You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
This book surveys state-of-the-art research on and developments in lithium-ion batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles. It summarizes their features in terms of performance, cost, service life, management, charging facilities, and safety. Vehicle electrification is now commonly accepted as a means of reducing fossil-fuels consumption and air pollution. At present, every electric vehicle on the road is powered by a lithium-ion battery. Currently, batteries based on lithium-ion technology are ranked first in terms of performance, reliability and safety. Though other systems, e.g., metal-air, lithium-sulphur, solid state, and aluminium-ion, are now being investigated, the lithium-ion system is likely to dominate for at least the next decade – which is why several manufacturers, e.g., Toyota, Nissan and Tesla, are chiefly focusing on this technology. Providing comprehensive information on lithium-ion batteries, the book includes contributions by the world’s leading experts on Li-ion batteries and vehicles.
This volume examines historical views of stewardship that have sometimes allowed humans to ravage the earth as well as contemporary and futuristic visions of stewardship that will be necessary to achieve pragmatic progress to save life on earth as we know it. The idea of stewardship – human responsibility to tend the Earth – has been central to human cultures throughout history, as evident in the Judeo-Christian Genesis story of the Garden of Eden and in a diverse range of parallel tales from other traditions around the world. Despite such foundational hortatory stories about preserving the earth on which we live, humanity in the Anthropocene is nevertheless currently destroying the plan...
Our future hinges on a set of elements that few of us have even heard of. In this surprising and revealing book, David S. Abraham unveils what rare metals are and why our electronic gadgets, the most powerful armies, and indeed the fate of our planet depend on them. These metals have become the building blocks of modern society; their properties are now essential for nearly all our electronic, military, and “green” technologies. But their growing use is not without environmental, economic, and geopolitical consequences. Abraham traces these elements’ hidden paths from mines to our living rooms, from the remote hills of China to the frozen Gulf of Finland, providing vivid accounts of those who produce, trade, and rely on rare metals. He argues that these materials are increasingly playing a significant role in global affairs, conferring strength to countries and companies that can ensure sustainable supplies. Just as oil, iron, and bronze revolutionized previous eras, so too will these metals. The challenges this book reveals, and the plans it proposes, make it essential reading for our rare metal age.
States in mineral-rich jurisdictions must promote mining as a development industry just as they must protect people and environment from the worst excesses of extractivism. State Governance of Mining, Development and Sustainability explores how the State’s role in facilitating a developmental and sustainable mining industry has been defined. In doing so, this astute book considers the impact of the policies and laws of mineral-rich States themselves, multilateral international governance institutions, industry associations, and environmental justice advocates in the areas of property relations, mineral taxation, environmental management and mine closure.
Examining the potential benefits and risks of using artificial intelligence to advance global sustainability. Drones with night vision are tracking elephant and rhino poachers in African wildlife parks and sanctuaries; smart submersibles are saving coral from carnivorous starfish on Australia's Great Barrier Reef; recycled cell phones alert Brazilian forest rangers to the sound of illegal logging. The tools of artificial intelligence are being increasingly deployed in the battle for global sustainability. And yet, warns Peter Dauvergne, we should be cautious in declaring AI the planet's savior. In AI in the Wild, Dauvergne avoids the AI industry-powered hype and offers a critical view, explo...
This book addresses the growing need for a standard textbook on input-output analysis (IO) within the context of industrial ecology (IE). IE is a discipline dedicated to providing system-wide, quantitative, and science-based solutions for sustainable development challenges, and its global importance has been rapidly increasing. The primary analytical tools of IE are life-cycle assessment (LCA) and material flow analysis (MFA). IO has been widely utilized for LCA since the late 1990s and is increasingly being applied to MFA as well. This trend is being driven by the greater availability and application of global IO data, which now includes an ever-expanding number of countries and regions. Despite the presence of excellent textbooks on IO and IE individually, there is a lack of resources that integrate these two fields. This book seeks to fill that gap by focusing on the practical application of IO to IE, specifically in the context of LCA and MFA. By combining these methodologies, readers can gain valuable insights into sustainable development issues and contribute to more effective solutions in the field of IE.
Time is of the essence. Climate change looms as a malignant force that will reshape our economy and society for generations to come. If we are going to avoid the worst effects of climate change, we are going to need to effectively "decarbonize" the global economy by 2050. This doesn't mean a modest, or even a drastic, improvement in fuel efficiency standards for automobiles. It means 100 percent of the cars on the road being battery-powered or powered by some other non-carbon-emitting powertrain. It means 100 percent of our global electricity needs being met by renewables and other non-carbon-emitting sources such as nuclear power. It means electrifying the global industrials sector and repl...
Rare earths are elements that are found in the Earth's crust, and are vital ingredients for the production of a wide variety of high tech, defense, and green technologies-everything from iPhones and medical technologies to wind turbines, efficiency lighting, smart bombs, and submarines. While they are not particularly "rare" in availability, they are difficult and expensive to mine. Yet, China has managed to gain control over an estimated 97 percent of the rare earth industry since the 1990s through cheap production, high export taxes, and artificial limitations of supply. Rare earths, and China's monopoly over them, became international news after China "unofficially" curtailed exports to J...
This book describes and analyses necessities for a more resource-efficient world. It discusses solutions for a more sustainable use of natural resources, addressing decision-makers and experts from the fields of policy development, industry, academia, civil society, and the media. The book presents strategies, concrete ways and examples of achieving more sustainable resource use in practice. Following on from two previous titles published on Factor X by the Umweltbundesamt (German Environment Agency), entitled “Factor X: Policy, Strategies and Instruments for a Sustainable Resource Use” (2013) and “Factor X: Re-source – Designing the Recycling Society” (2014), this book further inv...
This edited volume presents the research results of the Collaborative Research Center 1026 “Sustainable manufacturing - shaping global value creation”. The book aims at providing a reference guide of sustainable manufacturing for researchers, describing methodologies for development of sustainable manufacturing solutions. The volume is structured in four chapters covering the following topics: sustainable manufacturing technology, sustainable product development, sustainable value creation networks and systematic change towards sustainable manufacturing. The target audience comprises both researchers and practitioners in the field of sustainable manufacturing, but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students.