All about understanding biomass stoves - designing, challenges, and facilitation. Anyone can make low-cost efficient stoves by reading this book. This is a pragmatic book based on the over a decade experience of the author in parts of India and abroad. This book presents the results of a decade of dedicated promotion and experimentation with fuel efficient stoves in India by my friend Sai Bhaskar Reddy Nakka. Sai Bhaskar’s approach has been original in many ways. He has investigated the different mixes of biomass used in different areas of India – not just fuel wood but also leaves, dung, pellets, briquettes, seeds and other materials. He then designed the different stoves accordingly. Sai Bhaskar also looked at different products from the stoves – obviously the direct heating but also the possibility of producing charcoal (Biochar) as a by-product from the stoves. This work is not lab-based but undertaken in the promotion campaigns he has been involved within Andhra Pradesh and parts of other states in India. The relevance of this work is large. Many people are and will remain dependent on local biomass for their daily needs. This issue of biomass has often associated with the degradation of the surrounding environment: the depletion of natural tree stands or the loss of nutrients to the growing cycle. It has also been associated with hardship: collecting biomass – typically by women – over large areas, and health issues because of excessive smoke from in-house fires. For all these reasons I am very happy that this book of ‘The Stove Man’ could be prepared, to share the praxis-based knowledge developed by a unique innovator and to serve as a source of inspiration and new ideas for those working in energy and development. We hope that this book gives an impulse to the constant effort to make lives better and richer. - Frank van Steenbergen, MetaMeta, Netherlands.

"The 21st century will see monumental change. Either the human race will use its knowledge and skills and change the way it interacts with the environment, or the environment will change the way it interacts with its inhabitants. In the first case, the focus of this book, we would see our sophisticated understanding in areas such as physics, chemistry, engineering, biology, planning, commerce, business and governance accumulated over the last 1,000 years brought to bear on the challenge of dramatically reducing our pressure on the environment. The second case however is the opposite scenario, involving the decline of the planet's ecosystems until they reach thresholds where recovery is not possible, and following which we have no idea what happens. For instance, if we fail to respond to Sir Nicolas Stern's call to meet appropriate stabilisation trajectories for greenhouse gas emissions, and we allow the average temperature of our planets surface to increase by 4-6 degrees Celsius, we will see staggering changes to our environment, including rapidly rising sea level, withering crops, diminishing water reserves, drought, cyclones, floods ... allowing this to happen will be the failure of our species, and those that survive will have a deadly legacy. In this update to the 1997 International Best Seller, Factor Four, Ernst von Weizsäcker again leads a team to present a compelling case for sector wide advances that can deliver significant resource productivity improvements over the coming century. The purpose of this book is to inspire hope and to then inform meaningful action in the coming decades to respond to the greatest challenge our species has ever faced 6 that of living in harmony with our planet and its other inhabitants."--Publisher's description.

Biomass currently accounts for about 15 per cent of the global primary energy consumption and is particularly important as an energy resource in developing countries. It will undoubtedly play an increasing role in the world's energy consumption. Which crops make up this large percentage of our energy resources? Where do they grow and what can be done to boost the levels of production? What impact does their cultivation have on the environment and development? The book starts with aspects of biomass accumulation, harvesting, transportation and storage, as well as conversion technologies for biofuels. This is followed by a look at the environmental impact and economic and social dimensions, including prospects for renewable energy. The book then goes on to cover all the main potential energy crops. For each main species it gives a brief description, outlines the ecological requirements, methods of propagation, crop management, rotation and production, harvesting, handling and storage, processing and utilization, then finishes with selected references. All those whose work involves biomass production, whether as agriculturalist, student, farmer, producer, planner or policy maker will find this book an invaluable reference work.

Despite the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region's impressive economic growth, over 1 billion of its people still lack access to electricity and modern cooking solutions. To achieve universal access to modern energy by 2030, this book exhorts EAP countries to advance simultaneously on two paths: (1) accelerate programs for grid and off-grid electricity through appropriate policies and innovative technologies; and (2) scale up access to clean cooking fuels and efficient cooking stoves, particularly for biomass in poor rural areas.

Hands-on, practical solutions to save money by making smart energy changes One of the best and most affordable strategies people can employ to combat global warming is to improve the energy and water efficiency of their homes. Energy Efficient Homes For Dummies provides homeowners with advice, tips, and projects to reduce costs, increase energy efficiency, and cut down on waste and pollution. After performing a do-it-yourself home energy audit, readers create an action plan based on their personal goals. Readers are presented with a wide range of potential solutions, from making better use of blinds and awnings to exploring geothermal options in order to reduce household costs and their impact on the planet. Rik DeGunther (Rescue, CA) is the founder of Efficient Homes, an energy consulting firm that focuses on home energy audits and the design of efficient heating and cooling systems.

This book contains the proceedings of the The 5th Annual International Seminar on Trends in Science and Science Education (AISTSSE) and The 2nd International Conference on Innovation in Education, Science and Culture (ICIESC), where held on 18 October 2018 and 25 September 2018 in same city, Medan, North Sumatera. Both of conferences were organized respectively by Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and Research Institute, Universitas Negeri Medan. The papers from these conferences collected in a proceedings book entitled: Proceedings of 5th AISTSSE. In publishing process, AISTSSE and ICIESC were collaboration conference presents six plenary and invited speakers from Australia, Japan, Thailand, and from Indonesia. Besides speaker, around 162 researchers covering lecturers, teachers, participants and students have attended in this conference. The researchers come from Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Palembang, Jambi, Batam, Pekanbaru, Padang, Aceh, Medan and several from Malaysia, and Thailand. The AISTSSE meeting is expected to yield fruitful result from discussion on various issues dealing with challenges we face in this Industrial Revolution (RI) 4.0. The purpose of AISTSSE is to bring together professionals, academics and students who are interested in the advancement of research and practical applications of innovation in education, science and culture. The presentation of such conference covering multi disciplines will contribute a lot of inspiring inputs and new knowledge on current trending about: Mathematical Sciences, Mathematics Education, Physical Sciences, Physics Education, Biological Sciences, Biology Education, Chemical Sciences, Chemistry Education, and Computer Sciences. Thus, this will contribute to the next young generation researches to produce innovative research findings. Hopely that the scientific attitude and skills through research will promote Unimed to be a well-known university which persist to be developed and excelled. Finally, we would like to express greatest thankful to all colleagues in the steering committee for cooperation in administering and arranging the conference. Hopefully these seminar and conference will be continued in the coming years with many more insight articles from inspiring research. We would also like to thank the invited speakers for their invaluable contribution and for sharing their vision in their talks. We hope to meet you again for the next conference of AISTSSE.