ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: Nowadays, the increasing use of power electronics equipment origins important distortions. The perfect AC power systems are a pure sinusoidal wave, both voltage and current, but the ever-increasing existence of non-linear loads modify the characteristics of voltage and current from the ideal sinusoidal wave. This deviation from the ideal wave is reflected by the harmonics and, although its effects vary depending on the type of load, it affects the efficiency of an electrical system and can cause considerable damage to the systems and infrastructures. Ensuring optimal power quality after a good design and devices means productivity, efficiency, competitiveness and profitability. Nevertheless, nobody can assure the optimal power quality when there is a good design if the correct testing and working process from the obtained data is not properly assured at every instant; this entails processing the real data correctly. In this book the reader will be introduced to the harmonics analysis from the real measurement data and to the study of different industrial environments and electronic devices.

Description / Table of Contents: The second book of the four-volume edition of "Solar cells" is devoted to dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), which are considered to be extremely promising because they are made of low-cost materials with simple inexpensive manufacturing procedures and can be engineered into flexible sheets. DSSCs are emerged as a truly new class of energy conversion devices, which are representatives of the third generation solar technology. Mechanism of conversion of solar energy into electricity in these devices is quite peculiar. The achieved energy conversion efficiency in DSSCs is low, however, it has improved quickly in the last years. It is believed that DSSCs are still at the start of their development stage and will take a worthy place in the large-scale production for the future.

Description / Table of Contents: This book is devoted to different sides of Electromotive Force theory and its applications in Engineering science and Industry. The covered topics include the Quantum Theory of Thermoelectric Power (Seebeck Coefficient), Electromotive forces in solar energy and photocatalysis (photo electromotive forces), Electromotive Force in Electrochemical Modification of Mudstone, The EMF method with solid-state electrolyte in the thermodynamic investigation of ternary copper and silver chalcogenides, Electromotive Force Measurements and Thermodynamic Modelling of Electrolyte in Mixed Solvents, Application of Electromotive Force Measurement in Nuclear Systems Using Lead Alloys, Electromotive Force Measurements in High-Temperature Systems and finally, Resonance Analysis of Induced EMF on Coils.

Description / Table of Contents: The noise factor is the ratio of signal to noise of an input signal to that of the output signal. Noise can block or interfere with the meaning of a message in both human and electronic communication. But in Information Theory, noise is still considered to be information. By refining the definition of noise as that which addresses us outside of our preferred comfort zone, Joseph Nechvatal's Immersion Into Noise investigates multiple aspects of cultural noise by applying the audio understanding of noise to the visual, architectural and cognitive domains. Nechvatal expands and extends our understanding of the function of cultural noise by taking the reader through the immersive and phenomenal aspects of noise into algorithmic and network contexts, beginning with his experience in the Abside of the Grotte de Lascaux. Immersion Into Noise is intended as a conceptual handbook useful for the development of a personal-political-visionary art of noise. On a planet that is increasingly technologically linked and globally mediated, how might noises break and re-connect in distinctive and productive ways within practices located in the world of art and thought? That is the question Joseph Nechvatal explores in Immersion Into Noise.

Description / Table of Contents: The chapters in this volume represent a compilation of the material presented by the invited speakers at a short course on August 21-23, 2011 called “Sulfur in Magmas and Melts and its Importance for Natural and Technical Processes.” This Mineralogical Society of America and the Geochemical Society sponsored short course was held at the Hotel der Achtermann, in Goslar, Germany following the 2011 Goldschmidt Conference in Prague, Czech Republic. Following a nice overview in chapter 1 by the organizers Harald Behrens and James Webster, this volume is divided into 4 parts. 1. Analytical and Spectroscopic Methods -- chapters 2 and 3 2. Physical and Chemical Properties of S-Bearing Silicate Melts -- chapters 4-7 3. Constraints from Natural and Experimental Systems -- chapters 8-11 4. Natural and Technical Applications -- chapters 12-16

Description / Table of Contents: Meeting the enormous challenge of decarbonising world energy systems will require a rapid expansion of investment in clean technologies on a global scale. Mobilising these resources will be a daunting task, and it is important to undertake the transition at the lowest cost possible. This paper seeks to provide some guidance on climate change policy-making within real-world constraints, focusing on the justification of policies to supplement a carbon price, interactions between carbon pricing and supplementary policies, and management of these interactions to enable a least-cost policy response.

