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- Govindarajan, Venkatesh, 1972-
(författare)
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A small and beautiful example of sustainability in the heart of Zimbabwe
- 2023
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Ingår i: Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae. - Warsaw, Poland : Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego. - 1733-1218 .- 2719-826X. ; 21:2, s. 35-42
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Zimbabwe has diligently started pursuing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the United Nations in 2015. While making progress and being aware of it, will be a shot in the arm, with success breeding more success, the journey may seem daunting at times. However, the journey –sustainable development towards the targets set -is what matters morethan the final destination, as philosophers and savants often remind us. This article, while dwelling on sustainable development in this southern-African landlocked country in general, presents a beautiful example of a collaborative venture, undertaken by dedicated and determined international partners, and predicated on SDG#4 (Quality Education) and SDG#5 (Gender Equality), and harnessing the complementarities and synergies with the other SDGs, which set root during the COVID-pandemic, in Mwenezi in southern Zimbabwe. The pandemic while being a scourge, tended to have some silver linings to it, as it gave birth to many collaborationsand made human beings realise that one’s own happiness is dependent to a very great extent on that of others. This venture emphasizes girls’ educationand skills-development, which open the doors, synergistically, to sustained growth, development and progress. Education, indisputably, is a key component of the freedom necessary to live a life of value. To quote Nelson Mandela, ‘It is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
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| 2. |
- Govindarajan, Venkatesh, 1972-
(författare)
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I see the world through other eyes : Review of 'An Immense World' by Ed Yong
- 2023
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Ingår i: Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae. - Poland : Wydawnictwo Naukowe UKSW. - 1733-1218 .- 2719-826X. ; 21:4, s. 97-101
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Recension (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- One need not be a biologist, zoologist, herpetologist, ichthyologist, entomologist, ornithologist or an academic counterpart of any of these, to be drawn towards crawling, swimming, flying, arboreal and quadruped fellow-inhabitants of Mother Earth. For that matter, you need not even be a poet, painter or writer, looking for your Muse out there in the wilderness. Indeed, An Immense Worldby Ed Yong –a ‘magic-suffused’ 13-chaptered, 450-pager–may appeal a little more to the scientifically-inclined, considering that Yong is essentially a Pulitzer-Prize-winning science writer.The immensity he addresses in this gem of a book makes a reader feel miniscule in the scheme of things on Terra Firma
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| 3. |
- Govindarajan, Venkatesh, 1972-
(författare)
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Rag-pickers as benefactors and beneficiaries of the sustainable development goals : A brief literature review
- 2023
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Ingår i: Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae. - Poland : Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego. - 1733-1218 .- 2719-826X. ; 21:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ragpickers have long led a marginalised, subliminal and deprived existence, and havesilently gone about contributing to ‘informal waste recycling’, diverting in many cities and towns, overhalf of the recyclable wastes from dumpsites to the technosphere. The reviewer has based this paperon 60 peer-reviewed publications spanning a time period of 28 years – from 1995 – 2022, originatingfrom over a dozen different countries, and encompassing the social, economic and environmentaldimensions of sustainability. The discussion has been structured around the six question words –Where/Wherefrom, When, How, What, Why and Who/Whom. While there is no claim of any additionper se being made to the extant body of knowledge, the reviewer would like to describe this as anattempt to simply collate existing knowledge to serve the practical purpose of highlighting the plightof our impoverished, malnourished, oppressed brethren, to elicit appreciation, understanding andsupport for them, from policymakers in government, CSR personnel from the corporate world,journalists in the media, and most importantly, from the common urban denizens. All these entitiescan work shoulder to shoulder with the NGOs who have been relentlessly striving to help the ragpickersto ‘stay afloat’. The reviewer fondly hopes that this will motivate more concertedtransdisciplinary applied research, predicated on the Sustainable Development Goals – a collaborationamong the disciplines of healthcare, sociology, psychology, urban planning, sustainable development,environmental engineering, and even art and poetry.
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| 5. |
- Govindarajan, Venkatesh, 1972-
(författare)
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We Need Them. They Will Do Much Better Without Us. : A Review of Survival at Stake, by Poorva Joshipura.
- 2024
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Ingår i: Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae. - Warsaw, Poland : Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego w Warszawie. - 1733-1218 .- 2719-826X. ; 22:2
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Forskningsöversikt (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- ‘Zoo-ethics’is a subset of bioethics,and zoology may be looked upon as a subset of ecology...that is how the review of Survival at Stake, by Poorva Joshipura, falls well and truly within the scope of this journal.There is also an interesting link between this one and another review of a book steeped in science, published recently by this author. Survival at Stake, on the other hand, primarily, has a moral, ethical, and practical force embedded within the scientific. This is understandable when one notes that Joshipura is an animal welfare activist associated with the NGO, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and committed to the cause espoused by it.
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| 6. |
- Jansson, Eira, et al.
