Introduction:
Humanity`s Technological evolution from the simplest things like a needle all the way to rockets is owed to the environment and also to the humanity itself, a debt that’s very hard to be settled as the fair price is our future. Since the industrial revolution through the past 2 centuries until now has reached its highest rates, actually very dangerous rates. We all have seen the smokestacks emissions from refineries going up into our air, yes, it’s not the most beautiful scene you will ever see, examples are open to your imagination. One of the biggest causes of air pollution is the greenhouse gas factories by burning fossil fuels releasing high amounts of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxides into our atmosphere, Factories are the primary contributors in acidizing rain, chemical spills and disposal of toxic waste.
Here are some numbers from the World`s Health Organization (WHO)`s 2016 pollution report:
- Nine out of 10
people around the globe breath polluted air
- Each year, around 7 million people die from air pollution as its level remain dangerously high, 5 Million deaths from south-east Asia, Africa and the Western Pacific region
- 90% of pollution-related deaths occur in low and middle-income countries mainly in Asia and Africa
- Delhi is on top of the world`s most polluted cities (megacities), Cairo comes in the 2nd place as shown in the following diagram
people today are besieged by pollution by all means, in water, Air, soil and food thus, sustainability has become a necessity if we are going to make some real steps towards securing the future existence of the next generations
The sustainability concept
Sustainability concept history:
Sustainability concept appeared for the first time in modern history back in the middle of the 20th century in Oxford English dictionary which means ^lastingness^, but that’s not the first time the humans exposed to the (sustainability concept), from the early beginning of the human race history the demand for raw materials affected the environment replenishment badly. Deforestation, salinization, and loss of fertility are not modern history problems, actually the humanity suffered from environmental issues through its history, from the ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Greek & Roman to Plato in 5th BC century, to Strabo and Columella in the 1st Ad century discussing how human activates from farming to logging and mining resulted in different types of environmental degradation
Sustainable development:
So, what is the meaning of sustainability today, the sustainability concept is deeply attached to the sustainable development, we can’t mention one without the other, sustainable development definition is simply meeting the needs of today without compromising the ability of the future generations to fulfil their needs, seems to be simple matter?! Ok, words are easier than acting, in a result of that the sustainable development concept has been overused without any meaningful Implications
Classical Greco-Roman era was the first time the progress ideas popped out in the human’s mind, but the cons appeared when the industrial capitalism wasn’t fair for all, as the benefits go for the industrial countries and inequality distribution of wealth have made a gap between rich and poor societies widened very badly, as result of that human searched for a sustainable development in a trial to overcome the cons of industrial capitalism, and balancing the world`s wealth’s distribution to avoid the savvy environmental degradation in the future.
Sustainable development examples:
As environmental degradation today reached dangerously alarming rates, nations and organizations recently took some steps towards the sustainability of or resources, here are some examples in hope to be widely undertaken in the near future:
Sustainable energy:
To be more dependent on clean, renewable and green energy and abandon other environment-enemy forms of energy the following are the main aspects of sustainable energy needs more investing and money inflows to make it widely spread:
1- wind Energy: wind turbines have been invented by Prof James Blyth of Anderson’s College 1887 right after the electric generator invention back in 1830, after that the wind energy has been involved widely in our life, as its cost decreased through the years until it became the biggest source of renewable energy generating by the following numbers from 2010 to 2016, only 6 years span of evolving:
Trends in wind electricity generation from 2010 to 2016:
2-solar energy:
Solar energy`s popular usages in water heating for homes and generating electricity there are 2 methods to generate electricity from the sun:
1- Photovoltaics (PV) also called solar cells: PV had been invented back in 1954 bell telephone laboratories in the USA, it can generate electricity directly from the sunlight, the PV of today can be recognized on top of homes or in watches and other forms of technologies manufactured to be sustainable. Fortunately, the cost of manufacturing PV have dramatically fallen through the past 20 years with 30 years life span it can be the winning and ideal electricity generator for personal use, it can be portable. Affordable, high operating life and portable sustainable electricity generator, GREAT isn’t it?!
