Sustainability Commons^™

Construction Method Of Transparent Working Face Based On Borehole Radar, Jiang Bici, Cheng Jianyuan, Li Ping, Liu Wenming, Yu Junhui, Wu Guoqing

Coal Geology & Exploration

The high-precision detection of coal rock interface is the key and difficult point to construct the three-dimensional geological model of intelligent mining. A method is proposed to construct regional coal rock interface geological model and realize transparent working face by using single hole reflection radar in the hole along coal seam and multi hole detection results. For single borehole radar data, the coal seam radar wave velocity is calculated by using the slope of roadway wave in-phase axis, and the spatial constrained migration imaging is used to realize the accurate calculating of coal seam top/floor reflection interface. Three transparent working …

Construction Method On Transparent Geological Guarantee Technologies: A Case Study Of Wuhai Mining Area, Gu Baoze, Dai Zhenhua, Li Mingxing, Chen Baohui

Coal Geology & Exploration

Coal geological guarantee technologies are applied in the whole life cycle of the coal industry. The technologies are the basis and premise of realizing safe, efficient, intelligent and green mining of coal resources, and plays a key role in disaster prevention, hidden disaster-causing factor detection and intelligent mining of coal. Without any doubt, geological transparency is the crucial task to improve the ability of intelligent analysis and decision-making, automatic and precise control, and efficient coal mining. For the purpose of solving the problems faced by Wuhai Mining Area in the construction of coal mine intellectualization, such as complex geological conditions …

Feasibility Study Of The Metaverse Technology In Coal Mine Emergency Training And Drills, Guo Yangyang

Coal Geology & Exploration

Coal mine safety training and emergency drills are effective measures to prevent disasters and accidents. At this stage, however, there are problems such as the boring training content, drills emphasizing “performance” rather than “practice”, and formalism. Metaverse technology integrates VR, AR, 3D, blockchain, Internet of things, AI, digital twin and other technologies, therefore, it is characterized by intuitiveness, strong interaction and high knowledge conversion rate in coal mine safety training and emergency drills, which can well solve the above problems. Now the metaverse technology is increasingly mature from hardware, software to various supporting facilities, while it is still faced with …

Sustainable Pathways: Different Strategies (For Different Global Regions), Karim Ahmed

Sustainability Seminar Series

Dr. Ahmed will discuss the state of Planet Earth in January 2022. At present, climate change, global water scarcity and biodiversity loss present both scientists and policy makers with an existential challenge in the near term that is unprecedented in human history. In addition, economic inequality between rich and poor countries continues to impede any progress being made in a socially-just context. Failure to address these globally looming issues in an integrated manner poses a crippling inability to address them with any sense of urgency. Although many “green” solutions and technological means are available to tackle these issues, it is …

Benefits Of Cover Cropping Systems In Walnut Orchards As Sustainable Agricultural Practice, Ana Medic, Consuelo B. Baez Vega

CSU Journal of Sustainability and Climate Change

In recent years walnut orchards implemented cover crops in between rows to improve soil’s quality, lessen soil’s erosion, increase organic matter, manage nutrient movement and availability, enhance water retention, and expand microbe, insect, and flora diversity. Commonly selected cover crops in California are from families Poaceae, Brassicaceae, and Fabaceae. Considerations should be made when choosing a particular cover crop mixture to enhance multiple benefits and improve sustainable practices in orchard settings. An experiment was conducted in a walnut orchard to compare functionality and benefits of three systems multi-crop, monocrop, and no vegetation cover crop system. The following components were evaluated: …

A Closer Look At Csr Practices In Sustainable Fashion: A Guideline For Apparel Brands, Elline Deogracias, Tracie Tung, Natale Zappia

CSU Journal of Sustainability and Climate Change

While it might be greenwashing that impedes consumers' eco-consumption, the researchers posit that this gap is also due to fashion brands’ weak CSR communication and inconsistent understanding of CSR activities. This study aims to 1) determine the ease with which consumers can navigate sustainable fashion brand websites to find corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, and 2) construct a framework that clearly identifies CSR activities, CSR dimensions, and the business operation stages at which they occur. Website content analyses were conducted on 27 sustainable fashion brands in the United States to investigate their CSR activities. A framework was proposed to better …

Modeling Vapor Transfer In Soil Water And Heat Simulations: A Modularized, Partially-Coupled Approach, Zhuangji Wang, Dennis Timlin, David Fleisher, Wenguang Sun, Sahila Beegum, Sanai Li, Ya Chen, Vandimalla R. Reddy, Katherine Tully, Robert Horton

