Win-win opportunities and environmental regulation: testing of porter hypothesis for Indian manufacturing industries

This paper studies the effect of environmental regulation on the productive efficiency of water polluting industries in India. The panel data of 92 firms belonging to sugar industry of India during the period 1996-99 are used to test the Porter hypothesis of having win-win opportunities for the firms subjected to the regulation. The main empirical result is that the technical efficiency of firms increases with the degree of compliance of firms to the environmental regulation and the water conservation efforts there by supporting the Porter hypothesis.     

Subsampling program for the estimation of fish impingement

Federal regulations require operators of nuclear and coal-fired power-generating stations to estimate the number of fish impinged on intake screens. During winter months, impingement may range into the hundreds of thousands for certain species, making it impossible to count all intake screens completely. We present graphs for determinig the appropriateoptimal subsample that must be obtained to estimate the total number impinged. Since the number of fish impinged tends to change drastically within a short time period, the subsample size is determined based on the most recent data. This allows for the changing nature of the species-age composition of the impinged fish. These graphs can also be used for subsampling fish catches in an aquatic system when the size of the catch is too large to sample completely.     

Oceanographic Studies off Beypore Port, West Coast of India to Locate a Dredge Dumping Site

This study presents the salient results of the oceanographic investigations carried out along the west coast of India to locate a dumping site for the dredged material generated from the capital of the proposed development of the all weather port. Based on the results of movement of disposed material obtained from a 2 dimensional coastal circulation model and considering the possibility of having a navigational channel later on in line with the port, a dumping site is recommended at the 15 m water depth contour with coordinates: Latitude 11 degrees 07.00'; Longitude 75 degrees 45.60', where the environmental impacts on the ecosystem due to dumping operations is considered to be minimum.     

Rural energy transitions in developing countries: a case of the Uttam Urja initiative in India

In most developing countries, at the household level, traditional burning of biomass or use of inefficient technologies for domestic applications like lighting is common, triggering concerns related to fuel or technology switching. The paper focuses on opportunities to promote cleaner energy options through development of value chains delivering improved energy efficiency and access in developing countries. We discuss the example of Uttam Urja, a field project involving the dissemination of photovoltaic lighting technologies in rural areas of India. We focus on the challenges of introducing radical innovations into the residential energy sector in developing countries. For the purpose of this paper the Uttam Urja project is conceptualized as an ‘experiment’ and analysed using the Strategic Niche Management (SNM) framework. The paper emphasizes that to effect socio-technical transitions to clean energy options on the ground, it is desirable to focus on technology customization and innovative financing to cater to the needs and concerns of end users.     

Morphology of single inhalable particle inside public transit biodiesel fueled bus

In an urban-transit bus,fueled by biodiesel in Toledo,Ohio,single inhalable particle samples in October 2008 were collected and detected by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry(SEM/EDS).Particle size analysis found bimodal distribution at 0.2 and 0.5 μm.The particle morphology was characterized by 14 different shape clusters:square,pentagon,hexagon,heptagon,octagon,nonagon,decagon,agglomerate,sphere,triangle,oblong,strip,line or stick,and unknown,by quantitative order.The square particles were common in the samples.Round and triangle particles are more,and pentagon,hexagon,heptagon,octagon,nonagon,decagon,strip,line or sticks are less.Agglomerate particles were found in abundance.The surface of most particles was coarse with a fractal edge that can provide a suitable chemical reaction bed in the polluted atmospheric environment.The three sorts of surface patterns of squares were smooth,semi-smooth,and coarse.The three sorts of square surface patterns represented the morphological characteristics of single inhalable particles in the air inside the bus in Toledo.The size and shape distribution results were compared to those obtained for a bus using ultra low sulfur diesel.     

Forest biomass extraction for livestock feed and associated carbon analysis in lower Himalayas,India

Accounting the changes in the net carbon (C) sink-source balance is an important component for greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) inventories. However, carbon emission due to the vegetation biomass extraction for household purposes is generally not accounted in forest carbon budget analysis due to miniscule volume and non-availability of data. However, if vegetation remains in the forests, then vegetation biomass decomposes after natural death and decay and fixes some carbon to soil and releases some directly to the atmosphere. The study attempts to quantify the carbon removal against the biomass extraction for livestock feed by collecting primary data on feed from 316 randomly selected households engaged in livestock rearing in the lower Himalayas, Uttarakhand, India and carbon flow components due to livestock production. The analysis results that average daily forest fodder consumption was 13 kg per Adult Cattle Unit (ACU) and total of 20.31 Million tonnes (Mt) consumption of forest biomass by total livestock of Uttarakhand. This results into absolute annual carbon removal of 3.25 Mt from Uttarakhand forests against the livestock fodder. However, overall carbon flow including the enteric fermentation and manure management system of livestock estimated as per IPCC guidelines, results into emissions of 9.42 Mt CO₂ eq. Therefore, biomass extraction for household purposes should be accounted in regional carbon flow analysis and properly addressed in the GHG inventories of the forests and livestock sector. Suitable measures should be taken for emissions reduction generated due to forest based livestock production.     

Deep eutectic solvents in the transformation of biomass into biofuels and fine chemicals: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The global energy demand has been projected to rise over 28% by 2040, calling for more renewable resources such as lignocellulosic biomass to produce biofuels, and...     

Three-phase partitioning for the separation of proteins,enzymes, biopolymers,oils and pigments: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Modern biomass and organic waste are becoming major, carbon-neutral sources of fine chemicals, biomolecules and fuels to replace fossil fuel products. As a...