Sustainable bioenergy production strategies for rural India

The paper aims to assess the potential of decentralized bioenergy technologies in meeting rural energy needs and reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Decentralized energy planning is carried out for the year 2005 and 2020. Decentralized energy planning model using goal programming technique is applied for different decentralized scales (village to a district) for obtaining the optimal mix of energy resources and technologies. Results show that it is possible to meet the energy requirements of all the services that are necessary to promote development and improve the quality of life in rural areas from village to district scale, by utilizing the locally available energy resources such as cattle dung, leaf litter and woody biomass feedstock from bioenergy plantation on wastelands. The decentralized energy planning model shows that biomass feedstock required at village to district level can even be obtained from biomass conserved by shifting to biogas for cooking. Under sustainable development scenario, the decentralized energy planning model shows that there is negligible emission of CO₂, oxide of Sulphur (SOx) and oxide of nitrogen (NO_x), even while meeting all the energy needs.     

Current perspective on wastewater treatment using photobioreactor for Tetraselmis sp.: an emerging and foreseeable sustainable approach

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Urbanization is a revolutionary and necessary step for the development of nations. However, with development emanates its drawback i.e., generation of...     

Metallic and non-metallic nanoparticles from plant,animal, and fisheries wastes: potential and valorization for application in agriculture

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Global agriculture is facing tremendous challenges due to climate change. The most predominant amongst these challenges are abiotic and biotic...     

Accumulation of heavy metals in soil and paddy crop (Oryza sativa), irrigated with water of Ramgarh Lake,Gorakhpur, UP,India

Heavy metals, a highly polluting group of constituents known to exert adverse effects, tend to accumulate in living organisms. The objective of this study was to determine the accumulation and translocation of heavy metals in soil and in paddy crop irrigated with lake water compared to soil and paddy crop irrigated with bore-well water. The quantities of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, As, Mn, and Hg) were determined in different parts of rice plants (Oryza sativa). Results revealed that the mean levels of soil Cd, Cr, Pb, Zn, As, Mn, and Hg in experimental soil and in different parts of rice plant (root, straw, and grain) were higher than the control except for Cu. The content of eight toxic metals was significantly higher in root than in aerial parts of the rice (straw and grains). Rice roots were enriched in Cd, As, Hg, and Pb from the soil, while Cr, Cu, Zn, and Mn were hardly taken by the roots. Bioaccumulation factor for Hg was significantly higher than other heavy metals. Metal transfer factors from soil to rice plants were significant for Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, As, Mn, and Hg. The concentrations of metals in lake water were found to be within the permissible limit of Indian standard prescribed by Central Pollution Control Board (2000), except for Hg and As, which were higher than the limit of Indian standard. However, the concentrations of heavy metals in soil and rice grains were still below the maximal levels, as stipulated by Indian Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (PFA, 1954) and World Health Organization (WHO, 1993) guidelines.     

Proposed city-specific interim targets for India based on WHO air quality guidelines 2021

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The World Health Organization has proposed the ambient air quality guidelines 2021. The uniqueness of the guidelines of the World Health Organization...     

Antecedents and consequences of adopting CLTS among tribal communities to become open defecation free: case study on Indian Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The Swachh Bharat Mission undertaken by the Government of India (GoI) has been successful in accomplishing this objective within a short period...