eChapters

Sustainability

Sustainability is a complicated concept. The most often cited definition comes from the U.N. World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED): “Sustainable development is the development that fulfills the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their requirements.” Hence, sustainability has been defined as meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Commercial Building

Commercial buildings consist of government buildings, banks, hospitals, schools, malls, retail, restaurants, and office spaces. Among these, office and retail occupy the major percentage of energy consumption. 

More than 40% of the total final energy consumption and about 30% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are in connection with the civil and residential sector.

Maximum energy consumption in commercial buildings by HVAC system (51% followed by appliances and food service equipment (20%), lighting(12%), electronics and information technology(9%) and water (8%).

Introduction

India has vast livestock resources. Livestock sector includes animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries sector. Livestock provides livelihood to two-third of rural community and employment to about 8.8 % of the population in India. Livestock sector contributes 4.11% GDP and 25.6% of total Agriculture GDP. It provides milk and milk products, meat and meat products, and also constitutes a major supplier of food and food articles, raw materials, and finished products.

Climate change impacts

• Climate change is a crucial factor behind cyclone Tauktae

• Global ocean has absorbed 90% of the excess heat generated by greenhouse gas emissions since 1970

• Led to anomalous ocean warming in Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, which in turn makes cyclones intensify rapidly

• India will see more frequent cyclones every year due to global warming

3.1 Overview

3.1.1 Rice straw: What is it?

When harvesting paddy rice, rice straw is produced as a by-product. Approximately 0.7-1.4 kilograms of rice straw can be obtained for each kilogram of milled rice, depending on the variety, moisture content during harvest, and cutting length of the remaining plant stems. The rice straw is separated from the grains after the plants are threshed manually using stationary threshers or with modern combine harvesters, as shown in Figure 3.1.

Rice straw is a type of lignocellulosic biomass comprising cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin. Figure 3.2 illustrates that pretreatment can be used to separate these components. Unlike lignin, which is found in the cell wall, cellulose and hemicellulose are organic fibers.

Introduction

Eco-friendly interior design is an important consideration for anyone who wants to create a healthy, sustainable, and beautiful space.

Environmental impact: The materials used in interior design can have a significant impact on the environment. Eco-friendly materials are made from renewable resources, reduce waste, and often have a lower carbon footprint than traditional materials.

What is A Smart Energy Home?

Smart homes use internet - connected devices to enable remote monitoring and management of appliances and systems, such as temperature, lighting, and security cameras. Smart energy homes take a step beyond the gadget-filled smart home to focus on bringing smart functionality to major household energy-using systems like HVAC, water heating, and plug loads (including appliances and electronics).

Energy is a critical component of the economic infrastructure, as it is the primary input required to support economic growth. Economic development and energy use have a close relationship. The higher a country’s per capita energy usage, the more developed it is and vice versa. Human civilization is dependent on several energy sources.

Definitions of Energy

Energy is a key topic in science and technology, as well as in society in general. In terms of energy, a typical definition found in popular literature as well as textbooks is “energy is the ability to do work” or, much more precisely, “energy is the capacity of a system to do work” [Atkins 1990].

Energy is described as the ability to generate change or carry out work, and that work can be separated into numerous easily identifiable tasks: Energy produces light, heat, motion, sound, growth, power and technology etc.

Energy in Agricultural Context (FAO)

Agriculture’s fundamental and foremost function is to produce food and other primary products, so contributing to food and nutritional security. Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD) attempts to promote ecologically non-degrading, technically suitable, commercially successful, and socially acceptable development in the agriculture, fishery and forestry sectors. Achieving food security necessitates policies that promote social, cultural, political, and economic stability. Integrating agriculture’s economic, social, and environmental roles can help to attain these objectives.

Agriculture may provide a variety of non-food commodities and services. This can include its application as a viable, long-term source of energy. According to the FAO, agricultural activities and related land use directly contribute to non-agricultural functions such as social, environmental, economic and cultural products and services. They can have major advantages or disadvantages. Research reveals that, in addition to food security, agriculture contributes significantly to attaining sustainability at the local, national and global levels in rural development, energy and the environment. The efficient operation of the market encourages the identification and strengthening of these many functions, as well as the development of new techniques and technologies. Plant and crop-based resources are utilised as raw materials in a wide range of industrial goods, including wood for paper and board production, starches for adhesives, and vegetable oils for paints and resins.

