189 research outputs found

    Technologies for Climate Change Mitigation - Transport Sector

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    Water Security and Governance in Catchments

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    This book addresses several issues on water security and governance, helping readers to understand how the desire for water-secure basins can be accomplished through an interplay of water security, water resources management and water policies. The book contains a collection of 12 papers addressing specific as well as interlinked topics within the Special Issue scope. The editors are grateful to all contributors who made the book a reality

    An aesthetic for sustainable interactions in product-service systems?

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    Copyright @ 2012 Greenleaf PublishingEco-efficient Product-Service System (PSS) innovations represent a promising approach to sustainability. However the application of this concept is still very limited because its implementation and diffusion is hindered by several barriers (cultural, corporate and regulative ones). The paper investigates the barriers that affect the attractiveness and acceptation of eco-efficient PSS alternatives, and opens the debate on the aesthetic of eco-efficient PSS, and the way in which aesthetic could enhance some specific inner qualities of this kinds of innovations. Integrating insights from semiotics, the paper outlines some first research hypothesis on how the aesthetic elements of an eco-efficient PSS could facilitate user attraction, acceptation and satisfaction

    Design concept for a collapsible stackable city car

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    Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2009.Page 214 blank.Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-213).Problems associated with the massive adoption of automobiles have become the center of a world-wide debate. While new technologies will eventually discover a sustainable solution to the environmental concerns (pollution, depletion of energy sources), cities will continue struggling to accommodate the increasing number of cars. The ability for people to move quickly across large distances and the infrastructure required by the automobile (mainly roads and parking) have also created an unsustainable urban landscape in many countries. The argument of this work is that these problems are partly the result of an outdated set of design premises for the automobile which have not changed since it appeared in the late 1800's. A typical car is too big, too heavy, most of the times it only transports one person for a few miles, and then it remains unused for 95% of the time. These inefficiencies multiplied by the staggering number of vehicles in circulation have resulted in huge energy losses, pollution and vast portions of the city lost in support systems for the car. The work discussed here proposes a different approach to urban transportation, by combining the advantages of mass transit with the convenience of personal mobility. Instead of designing automobiles to fullfil any kind of travel need and additional parking structures destined to accommodate 85% of these automobiles, this work proposes a reconfiguration of the car based on the characteristics of the majority of vehicular urban travel.(cont.) The design of the car operates on a shared-ownership model, with a collapsible structure that allows vehicles to contract and park in stacks. Based on the available data, results indicate that such a design could potentially reduce the actual space requirements for a car between 1/20th and 1/75th. The design of the car is complemented by the use of electric in-wheel motors, developed in connection with the Smart Cities group run at the MIT Media Laboratory under the supervision of Professor Mitchell, for additional efficiency, especially in terms of energy consumption.by Fanceo Vairani.Ph.D

    World Water Development Report 3: Water in a Changing World

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    With the release of this third edition of The United Nations World Water Development Report, it is clear that urgent action is needed if we are to avoid a global water crisis. Despite the vital importance of water to all aspects of human life, the sector has been plagued by a chronic lack of political support, poor governance and underinvestment. As a result, hundreds of millions of people around the world remain trapped in poverty and ill health and exposed to the risks of water-related disasters, environmental degradation and even political instability and conflict. Population growth, increasing consumption and climate change are among the factors that threaten to exacerbate these problems, with grave implications for human security and development.The current Report provides a comprehensive analysis of the state of the world's freshwater resources. It also, for the first time, shows how changes in water demand and supply are affected by and affect other global dynamics. It represents a considerable collaborative achievement for the 26 UN agencies that make up UN-Water and are engaged in the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), which leads the monitoring and evaluation behind the Report. UNESCO is very proud to have played a pivotal role in the launch of this flagship programme and to continue to support its work by housing the WWAP Secretariat. I am confident that this third volume will prove crucial as a working tool for policy-makers and other stakeholders, providing solid evidence from which to develop an effective and sustainable approach to water issues

