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Environmental technology

The concept of environmental technology refers to the use of engineering principles to understand and address issues that affect the environment with the aim of fostering environmental improvement. It involves the application of science and technology in the process of addressing environmental challenges through environmental conservation and the mitigation of human impact to the environment.

Environmental technology covers a wide domain of interventions aimed at conservation of the environment including;

Reduction of pollution


 * Water purification

Water purification involves the process of removing contaminants whether chemical, biological, gases or suspended solids from water, to make it suitable for human consumption. The purification process may be physical, biological or chemical. Physical water purification involves methods such as distillation, sedimentation or filtration. Biological processes use active carbon or sand filters. In the biological processes water can be purified through ultraviolet light, chlorine or flocculation


 * Air purification

Air purification represents the process through contaminants and pollutants are removed from the air making clean and healthy for breathing. The process of air purification may be performed using these common methods including; mechanic filtration, ionization, activated carbon adsorption, photocatalytic oxidation, and ultraviolet light germicidal irradiation.


 * Environmental remediation

Environment remediation refers to the process through which contaminant or pollutants in soil, water and other media are removed to improve environment quality. The main focus is the reduction of hazardous substances within the environment. Some of the areas involved in environment remediation include; soil contamination, hazardous waste, groundwater contamination, oil, gas and chemical spills.

Development of renewable energy sources


 * Renewable energy

Renewable energy refers to any form of energy that naturally regenerates over time, and does not run out. This form of energy naturally replenishes, and are characterised by low carbon foot print. Some of the most common types of renewable energy sources include; solar power, wind power, hydroelectric power, and bioenergy which is generated by burning organic matter.


 * Energy conservation

Energy conversation refers to the practice of using less energy through changes in individual behaviours and habits. The main emphasis for energy conservation is the prevention of wasteful use of energy in the environment, to enhance its availability. Some of the main approaches to energy conservation involves refraining from using devices which consume more energy, where possible.


 * eGain forecasting

eGain is a technology introduced by the eGain International, a Swedish company that intelligently balances building power consumption. The technology involves forecasting the amount of heating energy required by a building within a specific period, which results in energy efficiency and sustainability. eGain lowers building energy consumption and emissions while determining time for maintenance where inefficiencies are observed.

Waste management


 * Wastewater and Sewage treatment

Wastewater and sewage treatment involves the process of removing impurities from the polluted water before reintroducing it to natural water bodies or aquifers. Industrial (manufacturing plants) and residential (laundry, bathing, toilets, dishwashing) activities generates sewage and wastewater in the form of grey and black water. The treatment process may involve storage of sewage in containers for solids to sediment, the use of microorganisms to remove dissolved and suspended biological matter, and subsequently, the discharge of the treated water into sensitive ecosystem. Some of the common methods of wastewater and sewage treatment include; filtration, activated carbon treatment, lagooning, reverse osmosis, and sand filtration.


 * Solid waste management

Solid waste management refers to the collection, treatment, and disposal of non-soluble, solid waste material. Solid waste is associated with both industrial, institutional, commercial and residential activities. Hazardous solid waste, when improperly disposed can encourage the infestation of insects and rodents, contributing to the spread of diseases. Some of the most common types of solid waste management include; landfills, vermicomposting, composting, recycling, and incineration. However, a major barrier for solid waste management practices is the high costs associated with recycling and the risks of creating more pollution.

Sustainable practices


 * Computational sustainability

The concept of computational sustainability involves the application of computer science, applied mathematics, statistics, information science and operation research to ensure an economic, social needs, and environmental balance, fostering sustainable development. The eradication of poverty promotes sustainability and a balance between the environment and societal socioeconomic needs. Biodiversity and conservation are attained through the empirical monitoring of the distribution of species in the globe, to understand the problem of ecosystem and species loss, while prescribe viable conservation interventions. Sustainable energy can be conserved effectively through sustainability computations which create better and efficient controls over energy development, generation, transmission and storage.

References

Orszulik, S. T. (Ed.). (2008). Environmental technology in the oil industry (pp. 78-79). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

Ahuja, S. (Ed.). (2022). Separations of Water Pollutants with Nanotechnology. Elsevier.

Pokhum, C., Intasanta, V., Yaipimai, W., Subjalearndee, N., Srisitthiratkul, C., Pongsorrarith, V., ... & Chawengkijwanich, C. (2018). A facile and cost-effective method for removal of indoor airborne psychrotrophic bacterial and fungal flora based on silver and zinc oxide nanoparticles decorated on fibrous air filter. Atmospheric Pollution Research, 9(1), 172-177.

Stein, A., & Kerle, N. (2008). Environmental remediation. Encyclopedia of Quantitative Risk Analysis and Assessment, 2.

Twidell, J. (2021). Renewable energy resources. Routledge.

Nosonovsky, M., & Bhushan, B. (Eds.). (2012). Green tribology: biomimetics, energy conservation and sustainability. Springer Science & Business Media.

Abbas, O. M. (2017). Forecasting with machine learning. International Journal of Computer (IJC), 26(1), 184-194.

Sanamdikar, S. T., & Harne, K. R. (2012). Advanced method for sewage water treatment. International Journal of Advanced Technology in Civil Engineering, ISSN, 2231-5721.

Topare, N. S., Attar, S. J., & Manfe, M. M. (2011). Sewage/wastewater treatment technologies: a review. ''Sci. Revs. Chem. Commun, 1''(1), 18-24.

Allesch, A., & Brunner, P. H. (2014). Assessment methods for solid waste management: A literature review. Waste Management & Research, 32(6), 461-473.

Gomes, C., Dietterich, T., Barrett, C., Conrad, J., Dilkina, B., Ermon, S., ... & Zeeman, M. L. (2019). Computational sustainability: Computing for a better world and a sustainable future. Communications of the ACM, 62(9), 56-65.

Lässig, J., Kersting, K., & Morik, K. (Eds.). (2016). Computational Sustainability (Vol. 645). Springer.