Description / Table of Contents: The global energy system faces urgent challenges. Concerns about energy security are growing, as highlighted by the recent political turmoil in Northern Africa and the nuclear incident in Fukushima. At the same time, the need to respond to climate change is more critical than ever. Against this background, many governments have increased efforts to promote deployment of renewable energy – low-carbon sources that can strengthen energy security. This has stimulated unprecedented rise in deployment, and renewables are now the fastest growing sector of the energy mix. This “coming of age” of renewable energy also brings challenges. Growth is focused on a few of the available technologies, and rapid deployment is confined to a relatively small number of countries. In more advanced markets, managing support costs and system integration of large shares of renewable energy in a time of economic weakness and budget austerity has sparked vigorous political debate. The IEA’s new report, Deploying Renewables 2011: Best and Future Policy Practice: - Provides a comprehensive review and analysis of renewable energy policy and market trends; - Analyses in detail the dynamics of deployment and provides best-practice policy principles for different stages of market maturity; - Assesses the impact and cost-effectiveness of support policies using new methodological tools and indicators; - Investigates the strategic reasons underpinning the pursuit of RE deployment by different countries and the prospects for globalisation of RE. This new book builds on and extends a 2008 IEA publication, drawing on recent policy and deployment experience world-wide. It provides guidance for policy makers and other stakeholders to avoid past mistakes, overcome new challenges and reap the benefits of deploying renewables – today and tomorrow.

Description / Table of Contents: The main message of this paper is that while carbon pricing is a prerequisite for least-cost carbon mitigation strategies, carbon pricing is not enough to overcome all the barriers to cost-effective energy efficiency actions. Energy efficiency policy should be designed carefully for each sector to ensure optimal outcomes for a combination of economic, social and climate change goals. The main message of this paper is that while carbon pricing is a prerequisite for least-cost carbon mitigation strategies, carbon pricing is not enough to overcome all the barriers to cost-effective energy efficiency actions. Energy efficiency policy should be designed carefully for each sector to ensure optimal outcomes for a combination of economic, social and climate change goals. This paper aims to examine the justification for specific energy efficiency policies in economies with carbon pricing in place. The paper begins with an inventory of existing market failures that attempt to explain the limited uptake of energy efficiency. These market failures are investigated to see which can be overcome by carbon pricing in two subsectors – electricity use in residential appliances and heating energy use in buildings. This analysis finds that carbon pricing addresses energy efficiency market failures such as externalities and imperfect energy markets. However, several market and behavioural failures in the two subsectors are identified that appear not to be addressed by carbon pricing. These include: imperfect information; principal-agent problems; and behavioural failures. In this analysis, the policies that address these market failures are identified as complementary to carbon pricing and their level of interaction with carbon pricing policies is relatively positive. These policies should be implemented when they can improve energy efficiency effectively and efficiently (and achieve other national goals such as improving socio-economic efficiency).

Description / Table of Contents: Increased focus has been placed on the issues of energy access and energy poverty over the last number of years, most notably indicated by the United Nations (UN) declaring 2012 as the “International Year of Sustainable Energy for All”. Although attention in these topics has increased, incorrect assumptions and misunderstandings still arise in both the literature and dialogues. Access to energy does not only include electricity, does not only include cook stoves, but must include access to all types of energy that form the overall energy system. This paper chooses to examine this energy system using a typology that breaks it into 3 primary energy subsystems: heat energy, electricity and transportation. Describing the global energy system using these three subsystems provides a way to articulate the differences and similarities for each system’s required investments needs by the private and public sectors.

