education and access to healthcare. However, it additionally places emphasis on other aspects such as participation in politics and access to leadership positions. Besides, a conceptual and analytical framework is built, whose objective is to describe ways in which infrastructure, innovation and industry can help interrupt the continuation of the cycle. This model integrates a collection of different measures that is to be potentially helpful for policy makers. Additionally, the frame accounts for not only the fight of current existing cycles, but also of future generations ones, hence considering sustainability dimensions.Postprint (published version