    Third international conference on irrigation and drainage

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    Presented during the Third international conference on irrigation and drainage held March 30 - April 2, 2005 in San Diego, California. The theme of the conference was Water district management and governance.Includes bibliographical references.Sponsored by USCID; co-sponsored by Association of California Water Agencies and International Network for Participatory Irrigation Management.The changing face of western irrigated agriculture: structure, water management, and policy implications -- Proven institutional, financing and pricing principles for rural water services -- Involving stakeholders in irrigation and drainage district decisions: who, what, when, where, why, how -- Implementing district level irrigation water management with stakeholder participation -- WUA development and strengthening in the Kyrgyz Republic -- Variations in irrigation district voting and election procedures -- Water Users Association governance in developing countries: fragility and function -- Viet Nam: creating conditions for improved irrigation service delivery -- the case of the Phuoc Hoa Water Resources Project -- Technical and institutional support for water management in Albanian irrigation -- Reconciling traditional irrigation management with development of modern irrigation systems: the challenge for Afghanistan -- Field testing of SacMan Automated Canal Control System -- An infrastructure management system for enhanced irrigation district planning -- NCWCD efforts toward improving on-farm water management -- A web-based irrigation water use tracking system -- Using GIS to monitor water use compliance -- Development of a water management system to improve management and scheduling of water orders in Imperial Irrigation District -- Radar water-level measurement for open channels -- Non-standard structure flow measurement evaluation using the flow rate indexing procedure - QIP -- A GIS-based irrigation evaluation strategy for a rice production region -- Total Channel Controlℱ - an important role in identifying losses -- Commencing the modernization project of the Gila Gravity Main Canal -- Obtaining gains in efficiency when water is free -- A qualitative approach to study water markets in Pakistan -- Local groundwater management districts and Kansas state agencies share authority and responsibility for transition to long term management of the High Plains Aquifer -- Water user management and financing of irrigation facilities through use of improvement districts -- Irrigation management transfer to water user organizations in Turkey -- Farm size, irrigation practices, and on-farm irrigation efficiency in New Mexico's Elephant Butte Irrigation District -- The ITRC Rapid Appraisal Process (RAP) for irrigation districts -- Relationships between seepage loss rates and canal condition parameters for the Rapid Assessment Tool (RAT) -- Zarafshan Water District Improvement Project in Uzbekistan -- Technological modernization in irrigated agriculture: factors for sustainability in developing countries -- Reliability criteria for re-engineering of large-scale pressurized irrigation systems -- Upgrading existing databases: recommendations for irrigation districts -- Groundwater use in irrigated agriculture in Amudarya River basin in socio-economic dimensions -- Regional ET estimation from satellites

    JRC horizon scanning on dual-use civil and military research

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    This report presents the results of a horizon scanning exercise carried out by the JRC, aiming at identifying “emerging” issues displaying potentiality for dual-use research and further applications, i.e. use of civilian research outcomes for defence purposes and vice versa. The exercise allowed the identification of 14 issues, seven of which being further commented: six perceived as having very high relevance for dual-use applications in short- to mid-term (between now and ca. 10 years), plus one assessed as emerging at the longer-term. Interestingly four issues out of these seven ones fall entirely or partially under the realm of biology: “Multifunctional materials”, “CRISPR and genetic manipulations”, “Enhancing humans” and “Synthetic biology”. All together, these thematic issues, actually interrelated, show that the importance of the manipulation of the living, including that of human bodies, with all its aspects, positive and negative, bright and dark, defensive and offensive, is expected to increase in time and impact.JRC.E.7-Knowledge for Security and Migratio

    Strategic Analyses of the National River Linking Project (NRLP) of India, Series 4. Water productivity improvements in Indian agriculture: potentials, constraints and prospects

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    Water productivityWater use efficiencyMultiple useIrrigation practicesIrrigation systemsWater qualityWater allocationCerealsCrop yieldLivestockMilk productionEconomic aspects
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