Description / Table of Contents: Ensuring energy security has been at the centre of the IEA mission since its inception, following the oil crises of the early 1970s. While the security of oil supplies remains important, contemporary energy security policies must address all energy sources and cover a a comprehensive range of natural, economic and political risks that affect energy sources, infrastructures and services. In response to this challenge, the IEA is currently developing a Model Of Short-term Energy Security (MOSES) to evaluate the energy security risks and resilience capacities of its member countries. The current version of MOSES covers short-term security of supply for primary energy sources and secondary fuels among IEA countries. It also lays the foundation for analysis of vulnerabilities of electricity and end-use energy sectors. MOSES contains a novel approach to analysing energy security, which can be used to identify energy security priorities, as a starting point for national energy security assessments and to track the evolution of a country’s energy security profile. By grouping together countries with similar “energy security profiles”, MOSES depicts the energy security landscape of IEA countries. By extending the MOSES methodology to electricity security and energy services in the future, the IEA aims to develop a comprehensive policy-relevant perspective on global energy security. Ensuring energy security has been at the centre of the IEA mission since its inception, following the oil crises of the early 1970s. While the security of oil supplies remains important, contemporary energy security policies must address all energy sources and cover a a comprehensive range of natural, economic and political risks that affect energy sources, infrastructures and services. In response to this challenge, the IEA is currently developing a Model Of Short-term Energy Security (MOSES) to evaluate the energy security risks and resilience capacities of its member countries. The current version of MOSES covers short-term security of supply for primary energy sources and secondary fuels among IEA countries. It also lays the foundation for analysis of vulnerabilities of electricity and end-use energy sectors. MOSES contains a novel approach to analysing energy security, which can be used to identify energy security priorities, as a starting point for national energy security assessments and to track the evolution of a country’s energy security profile. By grouping together countries with similar “energy security profiles”, MOSES depicts the energy security landscape of IEA countries. By extending the MOSES methodology to electricity security and energy services in the future, the IEA aims to develop a comprehensive policy-relevant perspective on global energy security. This Working Paper is intended for readers who wish to explore the MOSES methodology in depth; there is also a brochure which provides an overview of the analysis and results.

Description / Table of Contents: Nearly one-third of global energy and one-quarter of worldwide carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are attributable to industrial activities that are not in the power generation sector. If climate change is to be successfully tackled, these sectors will need to transform the way they use energy and significantly reduce their CO2 emissions. In sectors such as iron and steel, oil refining, cement and chemicals and petrochemicals, emission can be reduced through efficiency improvements and integration of low carbon energy sources. Crucially, however, carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been identified as the only large-scale mitigation option available that can deliver the additional CO2 emissions reductions that would be necessary to meet the climate goals in 2050. This roadmap shows that CCS is a key cost-effective option for reducing CO2 emissions in large energy-intensive industries. In fact, much of the promising short-term potential for CCS globally lies not in the power sector but in industrial activities that currently vent highly pure streams of CO2. These activities include hydrogen production for fertilisers or fuel, bioethanol production and natural gas sweetening. Most studies on the potential application of CCS have focused on the power sector, however, even though all existing operational large-scale demonstrations of CCS are in industrial applications. In the longer-term, half of the global economic deployment for CCS by 2050 is shown to be in industrial applications. In certain sectors CCS is shown to be of particular relevance in developing countries, where it could be a highly cost-competitive emissions abatement option, even in the near term. This technology roadmap builds on the initial IEA roadmap on CCS and also the technology roadmap for the cement sector developed by the IEA and the Cement Sustainability Initiative of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. It paves the way for low-carbon industrial growth in developed and developing countries by providing a vision of CCS in industrial applications up to 2050.