The photovoltaics (PV) cells
2- concentrated solar power (CSP): consists of mirrors concentrating solar rays on a thin tower which heats fluids that creates steam to drive turbine, also it can be filled with molten salt enables the towers to preserve heat from the sun and generate electricity even after the sunset, the CSP is commonly established in deserts and open areas with no buildings to maximize the CSP`s maximum exposure to sun rays CSP benefits outweigh PV as it can produce electricity more then it PV opponent
Concentrated solar power (CSP)
The following diagram shows the electric generation in the recent decade
Sustainable agriculture: what is sustainable agriculture, why important and its advantages
As we are discussing sustainability, thus sustainable agriculture is all about satisfying our recent needs of food and cloth, simultaneously make sure that land and environment will be passed to the following generations efficient and capable of producing like today or better, by developing more sustainable farming methods and practices which relies on 3 main pillars:
1- healthy environment: is the main goal of the whole process, following the best practices to preserve soil fertility, wise consumption of unpoised clean water, keep healthy air by cutting carbon emissions and pollution which are the main reasons of global warming impacting green life along time
2- economic profitably: all stakeholders should experience economic return in a robust economy from being involved in the process, farmers, consumers, retailers, food processors and the government, a goal can be achieved by marketing the sustainable food and other sustainable products, actually all kinds of products come from land, encourage the sustainable lifestyle, marketing examples are like sea-wide. All consolidated efforts and best practices implementation will necessarily lead the pillar 3- Social-economic equity
With combined efforts of all stakeholders sticking to the cause, sustainable agriculture will be a real matter of fact and we can gain its advantages in present and future
What are the types of sustainable agriculture?!
Well, according to UCSUSA organization, there is 7 best methods and practices of sustainable agriculture:
- Reducing or eliminating tillage
- Applying integrated pest management (IPM)
- Integrating livestock and crops
- Adopting agroforestry practices.
- Planting cover crops.
- Managing whole systems and landscapes.
- Sustainable water management:
Water supply is one of the main issues when we talk about our sustainable living as the water is the most important source for all life forms and any shortage will have a drastic impact on all livings:
- Nearly around 750 million people (12% of the world population) lacking access to adequate water supply
- At the same time 90% of households, commercial and industrial waste are pumped into water flows from lakes to rivers and seas untreated
- 2.5 billion people can’t have access to clean water mainly in the middle east and north Africa regions
- More than 40% (3 billion) of the world population will be living in water stress areas by 2025
Water crises will be extended to include food production insufficiency affecting consistent food supplying, the goal of clean water and sanitation could only be achieved by sustainable water management for the efficient handle of water resources
The following diagram shows the key technology lines among all sector of the water supply market segment:
- Conclusion:
From all mentioned facts about critical environmental problems, natural resources counting down to depletion, that’s require immediate execution of all studies, consolidating efforts toward the cause, more researches, supported innovation and carefully monitoring industries and factories waste management in order to contain the recent problems before we think about sustainability concept. Nations and commercial entities should maintain a mutually concern to the environmental health and to gather all the power needed to secure our future
Encouraging and compensating innovative ideas and researchers, conferences around sustainability, investing more in environment-friendly practices in manufacturing, waste management, green transportation methods, encourage energy saving lifestyle among people around the world and the using of water efficient use fixtures
Of course, we are not too late in the fact by applying most of the previously mentioned practices we can have a strong ground to stand on and raise the ceiling of our sustainable living through the next generations.
Green Urbanism (GU) – International Conference
The 4th international conference on “Green Urbanism (GU)” is taking place in Rome, Italy, from 24 to 26 November 2020.
GU-2020 aims to bring together, scientists, urban planners, architects and other stakeholders from across the globe to discuss the latest research findings in all aspects of sustainability.
Moreover, GU international conference avails the opportunity for interested researchers, scholars, scientists, architects, and engineers from around the globe to submit their research papers and get them published in highly-ranked international journals by the esteemed publishers Springer and IEREK Press. Noting that submitted researches must be in the scope of at least one of the official conference topics and abiding the submission instructions.
Many critical topics will be discussed during the GU conference, such as:
- The Evolution of Green Urbanism
- Formulating the Principles of Green Urbanism
- Urban Design for Nature, Conservation of Natural Resources
- Passive Designs: Green Buildings for Sustainable Use
- Green Districts: Bike, Cycles, and Pedestrians’ Corridors
- Urban Growth of Developing Cities
- City Urban Form and Natural Resources
- Landscape, Gardens, Streetscapes, and Urban Biodiversity
- Urbanization of Rural Area: Energy, Water, and Food Security
- Urban Governance, Leadership, Best Practices, Research, and Awareness
- Green Infrastructure and Sustainable Environment
- Regeneration of the City Center and Urban Transit Hubs
- Waste Management, Pollution, and Health Risks
- Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment
- Effects of Sustainable Environments on Human Health
- Advancing Solutions towards Zero Waste Cities
- Transformation to Green Environment
For more information & registration, visit the conference’s official page: https://www.ierek.com/events/GU4th
