ABSTRACT
The aim of the special issue “Interactions of Forests, Climate, Water Resources, and Humans in a Changing Environment” is to present case studies on the influences of natural and human disturbances on forest water resources under a changing climate. Studies in this collection of six papers cover a wide range of geographic regions from Australia to Nigeria with spatial research scale spanning from a tree leaf, to a segment of forest road, and large basins with mixed land uses. These studies clearly show the strong interactions among forests, global climate change, water quantity and quality, and human activities at multiple scales. Understanding the underlying processes of response of natural ecosystems and society to global climate change is essential for developing actionable science-based climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies and methodologies. Future research should focus on feedbacks among forests, climate, water, and disturbances, and interactions of ecohydrologic systems, economics and policies using an integrated approach.
ABSTRACT
Due to gradual depletion of world petroleum reserves and the impact of environmental pollution of increasing exhaust emissions, there is an urgent need for suitable alternative fuels for use in engines. The heightened awareness of green house gas emissions and global warming compels introduction of more stringent environmental regulations worldwide. Renewable biofuels are considered potential solution for these problems. But use of biofuel is creating tribology related new challenges world over. In this paper a critical analysis of tribology related issue of three main biofuels, namely Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO), biodiesel and alcohols are discussed. Many issues like lubricity of blends, carbon deposit, viscosity, corrosion of engine components, etc are discussed in detail. Quality control of biofuels, identified as a key factor for sustainable market growth of these fuels and can lead to many tribological issues. In this regard a dire need for global harmonized standards is also discussed. Different solutions for alcohol fuel related engine problems are discussed. Critical discussion in relation to the problems due to the use of SVO in engine, like engine performance decrease, injector choking, oil ring sticking, etc took place in this paper. Potential solutions to these problems found by academia as well as industry are discussed here.
ABSTRACT
This paper aims to critically analyze the epidemiology of road traffic accident in India. It is noteworthy to mention that India already accounts for about 9.5% of the total 1.2 million fatal accidents in the world. In 2009, for every 4.14 minute and 1.13 minute one death and one injury took place in India from road accident, respectively. Between 1970 and 2009 the number of accidents has quadrupled (1.1 lakh in 1970 to 4.22 lakh in 2009) with nearly 6.5 fold increase in injuries (0.7 lakh in 1970 to 4.67 lakh in 2009) and nearly 9.5 fold increase in fatalities (0.14 lakh in 1970 to 1.27 lakh in 2009). During the period of 2004 to 2009, road accident rate, injury rate and casualty rate per 105 population have been increased by 8.5%, 4.7% and 29.8%, respectively. In 2009, total 1,08,409 male and 18,487 female died in road accident. It was also observed that in last five years (2005 to 2009) average 84.9% male and 15.1 % female died in road accident. In 2009, total 90,298 people, out of total 1,26,896 accident victims died from age group of (5-44 Yrs), which is the most productive age group for nation. Average percentage share of last five years (2005-2009) for the age groups (Up to 14 Yrs), (15–29 Yrs), (30–44 Yrs), (45–59 Yrs), and (Above 60 Yrs) were 6.35, 29.84, 35.05, 20.97 and 7.79, respectively. The month-wise distribution of ‘Road Accidents’ has also shown more accidents during May (38,928) and June (36,234) sharing 9.2% and 8.6% respectively. Maximum ‘Road Accidents’ (68,835) were reported during 3 p.m. to 6 p.m (16.3%), 64,191 cases during 9 a.m. to 12 noon (15.2%), and least number (28,984) of these accidents (6.9%) was reported during 1200 to 3 AM in the night. The causewise number of persons killed in road accidents indicates that almost three-fourths of the accidents were due to driver’s fault.
ABSTRACT
Between 1906 and 2005, records show that global average air temperature near the earth’s surface increased by 0.74 ± 0.18°C. If emissions of greenhouse gases, and in particular CO2, continue unabated the enhanced greenhouse effect may alter the world’s climate system irreversibly. Total emissions of greenhouse gases, across all sectors, were 42.4 gigatonnes (Gt) of CO2-eq in 2005. Energy sector, accounts for 84% of global CO2 emissions and 64% of the world’s greenhouse-gas emissions. Energy-related CO2 emissions rise from 28.8 Gt in 2007 to 34.5 Gt in 2020 and 40.2 Gt in 2030. Global percapita emissions of energy-related CO2 in 2007 was 4.4 tonnes. Higher growth of automobiles and consumption of petroleum products is invariably attended by concerns of pollution and climate changes. Global fleet of passenger light-duty vehicles (PLDVs) is estimated to increase from 770 million in 2007 to 1.4 billion in 2030. Among all sectors that emit CO2, the transport sector is the fastest growing, representing from 22% to 24% of global GHG emissions from fossil fuel sources, second only to the industrial sector. World emissions of NOx were 82 Mt in 2007, of which Road transport was responsible for about one-third of NOx emissions. Only Road transport related CO2 emission is estimated to increase from 4.8 Gt in 2007 to 6.9 Gt in 2030. The increase in CO2 emissions is largely a result of increasing demand for individual mobility in developing countries. There are strong efforts and renewed investments by manufacturers and suppliers in providing solutions to the CO2 reduction challenge. Low-carbon vehicles, such as hybrid cars, plug-in hybrids and electric cars, have received widespread public attention recently. It is estimated that share of hybrids in the global fleet will reach about 5% by 2020 and almost 8% by 2030, up from just 0.15% in 2007. Plug-in hybrids and electric cars will constitute only 0.2% of the global fleet in 2030. But increase in electricity consumption in road transport in future due to increased penetration of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, sees transport sector CO2 savings partially offset by power generation emissions. An estimated increase of 880 TWh of electricity consumption in transport in 2030, of which 90% occurs in PLDVs, will result in about 250 Mt of additional CO2 emissions. Authors forecasted that the use of environmentfriendly and clean technologies is going to make all the difference between the winners and the losers of the industry. It is noted that current policies are insufficient to prevent a rapid increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It is recommended that policy makers and researchers should give more emphasis on ‘cost-effectiveness as most important factor to reduce automotive GHG emission reduction’. It is also concluded that CO2 savings will be maximized if well-to-wheel impact is clearly addressed at all stages of the fuel and energy chain.