Description / Table of Contents: The production of transport fuels from biomass, in either liquid or gaseous form, holds the promise of a low net fossil-energy requirement and low life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, there are many hurdles to the expansion of biofuels production, including competition for agricultural commodities and land, and impacts on water resources and biodiversity. The successful development of advanced biofuels technologies, using non-food biomass feedstocks, could help overcome most barriers and achieve sustainable, very low CO2, cost-effective biofuels. The IEA “Biofuels for Transport” roadmap describes the steps necessary to achieve the ambitious biofuel projections presented in the Energy Technology Perspectives 2010 Blue Map scenario. Under this scenario, biofuel demand increases rapidly, reaching approximately 760 Mtoe (32 EJ) in 2050, a share of 27% of total transport fuel. This roadmap identifies major barriers, opportunities, and policy measures for policy makers, industry and financial partners to accelerate RDD&D efforts for sustainable biofuel technologies and ensure sustainable feedstock provision on both a national and international scale.

Description / Table of Contents: Electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles (EVs and PHEVs), if coupled with low greenhouse gas (GHG) electricity generation, can help cut energy (particularly petroleum) use and CO2 significantly, especially in the 2030-2050 timeframe – but key actions must begin now to achieve interim targets and thus substantial market shares in the long-term. The vision of this roadmap is to achieve widespread adoption and use of EVs and PHEVs worldwide by 2050, and if possible well before. The primary role of this EV/PHEV Roadmap is to help establish a vision for technology deployment; set approximate, feasible targets; and identify steps required to get there. It also outlines the role for different stakeholders and how they can work together to reach common objectives, and the role for government policy to support the process. The analysis in the roadmap is based on IEA’s ETP 2DS scenario, updated in the IEA report Transport, Energy and CO2: Moving Toward Sustainability (Autumn 2009). This scenario targets a 50% reduction in CO2 worldwide by 2050 relative to 2005 levels. For transport, a 30% reduction is achieved via efficiency improvements, along with the introduction of new types of vehicles and fuels. For EVs and PHEVs, sales begin to grow rapidly after 2015 and reach a combined 7 million per year by 2020, and 100 million by 2050, over half of all cars sold around the world in that year.

Description / Table of Contents: This information paper accompanies the IEA publication Deploying Renewables 2011: Best and Future Policy Practice (IEA, 2011a). It provides more detailed data and analysis on policies for Deploying Renewables, and is intended to complement the main publication. It provides an account of the strategic drivers underpinning renewable energy (RE) technology deployment (energy security, economic development and environment protection) and assesses RE technologies with respect to these drivers, including an estimate of GHG emissions reductions due to RE technologies. The paper also explores the different barriers to deploying renewables at a given stage of market maturity and discusses what tools policy makers can avail of to succeed in removing deployment barriers. An additional topical highlight explores the challenges associated with accelerating the diffusion of RE technologies in developing countries.

Description / Table of Contents: Co-generation and renewables: solutions for a low-carbon energy future shows that powerful synergies exist when co-generation and renewables work together. The report documents, for the first time, some of the little-known complementary aspects of the two technologies. It also re-emphasises the stand-alone benefits of each technology. Thus, decision makers can use the report as a "one-stop shop" when they need credible information on co-generation, renewables and the possible synergies between the two. It also provides answers to policy makers’ questions about the potential energy and environmental benefits of an increased policy commitment to both co-generation and renewables. Secure, reliable, affordable and clean energy supplies are fundamental to economic and social stability and development. Energy and environmental decision-makers are faced with major challenges that require action now in order to ensure a more sustainable future. More efficient use of, and cleaner primary energy sources can help to achieve this goal. Co-generation – also known as combined heat and power (CHP) – represents a proven, cost-effective and energy-efficient solution for delivering electricity and heat. Renewable sources provide clean and secure fuels for producing electricity and heat.

Description / Table of Contents: The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that 100 carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects must be implemented by 2020 and over 3 000 by 2050 if CCS is to fully contribute to the least-cost technology portfolio for CO2 mitigation. To help countries address the many legal and regulatory issues associated with such rapid deployment, the IEA launched the Carbon Capture and Storage Legal and Regulatory Review (CCS Review) in October 2010. The CCS Review gathers contributions by national and regional governments, as well as leading organisations engaged in CCS regulatory activities, to provide a knowledge-sharing forum that supports national-level CCS regulatory development. Each contribution provides a short summary of recent and anticipated developments and highlights a particular regulatory theme (such as financial contributions to long-term stewardship). To introduce each edition, the IEA provides a brief analysis of key advances and trends. Produced bi-annually, the CCS Review provides an up-to-date snapshot of global CCS regulatory developments. The theme for the second edition of the CCS Review, released in May 2011, is long-term liability for stored CO2. Other key issues addressed include: national progress towards implementation of the EU CCS Directive; developments in marine treaties relevant to CCS; international climate change negotiations; and the development process for CCS regulation.

