Rural communities in developing countries have relied on natural resources to support daily livelihoods, thus conserving biodiversity and when these environmental resources are mis-managed, it usually births negative impacts and, in some form, posing a developmental problem. Human wellbeing and its implications pertaining to environmental resource management and exposure to environmental threats have caused many to lose their means of livelihood, generating a high degree of poverty that remai...
Abstract The inception of the legal aid scheme in the Nigerian legal system brought about hope for the indigent and with it an increased rate of indigent dependents relying on the scheme to access justice. This article discusses the advent of legal clinics in Nigeria and its relevance to a university community; in particular, the writers look into the rationale for establishing a specialized Woman’s Law Clinic and discuss the risks and benefits associated with advocacy and practicing as a ...
Rapid expansion of the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry is quickly causing solar to play a growing importance in the energy mix of the world. Over the full life cycle, although to a smaller degree than traditional energy sources, PV also creates solid waste. This paper examines the potential need for PV recycling policies by analyzing existing recycling protocols for the five major types of commercialized PV materials. The amount of recoverable semiconductor material and glass in a 1 m2 area ...
As the Ontario government has recognized that solar photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion is a solution to satisfying society's energy demands while reducing the adverse anthropogenic impacts on the global environment that compromise social welfare, they have begun to generate policy and funding programs to support financial incentives for PV. This paper (publication below) provides a financial analysis for investment in a 1 GW per year turnkey amorphous silicon PV manufacturing plant. The fina...
Alternative energy technologies (AETs) have emerged as a solution to the challenge of simultaneously meeting rising electricity demand while reducing carbon emissions. However, as all AETs are responsible for some greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during their construction, carbon emission “Ponzi Schemes” are currently possible, wherein an AET industry expands so quickly that the GHG emissions prevented by a given technology are negated to fabricate the next wave of AET deployment. In an era...
Nunavut, the youngest Canadian territory, has developed a complete dependence on diesel-generated electricity over the last 50 years, which has led to environmental and economic stress on the territory. However, renewable energy technologies (RETs) could provide substantial electricity to communities, thereby reducing the use of diesel fuel. This study explored the perspectives of government policy-makers, northern energy consultants, and NGOs in order to understand the current status of rene...
While the solar water disinfection (SODIS) method of treating microbiologically contaminated water at the household level has proven to be effective at reducing incidence of diarrhea, its effectiveness is limited to waters of low turbidity. This study investigates the use of table salt (NaCl) to reduce turbidity in water containing dispersed colloidal clay particles as a means of expanding the user base of SODIS. Jar tests were performed on solutions of a low-activity clay, simulating the gen...
Anthropogenic global climate change has large and mounting negative economic impacts. Companies and nations responsible for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are thus acquiring considerable potential liabilities. If litigation becomes widespread, renewable energy technologies (RETs) potentially offer emitters reduced liability for climate change. This benefit has been ignored because of the lack of knowledge of potential liabilities. To overcome this information deficit, this paper reviews r...
Poor air quality from coal combustion adversely impacts human health including mortality and morbidity effects on respiratory, cardiovascular, nervous, urinary, and digestive systems. However, the continued use of coal are no longer necessary to provide for society's electrical needs because of advances in solar photovoltaic (PV) technology. In order to inform health policy this paper reviews the data for quantifying the lives saved by a replacement of U.S. coal-fired electricity with solar P...
A promising method of enhancing the circular economy is distributed plastic recycling. In this study plastic waste is upcycled into 3-D printing filament with a recyclebot, which is an open source waste plastic extruder. The recyclebot is combined with an open source self-replicating rapid prototyper (RepRap) 3-D printer, to enable post-consumer ABS plastic filament from computer waste to be further upcycled into valuable consumer products pre-designed in the digital commons. The total electr...
Despite the recent drastic reversal of decarbonization effort by the current Presidential administration, the majority of U.S. states continue policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing renewable energy technology (RET) deployment. Although electrical power utilities are required and/or encouraged to comply with these policies, their executives lack direct incentives to do so. In this study, a novel incentive mechanism is evaluated for specifically aligning elect...
Because of its environmental damage and now often being the most expensive source for electricity production, coal use is declining throughout the United States. Michigan has no active coal mining and seemingly supportive legislation for distributed generation (DG) and renewable energy (RE) technologies. However, Michigan still derives approximately half of its power production from large centralized coal plants, despite the availability of much lower cost RE DG technologies. To understand th...
ABSTRACT Eco-labelling was devised by the international community to help reduce the drastic effects of man’s unsustainable production and consumption patterns on the Environment. It has been identified by Agenda 21 as a mechanism for promoting production and consumption of products with reduced environmental impacts. Unsustainable patterns of production and consumption has also been identified as a root cause of several environmental problems like climate change and loss of biodiversity....
End of Life tyre (ELTs) or scrap tyres are a form of solid wastes emanating from the use and disposal of tyres. ELTs have become the latest menace to the environment the world over, Nigeria inclusive. Heaps of scrap tyres stockpiled or disposed of in landfills and in open dumpsites are common views in Nigeria. ELT wastes causes grave environmental pollution as well as many health problems. Open burning or landfilling is the primary mode of disposal of ELT waste in Nigeria. These methods of sc...