Introduction 
Artificial intelligence (AI) has undoubtedly had an important influence in the restructuring of higher education by altering traditional teaching techniques and opening the way for long-term growth and innovation. This paradigm shift is distinguished by the usage of sophisticated software algorithms, data mining models, and data analytics into pedagogical and administrative practices. AI technologies have the potential to transform higher education by improving individualized learning experiences, streamlining institutional procedures, and enabling novel research approaches. Universities and colleges that embrace AI technology can not only better prepare students for the problems of tomorrow’s labor market, but also make important contributions to accomplishing sustainable development goals (Lomine, 2024). The inclusion of AI into higher learning is about more than just keeping up with technical breakthroughs; it is about completely altering the educational landscape to satisfy the demands of a digitally native population. Furthermore, the use of AI in this domain not only promises to improve educational outcomes, but it also poses important concerns regarding equity, ethics, and educators’ future role. Artificial intelligence (AI) has undeniably transformed the structure of higher learning, providing a blueprint for long-term progress and innovation in academia. The prospect of AI to revolutionize traditional education techniques and drive long-term growth for future leaders is unsurpassed. Aggarwal, Sharma, & Saxena (2023) proposed that incorporating AI into higher education is critical for educating graduates for the dynamic needs of tomorrow’s labor market as well as also building a more inclusive and forward-thinking academic environment. This paradigm shift toward integrating AI in academia has the capacity to generate a lively and efficient learning ecosystem which suits the different demands of students while also giving real-time feedback to improve academic achievement and retention rates. Furthermore, the application of AI in academic settings can transform research processes by enabling data-driven insights, boosting interdisciplinary partnerships, and hastening the pace of innovation in a variety of disciplines of study.

Introduction

Thar Desert is unique both from floristic and climatic parameters. Biodiversity in this region survives on a very/ fragile ecosysytem under a highly hostile environment. Major area consists of dry undulating mass of loose sand, thus, leading to shifting sand dunes. The sandy plain is full of sand-hills with serve as low depressions where salt and soda are deposited after drying. The whole area is inhospitable and sterile. Trees are rather a few and far between (Bhandari, 2005).

The Thar Desert of western India is known for its rich and ancient culture system and traditions. The communities have long been part of the Thar Desert ecosystem and have evolved specific strategies to live in harmony with its hostile environment. Orans have remained mainstay in balancing this arid ecosystem. Man of this region has never been greedy as he is today. Orans were repositories of ancient system of gene pool conservation. But, there are unregulated encroachment on the marginal lands and over-exploitation of groundwater resources. Orans has been part and parcel of the lifestyle of the Thar Desert inhabitants. Orans are used to provide vital grazing land for livestock, water, minor forest produce, medicinal plants and green cover for the villages. They were worshipped as devbhumi. Orans preserve the endemic, endangered or threatened species, medicinal plants and wild variety of cultivars found.

ABSTRACT
Increased environmental pollution and high demand over supply for conventional fossil fuel sources have led to the exploration of other renewable energy sources. Out of the potential alternatives, methane has come up with a promising unconventional fuel source. Several technologies have been developed to establish methanation, including biomethanation, chemical methanation and gas-to-liquid technology. Several factors like process parameters, catalysts and reactors have been studied for process optimisation and making methane production commercially viable. Although methane as a greenhouse gas is a contributor to global warming, its combustion produces relatively ‘environment friendly’ gas CO₂, and H₂O. The released CO₂ is fixed into biomass by plant through photosynthesis process. Only rarely does methane combustion produces CO when combusted in an oxygen-limited condition. Thus, methane production and combustion are carbon neutral process. This chapter focuses on the application of methane as a source of alternate energy. Various technologies used, recent advances and challenges faced in methanation process are discussed.

ABSTRACT
Methanogens are primarily anaerobic Archaebacteria representing the most primitive earthly creatures, alive since about 3.5 billion years. While oxygen inhibit their activity, they adapt well in a variety of ecological niche, viz., the intestinal tracts of insects and animals including ruminants, sewage digesters, groundwater and deep soil/water, etc. They are involved in biomethanation that converts organic polymers, including the complex recalcitrant lignocelluloses, to CH₄ and CO₂. Enhancing the process by optimising the physical, chemical and molecular parameters is an interesting biotechnology. Molecular research is rapidly progressing on the genomics, gene and its regulation, and methanogenesis as it expresses. Identifying novel species expressing methanogenesis and manipulating the genetic make-up including through cloning in recent years will set goals and leads for future investigations. The biomethanation enzyme Methyl-CoM-reductase (Mcr) constitutes about 10% of the methanogen protein. Due to its abundance and significance, elucidating its structure and its synthesis and regulation mechanism has received much attention recently. Mcr-coding genes from methanogens have been cloned and sequenced. An approach at the molecular level to enhance biomethanation seems to lie in metagenomics. The microbiology, biochemistry, the roles of the participating microbes, their molecular biology and applications in methanogenesis are discussed in this chapter.