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Coupled water and heat transfer models are widely used to analyze soil water content and temperature dynamics, evaluate agricultural management systems, and support crop growth modelling. In relatively dry soils, vapor transfer, rather than liquid water flux, becomes the main pathway for water redistribution. However, in some modularized soil simulators, e.g., 2DSOIL (Timlin et al., 1996), vapor transfer is not included, which may induce errors in soil water and heat modelling. Directly embedding vapor transfer into existing water and heat transfer modules may violate the modularized architecture of those simulators. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to design a …

The New Shiny Penny? Regenerative Agriculture Beliefs And Practices Among Portland's Urban Agriculturalists, Melia Ann Chase

Dissertations and Theses

Regenerative agriculture (RA) is a set of farming and land management practices intended to support or enhance soil health and carbon sequestration potential of soils while producing food, fiber, or other agricultural products. It has received broad acclaim from scholars, corporations, and governmental bodies as a potential means of sequestering carbon and mitigating climate change impacts. It has also received critique and pushback for its vague definition, shifting metrics, and lack of acknowledgement of the Indigenous practices underlying the modern suite of regenerative practices. The purpose of this research is to investigate the beliefs Portland, Oregon urban agricultural practitioners hold …

The Influence Of Local Embeddedness On The Economic, Social, And Environmental Sustainability Practices Of Regional Small Firms, Jalleh Sharafizad, Janice Redmond, Craig Parker

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Despite growing research on economic, social, and environmental sustainability, few studies explore all three sustainability pillars and implemented practices, in the context of regional small firms. This study uses a novel integration of two theoretical concepts, local embeddedness, and sustainability embeddedness orientation, to fill this knowledge gap. Using 26 interviews, the study highlights the nuanced interconnectedness of three new theoretical concepts that link local embeddedness and sustainability embeddedness–locally embedded sustainability values, spatially-driven sustainability and locally adapted sustainability. An integrated theoretical framework is provided that uses the three new concepts to explain how and why small firm local embeddedness in regional …

Saving The Campus Farm: One Approach To Leveraging Institutional Support For A Campus Farm Space, Julia L. Angstmann

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The number of university and college campus farms have increased 13-fold since 1992 to over 300 campuses (LaCharite, 2016). According to reporting by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) (2018), 80% of campus farm spaces are less than 5 acres in size and 86% are located on campuses with no agriculture school (AASHE, 2018). Campus farms provide a rich interdisciplinary social context of community based, sustainable agriculture that spans the entire suite of social and physical sciences as well as non-STEM fields such as business, religious studies, and communication. Yet, the majority of these farm …

A Call For The Library Community To Deploy Best Practices Toward A Database For Biocultural Knowledge Relating To Climate Change, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Abstract

Purpose – In this paper, a call to the library and information science community to support documentation and conservation of cultural and biocultural heritage has been presented.

Design/methodology/approach – Based in existing Literature, this proposal is generative and descriptive— rather than prescriptive—regarding precisely how libraries should collaborate to employ technical and ethical best practices to provide access to vital data, research and cultural narratives relating to climate.

Findings – COVID-19 and climate destruction signal urgent global challenges. Library best practices are positioned to respond to climate change. Literature indicates how libraries preserve, share and cross-link cultural and scientific knowledge. …

The Use Of Microalgal Sourced Biodiesel To Help Underground Mines Transition To Battery Electric Vehicles, Corey A. Laamanen, Kyle Moreau, Sabrina M. Desjardins, Shannon H. Mclean, John A. Scott

Journal of Sustainable Mining

The use of fossil fuel sourced diesel underground has various associated health and environmental hazards, and additional energy demand and costs associated with necessary ventilation. One way to reduce these impacts is by utilizing a biodieselblend, which generates lower levels of harmful emissions from underground equipment and can be produced regionally, reducing the impact of transportation. Furthermore, this would help allow use of existing machinery during transition towards more widespread electrification underground. Therefore, the concept of an integrated supply and use chain within the mining industry is examined based on biodiesel from acidophilic photosynthetic microalgae cultivated using CO 2 in …

Investigating The Effectiveness Of A Ground Support System Implemented On Block A: A Case Study Of Southern Africa Metalliferous Mine, Kamogelo Manyelo, Peter Kolapo

