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Alternative and renewable energy sources already play a very decisive role in the development of human society, helping to fulfill increasing energy demands from both industrialized and underdeveloped countries, as well as economic needs, which must comply with a decarbonized economy, decreasing the energy impact on the global environment. Among these alternative energy sources, fuels such as biodiesel, methanol, and methane are good examples of how the previous design can be achieved, as these fuels can be obtained from renewable sources, used in applications such as transportation systems, electricity generation, fuel conversion, and even for electricity storage, with reduced impact on air emissions. This Special Issue includes papers on new and innovative technical developments or approaches, reviews, case studies, as well as assessment, papers from different disciplines, which are relevant to the optimization of biodiesel, methane/methanol production systems, simultaneously resulting in air quality improvement.
A forest fire is any uncontrolled, non-structure fire that occurs in the wilderness. Wildlife behaviour is often complex and variably dependent on factors such as fuel type, moisture content in the fuel, humidity, windspeed, topology, geographic location and ambient temperature. Weather patterns, such as heat waves droughts can also have a dramatic impact on the onset and outcome of wildfires. Fire is sometimes essential for forest regeneration, however, it often destroys forests and has dire social and economic consequences. This book looks at the underlying causes of forest fires, their ecological effects and preventive strategies.
Architecture and Fire develops a conceptual reassessment of architectural conservation through the study of the intimate relationship between architecture and fire. Stamatis Zografos expands on the general agreement among many theorists that the primitive hut was erected around fire – locating fire as the first memory of architecture, at the very beginning of architectural evolution. Following the introduction, Zografos analyses the archive and the renewed interest in the study of archives through the psychoanalysis of Jacques Derrida. He moves on to explore the ambivalent nature of fire, employing the conflicting philosophies of Gaston Bachelard and Henri Bergson to do so, before discussi...
A landslide is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments. Although the action of gravity is the primary driving force for a landslide to occur, there are other contributing factors affecting the original slope stability. Typically, pre-conditional factors build up specific sub-surface conditions that make the area/slope prone to failure, whereas the actual landslide often requires a trigger before being released. This book discusses such triggers, as well as their outcomes. Studies of landslides that have occurred in various geographical settings are also among the topics examined in this book, as well as an analysis of the factors that caused them.
Indigenous Knowledge (IK) has been practised in communities over time. There are several news after major disasters on how these IK has been effective to protect the lives and properties of people and communities. Some of the IK has been orally transmitted and some are documented by local organisations sporadically. Asia, being one of the most disaster prone areas in the world, people and communities has developed their coping mechanisms over time, which is reflected in the form of IK. While many organisations recognise the importance of IK for disaster risk reduction (DRR), there has been few systematic study on analysing the principles of IK and its applicability to the modern context. The book is one of the first and unique attempts of systematic study of IK in DRR. The key challenge will start after the publishing of the book: to make it a useful reference materials for decision making, research, implementation and documentation. The target of the book is professionals, practitioners, researchers and graduate students in the related field.
Hurricane Katrina was the largest and most costly disaster in American history. More than 1,400 Louisiana residents lost their lives. Katrina produced the first mandatory evacuation in New Orleans history, and the largest displacement of people in U.S. history; 1.3 million. More than 200,000 New Orleanians remain displaced. While federal and state governments continue to respond to this disaster, this book has identified significant control weaknesses, specifically in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Individuals and Households Program (IHP), and in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)'s purchase card program which has resulted in significant fraud, waste, and abuse. These...