ABSTRACT
Biomethanation comprises of four interdependent stages in series, hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis and methanogenesis. Methanogenesis, the final stage of biomethanation, is accompanied with the reduction of substrates that include organic acids such as CH₃COOH, and others such as CO₂ and CH₃OH to CH₄ by methanogenic and methanotrophic archaea, usually under anaerobic conditions. Strictly anaerobic methanogenic archaea are found in the ruminant intestine, sewage digester, groundwater and deep soil/water etc. In methanogenesis, H₂ acts as the electron donor while substrates CO₂, CH₃OH and probably CoM-S-S-CoB (for CH₃COOH) act as terminal electron acceptors and reduce to methane, a process known as anaerobic respiration. This conversion is associated with the electrogenic proton motive force along with sodium motive force to drive the ATP synthesis by A0A1 ATP synthase, known as respiratory phosphorylation. The mechanism of conversion of methane from CO₂ by methanogens with cytochromes is same as those without cytochromes except that the reduction of heterodisulphide CoM-S-S-CoB is performed by the membrane-bound VhoACG-HdrDE complex for former while by cytoplasmic MvhADG–HdrABC complex for the later.

ABSTRACT
Recent challenges for fossil fuels, associated environmental issues with disposal of organic garbage, and the rising costs for energy has encouraged researchers to search for alternate energy sources. Massive uncontrolled biogas from landfills, sludge and organic material degradation under anoxic conditions is an environmental management issue. Methane emission to atmosphere has a tremendous green house effect, but this can also be a valuable renewable energy resource. Biogas from kitchen wastes through anaerobic digestion by methanogens is such an alternate technology. Kitchen wastes are considered one of the best raw materials for biogasification. Biogas is mainly composed of 50-74% methane (CH₄), 25-28% carbon-di-oxide (CO₂), other volatile compounds including hydrogen sulphide (H₂S), water vapour and other trace gas compounds. The impurities in it, like Hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) which is corrosive, downgrade its quality. Purified biogas of higher calorific value attracts attention as a substitute fuel for additional applications. Its purification using various suitable scalable and economically-viable scrubbing technologies to enhance its quality and performance as an alternate fuel is an important step in this direction. Thus, a technology to generate and purify biogas from kitchen waste has significant prospects in the energy sector, and also as a promising enterprise to employ the youth.

ABSTRACT
There is a quantum global growth in both number and size of dairy industries in recent times. These industries discharge thousands of liters of wastewater characterised by a heavy chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), nutrients, inorganic salts, besides detergents and sanitisers each day (Kushwaha et al., 2011). High carbohydrates, fats and proteins contents in such waste streams originating from milk pose challenge to conventional municipal sewage treatment systems (Demirel et al., 2005). The easily biodegradable dairy effluent leads to precipitation of casein which is toxic and has a strong odour. Without adequate treatment, these effluents could pose serious threats to the receiving water bodies and disturb the ecosystem (Satpathy et al., 2017). For such heavily loaded organic effluents, biogasification through anaerobic digestion seems a promising strategy. This cost-effective energy generation process is also effective in environmental management compared to its other eco-friendly renewable source counterparts, such as, hydro, solar and wind (Satpathy, 2017). The Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactors are the most popular anaerobic systems to treat the fluctuating organic loads in dairy effluents. Anaerobic filter (AF), Upflow Anaerobic Filter (UPAF), Fixed-bed anaerobic reactor, Anaerobic Hybrid Reactor (AHR) etc. are few other systems that are demonstrably competent removing COD upto 90% and generating biogas. Successful anaerobic systems reported yielded (with upto about 85% CH₄ content) 0.32-0.34m3 CH₄/kg COD removed. Biomethanation process and reactors designs are constantly being optimised for effective treatment of the effluents while maximising the biogas production. The energy-rich gas thus obtained could further be utilised for heat and electricity at the domestic level, and also as a vehicular fuel. Residual digestate can also be used as organic manures (Angelidaki et al., 2007).

ABSTRACT
Rice straw is one of the most abundant lignocellulosic agricultural wastes in India and can be used as a major resource for biogas production. The structure of rice straw is complex and is made up mainly of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. The lignin physically shields the cellulose and hemicelluloses, the main components which can be converted to energy, and hinders the access of microbial enzymes to these carbohydrate moieties. To overcome this making the straw a potential resource of biogas production, effective pretreatment is necessary that can efficiently hydrolyse the straw and make it accessible to cellulolytic enzymes and methanogens. Various pretreatment methods which are employed currently in the market are discussed here. For a process to be economically feasible it is necessary that the pretreatment be efficient as well as cost effective. To gain some insights into this aspect, the techno-commercial feasibility of Biomethanation of rice straw has been discussed.

ABSTRACT
Nisargruna biogas technology has been developed in BARC for processing different types of biodegradable waste. This technology is based on biphasic separation of aerobic and anaerobic stages. Introduction of aerobic predigester has increased the efficiency of the process in terms of enhancing the quality and quantity of methane and also reducing the retention time of the process. Process parameters of the plant were studied and found that the modified design has proved very effective in faster digestion of complex waste. The technology has been commercialised and has spread across different parts of country for processing variety of wastes including kitchen waste, municipal waste, agriculture waste, textile waste and poultry waste. Microbial population from different stages of the plant was also studied and found their ability to convert waste to biogas, containing mainly methane.

Keywords: biogas, biphasic digestion, green energy, methane, microbial fermentation, Nisargruna, waste management