Journal of Sustainable Mining

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the ground support systems that are planned to be implemented on Block A, which will be excavated through the Marikana fault zone. The block of ground being prepared for mining has been physically affected by the presence of the Marikana fault and is therefore geomechanically and geotechnically weaker than the normal stoping conditions on the rest of the shaft. Joint mapping conducted in Block A raiselines indicated that there is a high concentration of shallow dipping joints which are dipping in opposite directions. Such conditions present special challenges in the planned excavations …

Application Of Entropy Method For Estimating Factor Weights In Mining-Method Selection For Development Of Novel Mining-Method Selection System, Elsa Pansilvania Andre Manjate, Mahdi Saadat, Hisatoshi Toriya, Fumiaki Inagaki, Youhei Kawamura

Journal of Sustainable Mining

Mining-method selection (MMS) is one of the most critical and complex decisionmaking processes in mine planning. Therefore, it has been a subject of several studies for many years culminating with the development of different systems. However, there is still more to be done to improve and/or create more efficient systems and deal with the complexity caused by many influencing factors. This study introduces the application of the entropy method for feature selection, i.e., select the most critical factors in MMS. The entropy method is applied to assess the relative importance of the factors influencing MMS by estimating their objective weights …

Justice For Islands That Suffer Most: Stacy-Ann Robinson, Gerry Boyle

Colby Magazine

Robinson grew up in Jamaica and has seen the destruction levied on the island by extreme storms. A human geographer and assistant professor of environmental studies at Colby, Robinson has also seen firsthand the challenges faced by Jamaica and places like it as they try to obtain resources needed to cope with the brunt of climate change.

Sources And Techniques Of Domestic Heating Within Tritia Region, Malgorzata Wysocka, Krystian Skubacz, Krzysztof Samolej

Journal of Sustainable Mining

The paper presents the balance of energy consumption for domestic heating in Opole and Silesian Voivodship (Poland), divided into various media. The report was based on an analysis of approximately 250 documents containing low-carbon economy plans for individual municipalities (gminas). The authors compared the current situation in these voivodships and their districts with the structure of the heating system in Poland as a whole, based on data from the Central Statistical Office of Poland. The data demonstrate that the use of coal-based energy media has not changed significantly over the years and around 55-60% of households with individual heating systems …

Modelling The Throttle Effect In A Mine Drift, Rickard Hansen

Journal of Sustainable Mining

The throttle effect is a phenomenon, which may occur during a fire underground, causing unforeseen smoke spread. This paper focuses on the modelling of the throttle effect in a mine drift, using a CFD software. The aim of the paper is to investigate whether the CFD tool is able to predict and reproduce the throttle effect for fire scenarios underground. Experimental data from fire experiments in a model-scale mine drift and modelling results from a CFD model were used during the analysis. It was found that the CFD model was not able to fully reproduce the throttle effect for fire …

Unemployment Inequality, Dylan Visbara

Goal 1: No Poverty

No abstract provided.

Fish And Invertebrate Use Of Restored Vs. Natural Oyster Reefs In A Shallow Temperate Latitude Estuary, Jonathan H. Grabowski, Christopher J. Baillie, Adam Baukus, Rachael Carlyle, F. Joel Fodrie, Rachel K. Gittman, A. Randall Hughes, David L. Kimbro, Juhyung Lee, Hunter S. Lenihan, Sean P. Powers, Kevin Sullivan

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Coastal marine habitats continue to be degraded, thereby compelling largescale restoration in many parts of the world. Whether restored habitats function similarly to natural habitats and fully recover lost ecosystem services is unclear. In estuaries, oyster reefs have been degraded by multiple anthropogenic activities including destructive fishing practices and reduced water quality, motivating restoration to maintain oyster fisheries and other ecosystem services, often at relatively high cost. We compared fish and invertebrate communities on recently restored (0–1 year post-restoration), older restored (3–4 years post-restoration), and natural oyster reefs to determine if and when restored reefs support functionally similar faunal communities. …

Understanding The Impacts Of Urban Agriculture In Gentrifying Neighborhoods In Denver, Kate Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Urban Agriculture is prominent in cities across the United States and has been studied in relation to food security, sustainability, and gentrification. Urban agriculture is context specific and can include individual gardens, community gardens, guerilla gardening, and urban farms. Urban agriculture is a product of the community it is based in, depending on politics, history, and social environments. For these reasons, the relationship between urban agriculture and the community is an area where more research is needed. This thesis explores the role visible gardens play in community building, sustainability, and food security in gentrifying neighborhoods in Denver. Through qualitative methods …