(författare)
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The Important Role of Pyrolysis and Hydrothermal Carbonization in a Sustainable Circular Bioeconomy : A Brief Literature Review; [Istotna rola pirolizy i karbonizacji hydrotermalnej w zrównoważonej biogospodarce o obiegu zamkniętym: krótki przegląd literatury]
- 2024
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Ingår i: Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae. - : Scientific Publishing House of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University. - 1733-1218 .- 2719-826X. ; 22:2, s. 101-114
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- This is a brief but focused literature review of articles centered around pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) using various feedstocks, including residues from industries, agriculture, and landfill waste. The deployment of bio-wastes will be the cornerstone of circular bio-economies in the future. The main emphasis is on gleaning how these two technologies can contribute to a sustainable circular (bio) economy, by understanding the process parameters influencing the quality, type and quantity of the final output. HTC and pyrolysis, it may be undeniably stated, can support the progress towards a clutch of sustainable development goals (SDGs), as they operate right at the confluence of solid waste management and renewable energy production. As mentioned in many of the articles reviewed in this paper, a high process temperature usually results in higher yields of bio-oil and biogas/pyrogas (and thereby less biochar), implying a higher energy recovery. HTC trumps pyrolysis on many counts – economy, energy-efficiency and product (hydrochar) quality. However, pyrolysis is a simpler method to regulate, and pyrochar, has a higher market value vis-à-vis hydrochar. While both these technologies generate valuable end-products regardless of the type of feedstock used; the articles reviewed clearly show that the feedstock does influence the quality of the output and thereby the application to which it can be directed. The review leads to recommendations for future research in collecting data and creating a model to in-vestigate various process parameters. Some of these recommendations are detailed comparative life cycle assessments (LCAs) to study the environmental impacts of technology-choices,, research into tailoring the optimal method and temperature to the feedstock deployed, and comprehensive forecast-based economic analysis of commercial-scale pyrolysis and HTC projects, are called for. As stated at the beginning, this is a brief review, which can also be expanded to take more published articles into its fold. © 2024, Scientific Publishing House of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University. All rights reserved.
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| 7. |
- Lidbrand, Isabell, et al.
(författare)
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Paper Bags vis-à-vis LDPE Bags : Gleanings from Peer-reviewed E-LCA Publications [Torby papierowe a torby foliowe LDPE: wnioski z recenzowanych publikacjina temat oceny cyklu życia (E-LCA)]
- 2023
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Ingår i: Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae. - Poland : Scientific Publishing House of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University. - 1733-1218 .- 2719-826X. ; 21:4, s. 63-76
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Fossil-plastics or paper? Or for that matter, bio-plastics and paper? This is a wellentrenched question in academic research, industrial, social and policy-making circles. Asenvironmental life-cycle analyses (or more appropriately, sustainability analyses) show timeand again, no single product or process or mode of operation is a ‘total villain’. There are goodsand bads, and at times, more of the one than the other. This paper, which is based on a coursereport written by the first author at Karlstad University (Sweden), restricts itself to a review ofpublications which have opted to compare paper bags with low density polyethylene (LDPE)plastic bags, on the basis of their environmental impacts. Environmental impact categoriesinclude the global warming potential, energy demand, fossil fuel depletion, water usage,acidification, eutrophication, and a range of toxicities – human, terrestrial, freshwater-aquaticand marine-aquatic. The articles were obtained through Google Scholar, read and reviewed toglean the results presented therein. The ‘What’, ‘How’ and ‘Where’, so to say were studiedcarefully to understand the reasons behind any differences or similarities detected. On the basisof this focused review, even though no new knowledge is being added, the common belief thatthe paper bag is environmentally superior to the LDPE alternative is further consolidated.However, if one focuses on water usage and would assign a high weightage to thatenvironmental impact, LDPE perhaps may score a few ‘brownie points’ over paper. One mustalso not forget that plastics (LDPE in this instance) can be recycled without significantdeterioration in its functional properties. In a circular economy (the bioeconomy part of whichgradually will expand over time), while introducing more and more bio-based products into thetechnosphere by way of trans-materialization is recommended, plastics will still continue toexist – albeit in much smaller amounts – and it would be perfectly fine if the degree of recyclingis augmented significantly. Speaking of a holistic sustainability analysis, the socio-economicaspects of a choice between LDPE and paper bags must also be factored in, and studied. Muchdesired change happens when the top-down meets the bottom-up somewhere midway.
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| 8. |
- Ocklind, Felicia, et al.
(författare)
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Optimisation of Water-Use in Pulp and Paper Mills : A Streamlined Review of Scientific Journal Publications
- 2024
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Ingår i: Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae. - Warsaw, Poland : Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego. - 1733-1218 .- 2719-826X. ; 22:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abstract: The water-, and energy footprints of the processes in the pulp and paper industry are sizable enough to warrant investment of money and commitment of time truncate the same. Besides, there is also a nexus between water and energy here, with optimisation of the use of one of these resoruces enabling that of the other too. This streamlined review focuses on journal publications (originating from different parts of the world, and targeted at researchers and decision-makers in the industry) which train the lens on the optimisation of water use in this particular sector of the (forestry) bioeconomy. The synergies and complementarities which exist among different sustainable development goals (SDGs) , promise positive ripple effects, caused by attending to the truncation of the water footprint. The articles, in general, recommend effective in-plant wastewater treatment in combinaton with recirculating the treated effluent, and looking upon the water streams as carriers or bearers of valorisable substances – organics which can yield a host of bio-products in bio-refineries, including bio-energy. Availing of water-pinch analysis as a tool to uncover possibilities of water use in a cascade (depending upon the requirements imposed on the water, by processes downstream in the cascade), has been shown to aid in the optimisation of both water use and energy demand within the plant. One case study, for example, showed that the demand for steam can be decreased by about 4 GJ per ton of output, by recovering the waste heat in the water streams.
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