Engineering Commons^™

Making The Human Dimensions Of Sustainable Community Development Visible To Engineers, Juan Lucena, Jen Schneider, Jon A. Leydens

Jen Schneider

Recently, engineers – particularly those working on sustainability-related initiatives – have increasingly turned their efforts towards under-served communities. This paper summarises the findings in Engineering and Sustainable Community Development (Juan Lucena et al., 2010) aimed at a diversity of these efforts which are grouped here under the term ‘engineering to help’. These initiatives often exist under names such as community service, humanitarian engineering, and engineers without borders or activities such as the Institution of Civil Engineers' co-sponsored workshop ‘Helping local communities to help themselves’. Although there has been a blossoming of engineering-to-help-related programmes around the world, there is a …

Slides: Adapting To Climate Change: Lessons Learnt From The Australian Water Experience, Will Fargher

Conversation with Water Management Reps from Colorado and Australia: "Adapting to Climate Change: Lessons Learned from Australia" (February 14)

Presenter: Will Fargher, National Water Commission, Australian Government

18 slides [4 have titles only and are missing images]

Slides: Drilling Waste, Blake Scott

Opportunities and Obstacles to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Natural Gas Development in Uintah Basin (October 14)

Presenter: Blake Scott, Scott Environmental Services, Inc.

24 slides

Balancing Limiting Factors & Economic Drivers For Sustainable Midwestern Us Agricultural Residue Feedstock Supplies, Wally W. Wilhelm, J. Richard Hess, Douglas L. Karlen, Jane M. F. Johnson, David J. Muth Jr., John M. Baker, Hero T. Gollany, Jeff M. Novak, Diane E. Scott, Gary E. Varvel

David J. Muth

Advanced biofuels will be developed using cellulosic feedstock rather than grain or oilseed crops that can also be used for food and feed. To be sustainable, these new agronomic production systems must be economically viable without degrading the soil and other natural resources. This review examines six agronomic factors that collectively define many of the limits and opportunities for harvesting crop residue for biofuel feedstock in the midwestern United States. The limiting factors include soil organic carbon, wind and water erosion, plant nutrient balance, soil water and temperature dynamics, soil compaction, and off-site environmental impacts. These are discussed in relationship …

Balancing Limiting Factors & Economic Drivers For Sustainable Midwestern Us Agricultural Residue Feedstock Supplies, Wally W. Wilhelm, J. Richard Hess, Douglas L. Karlen, Jane M. F. Johnson, David J. Muth Jr., John M. Baker, Hero T. Gollany, Jeff M. Novak, Diane E. Scott, Gary E. Varvel

Douglas L Karlen

Advanced biofuels will be developed using cellulosic feedstock rather than grain or oilseed crops that can also be used for food and feed. To be sustainable, these new agronomic production systems must be economically viable without degrading the soil and other natural resources. This review examines six agronomic factors that collectively define many of the limits and opportunities for harvesting crop residue for biofuel feedstock in the midwestern United States. The limiting factors include soil organic carbon, wind and water erosion, plant nutrient balance, soil water and temperature dynamics, soil compaction, and off-site environmental impacts. These are discussed in relationship …

The Very Basics Of Sustainability - An Alternative Viewpoint, Jim Mcgovern

Other resources

This paper examines the context and meaning of the term ‘sustainability’, the factors that determine and govern climate on Earth, the population of the Earth and its trends and influencers, the requirements for sustaining life and the options that are available to humankind. Some viewpoints are presented that are alternative to ‘conventional alternative’ thinking. The author advocates keeping an open mind on all available options, including the use of oil, gas, coal, tar sands, carbon capture and sequestration, nuclear power etc., as well as the technologies that are more widely considered ‘green’ and also argues that humankind needs to face …

The Very Basics Of Sustainability - An Alternative Viewpoint (Slides With Audio) (Large File! To Speed Up Download, Right-Click On "Download" Link To Save To Own Pc.), Jim Mcgovern

Other resources

This presentation sets out the very basics of ‘sustainability’, although a definition of sustainability is not attempted. Some of the very basics are the context in which the Earth and humankind exist in space and time, the Earth’s climate, the Earth’s population and humankind’s options and choices. The author advocates keeping an open mind on all available options, including the use of oil, gas, coal, tar sands, carbon capture and sequestration, nuclear power etc., as well as the technologies that are more widely considered ‘green’. The author also argues that, in addressing the challenges that humankind faces, globally concerted effort …

Quantifying Total And Sustainable Agricultural Biomass Resources In South Dakota—A Preliminary Assessment, Kurt A. Rosentrater, Dennis Todey, Russell Persyn

Kurt A. Rosentrater

Conversion of biomass is considered the next major advance in biorenewable fuels, energy, and products. Wholesale conversion to biomass utilization could result in removal of current crop residues from agricultural fields (on prime agricultural lands) or even implementation of different crops and cropping strategies (i.e., switchgrass on marginal lands). To date, the driver for biomass processing has been economics and limitations on the conversion of the lignocellulose. Over the last forty years significant investments and resultant changes in management practices in the agricultural sector have focused on soil and water conservation. One of the major efforts has focused on conservation-till …

