Sustainability Commons^™

The Barriers To Adopting Composting Toilets Into Use In Urban And Suburban Locations In The United States, Julia Branstrator

Open Access Theses

The amount of fresh water available in the world is a finite resource. Large quantities of the fresh water are located in remote locations, while more accessible sources of fresh water are disproportionately distributed around the world. Some populations lack reliable access to clean water for daily life, making the routine use of potable water in toilets of upper-income countries a questionable practice in terms of resource responsibility, energy use, and sustainable infrastructure. The innovative nature of composting toilets offers potential solutions to the downfalls of conventional, waterborne toilets. However, the path to adoption of composting toilets has encountered barriers …

Walkable Gettysburg— How Pedestrian Friendly Is The Borough Of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania?, Samuel C. Gilvarg, Shane A. Kesnig

Student Publications

Walkability is a measure of how easily pedestrians can reach a variety of destinations via walking. Greater walkability has been linked to several benefits, including improvements in human health, economic stimulus, and improved air quality. We surveyed 37 blocks in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to record the presence of 13 design factors such as street trees and pedestrian oriented amenities that have been shown to encourage walking. These results were then compared with the Walk Score from walkscore.com, a common measurement tool of walkability. Based on the surveys, we calculated a design quality score (DQI) for each block. There was no correlation …

Green-Technology Automobiles: Can Modern Innovations Save The Environment And Consumers' Pockets, Nicholas M. Uline, Steven M. Mahon, Jason P. Potter

Student Publications

Cars of the past are notorious for poor fuel efficiency and high carbon emissions. With the presence of hybrid technology, along with a variety of other green innovations, many of these negative side effects can be mitigated. The purpose of this study is to answer the question: how do green technology vehicles compare with similar models that exclude such innovations in relation to efficiency and price? A total of 47 green-tech vehicles were identified and compared against their base model counterparts. Vehicle weight, horsepower, fuel efficiency and other variables were matched within pairs (green-tech vs. base) and between car types …

A Crude Awakening: The Relationship Between Petroleum Exploration And Environmental Conservation In Western Uganda, Kristina Ericson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In this study the researcher aims to explore the emerging oil and natural gas processes in the Republic of Uganda and the potential impacts that such exploration will generate upon Uganda’s biodiversity and local livelihoods. The researcher will approach this topic through extensive research on emerging and current legal frameworks pertaining to Uganda’s natural environment, and through practicum-based research via leading non-profit organizations in Uganda.

During the research process the researcher worked as a Student Research Intern with International Alert. International Alert is an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that works to promote peace building and conflict resolution in over thirty …

Mitigating Climate-Induced Migration In Rural Morocco: Improving Sustainable Development To Address Socio-Economic And Environmental Causes Of Migration, Jesse Meisenhelter

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Morocco unique geography has made the country vulnerable to climate-induced migration (CIM) for three reasons. First, Moroccois located in a region identified as the highest vulnerability to climate change (IPCC, 2014). Second, Morocco’s economy remains dependent on natural resources due to a history of neo-liberal development and agriculture policies (Davis, 2006). These policies’ failure to diversify and develop the economy in rural regions has made Morocco the most geographically inequitable country in the MENA region (World Bank). Lastly, located just 14 km from Spain, Morocco has a 50-year history of migrating to Europe for work and opportunity (Eddouada, 2014). This …

Predictors Patterns And Processes Of Extinction Risk In Porgies And Seabreams (Family: Sparidae), Mia Theresa B. Conteros

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

A variety of human-induced changes are having profound impacts on the marine environment, and no area on the planet remains unaffected by the detrimental effects of our activities. These stressors can potentially lead to synergistic effects, causing accelerated biodiversity loss and diminished ecosystem functioning. Identification and understanding of the factors that drive species to heightened risk of extinction are important goals in conservation.

The Sparidae are commercially important and ecologically complex marine fishes; global extinction risk assessments using the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species methodology show that 9% (13 species) have increased vulnerability to population declines from intense fishing …

Damming Brazil, Thyra Brody

e-Research: A Journal of Undergraduate Work

Hydroelectric power is often considered a safe and clean alternative to the combustion of fossil fuels. Although the consequences to the air and atmosphere are lower, damming large rivers in the jungles of Brazil have a significant impact on indigenous populations and environmental ecosystems. This article examines such fallout and calls out for equity, and social and environmental justice. As the fuel of the last century burns out the hectic scramble for a tenable alternative is becoming an increasingly serious question mark. We would do well for ourselves, and future generations, to try and solve the environmental issues associated with …

2014 Fall Engr333 Project Assignment, Matthew K. Heun

ENGR 333

The Fall 2014 ENGR333 project focused on net zero homes.

