This book presents the main concepts of water footprint, ecological footprint, carbon footprint, virtual water and the Ipai model (Integrated Environmental Footprint Index). Ipai model covers the water, ecological and carbon footprints of heterogeneous communities of Paraíba, small, medium and large cities of Paraíba and countries by continent. With an accessible language, it analyzes deeply the indices of water, ecological, carbon and Ipai footprints.

This book covers the use of life-cycle assessment, risk assessment, and a combined framework of the two in the estimation of environmental damage, providing explanations of methods and descriptions in the environmental analysis of industrial processes. The book opens by examining environmental strategies, then places life-cycle and risk assessment

Sustainability Appraisal is a sourcebook of the state-of-the-art of this rapidly emerging and diversifying area. It draws on a wealth of international experiences and approaches to illustrate the status and scope of Sustainability Appraisal/Assessment (SA) This comprehensive guide highlights how SA can be used to analyse and integrate the key environmental, social and economic pillars of sustainability into decision-making at all levels, from policy to project to investment, by government, business and industry, or international organizations. Distilling both published and unpublished materials, and with contributions from a range of leading experts, organizations and agencies, this book will be of significant value to professionals everywhere who are in need of a solid, reference guide to what constitutes SA practice and, more importantly, how and when it can be applied.

Life-cycle assessment is a methodology used to evaluate the environmental impacts of a product, process, or service during its life cycle, and risk assessment is a tool to evaluate potential hazards to human health and the environment introduced by pollutant emissions. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals call for, among other objectives, responsible consumption and production by decoupling environmental resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth and human well-being. Life-cycle assessment and risk assessment are both analytical system approaches that allow scientists and other decision makers to address these issues and objectives according to the current understanding of environmental mechanisms. This book is the first attempt to illustrate the existing interfaces between life-cycle assessment and risk assessment and to indicate options for further integration of both tools. The second edition: Focuses on sustainability Considers new developments in life-cycle assessment and environmental risk assessment over the last ten years at the international level Introduces broader concepts and discussions on integrative versus the complementary use of life-cycle and risk assessments Extends the scope of integrated life-cycle and risk assessments to critical raw materials Includes more case studies and discusses engineered nanomaterials Featuring contributions from leading experts, Integrated Life-Cycle and Risk Assessment for Industrial Processes and Products is a great reference for graduate students and professionals in environmental management and intends to catalyze communication between life-cycle assessment and risk assessment experts and scientists in academia, industry, and governmental agencies. The practical format of the book—illustrated with flowcharts, examples, exercises, and concrete applications—makes it a useful manual for analyzing situations and making decisions.

As the human population expands and natural resources become depleted, it becomes necessary to explore other sources for energy consumption and usage. Renewable and Alternative Energy: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications provides a comprehensive overview of emerging perspectives and innovations for alternative energy sources. Highlighting relevant concepts on energy efficiency, current technologies, and ongoing industry trends, this is an ideal reference source for academics, practitioners, professionals, and upper-level students interested in the latest research on renewable energy.

As the climate and environment continue to fluctuate, researchers are urgently looking for new ways to preserve our limited resources and prevent further environmental degradation. The answer can be found through computer science, a field that is evolving at precisely the time it is needed most. Soft Computing Applications for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency brings together the latest technological research in computational intelligence and fuzzy logic as a way to care for our environment. This reference work highlights current advances and future trends in environmental sustainability using the principles of soft computing, making it an essential resource for students, researchers, engineers, and practitioners in the fields of project engineering and energy science.

This unique sourcebook provides a global, state-of-the-art review of the rapidly evolving field of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) that is intended to serve as a baseline for the work of an OECD Task Team on SEA and a UNEP initiative on integrated planning and assessment. It describes trends in application and experience in different contexts worldwide, providing in-depth coverage of the status of SEA systems, and practice in developed, transitional and developing countries by a range of development agencies. The book draws on a large body of published and unpublished material, and contributions from a wide range of individual experts, organizations and agencies. It provides an unparalleled and invaluable understanding of the emerging scope and potential of SEA and describes how, when and where it is being used. The sourcebook includes a probing review of concepts, terminology, approaches and tools of SEA, and a comparative analysis of the different types of existing SEA systems. The volume also contains many case examples illustrating SEA practice in different countries and contexts, a full set of references and a number of appendices containing source materials.