Engineers, Development, And Engineering Education: From National To Sustainable Community Development, J. Lucena, J. Schneider

Jen Schneider

In October 2007, Norman Borlaug wrote in Science magazine that ‘more than 200 science journals throughout the world will simultaneously publish papers on global poverty and human development – a collaborative effort to increase awareness, interest, and research about these important issues of our time’. Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and father of the green revolution, was demonstrating that the scientific community is at last taking questions seriously of sustainability and development. Borlaug's own contentious role in the history of ‘development,’ however, points to the complexity of the term and the contested role scientists and engineers have played in that …

Quantifying Total And Sustainable Agricultural Biomass Resources In South Dakota, Kurt A. Rosentrater, Russell Persyn, Dennis Todey

Kurt A. Rosentrater

Conversion of biomass is considered the next major advance in biorenewable fuels, energy, and products. Wholesale conversion to biomass utilization could result in removal of current crop residues from agricultural fields or even implementation of different crops and cropping strategies (i.e., switchgrass). To date, the driver for biomass processing has been economics and limitations on the conversion of the lignocellulose. Over the last forty years significant investments and resultant changes in management practices in the agricultural sector have focused on soil and water conservation. One of the major efforts has focused on conservation-till or no-till, with the goal of retaining …

A System Dynamics Model Of The Pacific Coast Rockfish Fishery, Wayne Wakeland, Olgay Cangur, Guillermo Rueda, Astrid Scholz

Systems Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper presents a model of the dynamic behavior of the yellowtail rockfish of the Pacific Coast of the United States. The purpose of the model is to generate endogenously the historical data for fish population, fishing vessels, regulatory parameters, and fish harvest. The model was subjected to a variety of tests to determine its sensitivity to changes in key parameters and initial values, including extreme conditions. Model results indicate that acceptable biological catch and fleet capacity must be adjusted quickly in response to changing conditions, in order to improve fishery sustainability. Additional analysis reinforces the policy of setting the …

Coalbed Methane Development In The Intermountain West: Primer, Gary Bryner

Coalbed Methane Development in the Intermountain West (April 4-5)

50 pages (includes color illustrations and maps).

Contains 7 pages of endnotes.

Coming To Grips With Growth In The West: Traditional Communities, Free Rivers, And The New Megalopolises, Charles Wilkinson

Dams: Water and Power in the New West (Summer Conference, June 2-4)

25 pages.

Contains 2 pages of references.

Is Sustainable Agriculture Possible In The Arid West?: The Example Of The Ogallala Aquifer, John Opie

Sustainable Use of the West's Water (Summer Conference, June 12-14)

16 pages.

Contains 2 pages of references.

Agenda: Sustainable Use Of The West's Water, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Sustainable Use of the West's Water (Summer Conference, June 12-14)

Conference organizers and/or faculty included University of Colorado School of Law professors David H. Getches, Lawrence J. MacDonnell, Teresa A. Rice, Elizabeth A. Rieke and Charles F. Wilkinson.

Sustainable development is on the policy agenda for the '90s. What does sustainability mean? Is it a realistic concept? Are water rights compatible with sustainable use? The Center's 16th annual summer conference will explore the meaning of sustainability in the context of the West's demands, development, and natural values. Presentations by leading experts will address the broad concept of sustainable development, with a particular look at Arizona's experience. The focus will be …

Agriculture’S Cap Experience: Sustainability For Whom?, Paul N. Wilson

Sustainable Use of the West's Water (Summer Conference, June 12-14)

23 pages.

Contains endnotes and references.

The Economics Of Solar Water Heaters : A Guide For Evaluating The Cost-Effectiveness Of Active Solar Water Heating Systems In Maine, Maine Office Of Energy Resources

Maine Collection

The Economics of Solar Water Heaters : A Guide for Evaluating the Cost-Effectiveness of Active Solar Water Heating Systems in Maine

State of Maine, Executive Department, Office of Energy Resources,

Augusta, Maine (July, 1979).

Contents: Section I: Introduction / Section II: Economic Method: The Life Cycle Cost Analysis / Section III: Factors Affecting the Decision to Buy / Section IV: Explanation of the Tables / Table I - Table IIIA

Water Resources Of Tacoma, Washington, Richard Martin Glaser

Graduate Student Research Papers

This study explores the fresh water and hydroelectricity resources of the City of Tacoma, Washington. The history and development of the water supply and hydroelectric facilities is examined. One can see that the development of the water resources has been directly affected by the growth in population and industry and that the nearness to the city of development sites has been an aid in this development. With the amount of water available at present and the increase in hydro-electric facilities during this decade, the future outlook for Tacoma in the field of water resources seems bright.