I asked the students “What would it take for a home in Grand Rapids to become net-zero?”

Customer

The customers for this project were several homeowners in the Grand Rapids area.

Umphlett Qci Sept 2014, Natalie Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

􏰞􏰥􏰬􏰨􏰤􏰵􏰶􏰫Streamflow

Long-term Impacts of Drought

Cool, Wet Summer Benefits

Heavy Precipitation Impacts the Missouri River and its Tributaries

3-Month Precipitation and Temperature Outlooks

Soil Moisture Conditions

An Assessment Of The Energy Generation Potential Of Photovoltaic Systems In Cameroon Using Satellite-Derived Solar Radiation Datasets, Lacour Ayompe, Aidan Duffy

Articles

Cameroon like most developing countries does not have a reliable network of surface observation stations for collecting weather data. This has been a major drawback for accurate assessment of the energy generation potential of photovoltaic systems in Cameroon. A viable alternative is to obtain site-specific solar irradiation from satellite-derived datasets. In this paper, the energy output, capacity factor and performance ratio of photovoltaic systems in 33 locations spread around ten regions in Cameroon have been evaluated using monthly average daily global horizontal solar irradiation from long-term satellitederived data available in Solar GIS software. An economic assessment revealed that a simple …

Information And Entropy Theory For The Sustainability Of Coupled Human And Natural Systems, Audrey L. Mayer, Richard P. Donovan, Christopher W. Pawlowski

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Publications

For coupled human and natural systems (CHANS), sustainability can be defined operationally as a feasible, desirable set of flows (material, currency, information, energy, individuals, etc.) that can be maintained despite internal changes and changes in the environment. Sustainable development can be defined as the process by which CHANS can be moved toward sustainability. Specific indicators that give insight into the structure and behavior of feedbacks in CHANS are of particular interest because they would aid in the sustainable management of these systems through an understanding of the structures that govern system behavior. However, the use of specific feedbacks as monitoring …

Walmart's Sustainability Journey: Elizabeth Fretheim And The Search For Sustainable Trucking, David G. Hyatt

Wal-Mart Sustainability Case Project

In early 2014 Elizabeth Fretheim, Director, Business Strategy and Sustainability for Logistics with Walmart, was reviewing with other members of the transportation team data on the fuel efficiency of their private fleet, which included over 6,000 trucks and 61,000 trailers operated by over 7,000 drivers. The logistics and transportation groups were vigilant in their basic goals of (1) loading trucks efficiently, (2) driving fewer miles, and (3) investing in fuel efficient equipment. But this issue concerned the drivers’ impact on mpg. In particular, the data showed that idling had increased over the past calendar year (2013) compared to the year …

Light Pollution Research Through Citizen Science, John Kanemoto

STAR Program Research Presentations

Light pollution (LP) can disrupt and/or degrade the health of all living things, as well as, their environments. The goal of my research at the NOAO was to check the accuracy of the citizen science LP reporting systems entitled: Globe at Night (GaN), Dark Sky Meter (DSM), and Loss of the Night (LoN). On the GaN webpage, the darkness of the night sky (DotNS) is reported by selecting a magnitude chart. Each magnitude chart has a different density/number of stars around a specific constellation. The greater number of stars implies a darker night sky. Within the DSM iPhone application, a …

An Interpretive Plan Guide For Wilderness Park In Lincoln, Nebraska, Rachel J. Ward

Community and Regional Planning Program: Professional Projects

Wilderness Park, located in Lancaster County, Nebraska, is a public park of unique ecological and historical value to the city of Lincoln and to the surrounding region. The natural and historical features of the park present an opportunity to communicate environmental and historical topics that are relevant on local, national, and global levels, as well as inspire a lively sense of pride in the community. The problem is that many topics relevant to Wilderness Park are not currently being interpreted at the park, and that there are relatively few interpretive resources available to park visitors.

The purpose of this project …

Building Envelope For Energy-Efficient Residential Homes, A Case Study For The U.S. Department Of Energy Challenge Home Student Design Competition, Milica Tajsic

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With the continuous rise of population and expansion of urban areas, the need for additional housing and infrastructure is growing rapidly. Building sector is consuming a vast majority of the natural resources to meet the needs of urbanization and is in need of efficient, sustainable solutions that are viable for the customer, the economy and the environment. The building sector is both the problem and the solution to the issues of the carbon footprint of our society (Architecture 2030, 2011).

The envelope (roofs, walls, and foundations) and windows typically account for 36% of overall energy use, or about 14.3 quads …

Biomass Scoping Study: Opportunities For Agriculture In Western Australia, Kim Brooksbank, Mitchell Lever, Harriet Paterson, Melissa Weybury

Bulletins 4000 -

This 2014 report aims to provide a summary of national and international activity in the use of agricultural by-products for the production of bioenergy and biofuels. The summary is primarily an internal report for the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA), but will hopefully be of some value to industry proponents that are interested in pursuing the opportunities provided by what are currently low value agricultural waste products. We outline three processes for obtaining energy from these by-products that may be appropriate for the farming sector in Western Australia (WA).

Power Optimization, Diagnostic Monitoring, And Modeling Of Photovoltaic System, Khalid Hurayb

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy has been sustaining a major growth rate over the last decade in many parts of the world. This steep growth has been driven by concern about climate change, the adoption of renewable portfolio standards, government incentives, and reduction in PV system costs. Recently, however, such large PV penetration into the electrical grid is cause a concern that might curb such a growth; namely, the incontrollable intermittency of power generated on cloudy days. Furthermore, conventional PV system configurations often do not harness the maximum power that is available under partial shading caused by clouds or shadows of …

Opuntia Ficus-Indica Mucilage Potential To Remove Nuclear Active Contaminants From Water Based On A Surrogate Approach, Jose Adan Leon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Potable water is a necessity and unfortunately, it can be contaminated in many different ways. This paper specifically addresses the case scenario when, water has been contaminated by radionuclides. The mucilage of Opuntia ficus-indica (OFI), has been proven to be a great flocculating agent, turbidity reducer, crude oil dispersant and an environmentally friendly substance as an absorbent of water contaminants. In this work, the OFI mucilage was investigate to evaluate its capacity to separate radioactive ions from water. The surrogate approach is modeled based on water studies performed by Willi A. Brand, who proved that radioactive isotopes behave similar to …

Droughtscape, Summer 2014, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

Director’s report

Outlook

Drought & climate summary

Drought impacts

International drought monitoring and planning

Visiting scholars

North American Drought Monitor Forum

New primary Dust Bowl source

New additions to online webinar archive

Community Capitals Framework Institute

Experimental Study Of Unsteady Heat Release In An Unstable Single Element Lean Direct Injection (Ldi) Gas Turbine Combustor, Varun S. Lakshmanan

Open Access Theses

In an effort to curb emissions from gas turbine engines, many low emission engine concepts have been developed. Among the most promising of these is the LDI (Lean Direct Injection). These systems operate at relatively low equivalence ratios close to blowout and are prone to instabilities. Combustion instabilities can reduce the life of the combustor by causing large pressure fluctuations and enhanced heat release to the walls of the combustor and reduce the efficiency of the engines. The understanding of combustion instabilities is vital to the implementation of such systems. Combustion instabilities are studied in an self-excited single element gas …

The Effect Of Increasing Rates Of Biochar On Corn Grown In Salinas Clay Loam, Joshua Fridlund

Agricultural Education and Communication

In order to sustain the ever growing global population, agriculture needs to not only increase yields but to increase yields in a way that is sustainable and is either environmentally neutral or has a positive effect on the environment. Biochar offers a solution to this challenge with numerous environmental benefits, as well as agricultural benefits (Lehman and Joseph 2009). The agricultural benefits of biochar have been well documented in tropical climates, with the benefits of biochar for other climates, such as temperate climates and Mediterranean climates, relatively unknown (Blackwell et. al. 2009). To determine the effect of biochar on agricultural …

Umphlett Qci June 2014, Natalie Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

􏰞􏰥􏰬􏰨􏰤􏰮􏱨Streamflow

Drought Impacts to Livestock

Continued Cold Hampers Producers in North

3-Month Precipitation and Temperature Outlooks

U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook

Owning Our Food System: Urban Community Gardening And Local Food Movements, Paige A. Edwards

Masters Theses

Food is a means of examining culture, including identity, autonomy and power. It creates relationships and memories between people via shared connections. Through food, I explore local food movements and urban community gardening.

We both ingest and produce garden-grown foods. This movement is often described as simple nostalgia. I suggest that it is a response against heavily processed foods within a system reliant on mass produced food. This desire for ownership pushes community gardens and other counter-hegemonic spaces forward in their goals of using social practice to challenge the established food industry and take control within their own lives.

Water In The 21st Century, Grayson Michael Shor

Social Sciences

The aim of this research project is to provide a comprehensive and global analysis of water use in order to provide the reader with a comprehensive grasp of current and impending issues. The included five (5) chapters discuss water distribution, conservation, purification, law, international development, economic debates, ethical consideration, as well as educated estimations of the effects water related issues may cause in the next one-hundred years.

An Integral Framework For Sustainable Building Design, Bushra Asfari

Masters Theses

Selection of materials for building design is a delicate process hinged of a number of factors which can be cost or environmental related, depending on the objectives of the design. This process becomes more difficult when designers are faced with several material options for each building component. This thesis presents the design and development of a framework that enables designers understand the trade-off between cost and environmental related factors when selecting materials for building design. The framework is based on the integration of Autodesk Revit, Microsoft access, and modeling modified Harmony search multi-objective optimization tool adapted to account for material …

Mapping Landscape Values: Issues, Challenges And Lessons Learned From Field Work On The Olympic Peninsula, Washington, Diane Besser, Rebecca J. Mclain, Lee Cerveny, Kelly Biedenweg, David Banis

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

In order to inform natural resource policy and land management decisions, landscape values mapping (LVM) is increasingly used to collect data about the meanings that people attach to places and the activities associated with those places. This type of mapping provides geographically referenced data on areas of high density of values or associated with different types of values. This article focuses on issues and challenges that commonly occur in LVM, drawing on lessons learned in the US Forest Service Olympic Peninsula Human Ecology Mapping Project. The discussion covers choosing a spatial scale for collecting data, creating the base map, developing …

The Community Economic Impacts Of Large Wildfires: A Case Study From Trinity County, California, Emily Jane Davis, Cassandra Moseley, Max Nielsen-Pincus, Pamela J. Jakes

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Wildfires are increasing in severity and frequency in the American West, but there is limited understanding of their economic effects at the community level. We conducted a case study of the impacts of large wildfires in 2008 in Trinity County, California, by examining labor market, suppression spending, and qualitative interview data. We found that the 2008 fires had interrelated effects on several economic sectors in the county. Labor market data indicated a decrease in total private-sector employment and wages and an increase in public-sector employment and wages during the summer of 2008 compared to the previous year, while interviews captured …

Biodynamic Agriculture: A Valuable Alternative To The Industrial Farming System, Eden K. Olsen

Scripps Senior Theses

Since the Scientific and Industrial revolutions, advancing technologies and cutting-edge science have enabled our society to continually promote a growing global economy. Industrial growth has increasingly become a top priority for most governments, notably in the agricultural realm. The advances towards agricultural industrialization began in the 17^th century and escalated during the Green Revolution, which examined the possibility of using synthetic fertilizers and mechanization in farming to decrease labor and improve yields. Although seen as economically beneficial, the shift from an agrarian lifestyle to industrial farming has created an ecological, economic, and ideological crisis to our modern world. This …

The Pacific Crest Trail: A History Of America’S Relationship With Western Wilderness, Jenn Livermore

Scripps Senior Theses

The Pacific Crest Trail has become increasingly popular since Clinton Clarke first envisioned such a trail in the 1930’s. By comparing the original motives and experience of the trail to the realities of the trail today, the trail’s fluid narrative becomes apparent. While this narrative is ever changing, over the course of the trail’s history one theme has remained constant – a notably problematic relationship with wilderness rooted in an exaltation of the sublime and post-frontier ideals. This thesis focuses on how the Pacific Crest Trail’s development over the past eighty years has created an experience that, on the surface, …

The Reclamation Of Public Parks: An Analysis Of Environmental Justice In Los Angeles, Allison Rigby

Scripps Senior Theses

People who live in cities are far more likely to suffer the physical and psychological effects of urban environments--high noise levels, automobile emissions, toxic industrial waste, crowded living conditions, and a general scarcity of open space. Combating these issues, public parks do more than provide recreational space. They are fundamental to any efforts focusing on urban revitalization, social justice, and sustainability. In downtown Los Angeles, public parks are rare, especially in low-income communities. Several new public parks have reclaimed abandoned land, unwelcoming spaces, and the City’s brownfields. After years of intense private use and neglect, spent land has been reinvigorated …