Description / Table of Contents: The 17th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ICSMGE) convened on 5-9 October 2009 at the international award-winning Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt to explore the future of our profession under the conference's main theme: "The Academia and Practice of Geotechnical Engineering." Volumes 1, 2 and 3 of these proceedings contain the accepted papers addressing these five topics: 1) Material Behavior and Testing; 2) Analysis and Design; 3) Prediction, Monitoring and Evaluation of Performance; 4) Construction Process; 5) Management, Training and Education Volume 4 of the proceedings contains the State-of-the-Art lectures on the five topics, as well as the Terzaghi Oration, Heritage Lecture, Great Project Lecture, and 16 general reports that present an overview of the accepted papers for each of the 15 technical sessions. Post-conference Volume 5, which will include the Practitioners/Academia Forum and a summary of the 4th International Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference, will be distributed after the conference to participating delegates.

Description / Table of Contents: The book collects original and innovative research studies of the experienced and actively working scientists in the field of wave propagation which produced new methods in this area of research and obtained new and important results. Every chapter of this book is the result of the authors achieved in the particular field of research. The themes of the studies vary from investigation on modern applications such as metamaterials, photonic crystals and nanofocusing of light to the traditional engineering applications of electrodynamics such as antennas, waveguides and radar investigations.

Description / Table of Contents: Satellite communication systems are now a major part of most telecommunications networks as well as our everyday lives through mobile personal communication systems and broadcast television. A sound understanding of such systems is therefore important for a wide range of system designers, engineers and users. This book provides a comprehensive review of some applications that have driven this growth. It analyzes various aspects of Satellite Communications from Antenna design, Real Time applications, Quality of Service (QoS), Atmospheric effects, Hybrid Satellite-Terrestrial Networks, Sensor Networks and High Capacity Satellite Links. It is the desire of the authors that the topics selected for the book can give the reader an overview of the current trends in Satellite Systems, and also an in depth analysis of the technical aspects of each one of them.

Description / Table of Contents: This book covers recent advances in modern vibrations analysis, from analytical methods to applications of vibrations analysis to condition monitoring. Covered topics include stochastic finite element approaches, wave theories for distributed parameter systems, second other shear deformation theory and applications of phase space to the identifications of nonlinearities and transients. Chapters on novel condition monitoring approaches for reducers, transformers and low earth orbit satellites are included. Additionally, the book includes chapters on modelling and analysis of various complex mechanical systems such as eccentric building systems and the structural modelling of large container ships.

Description / Table of Contents: The concept of acoustic wave is a pervasive one, which emerges in any type of medium, from solids to plasmas, at length and time scales ranging from sub-micrometric layers in microdevices to seismic waves in the Sun's interior. This book presents several aspects of the active research ongoing in this field. Theoretical efforts are leading to a deeper understanding of phenomena, also in complicated environments like the solar surface boundary. Acoustic waves are a flexible probe to investigate the properties of very different systems, from thin inorganic layers to ripening cheese to biological systems. Acoustic waves are also a tool to manipulate matter, from the delicate evaporation of biomolecules to be analysed, to the phase transitions induced by intense shock waves. And a whole class of widespread microdevices, including filters and sensors, is based on the behaviour of acoustic waves propagating in thin layers. The search for better performances is driving to new materials for these devices, and to more refined tools for their analysis.

Description / Table of Contents: Dimanche 26 décembre 2004. La terre tremble au large des côtes de Sumatra. C’est l’un des plus puissants séismes jamais enregistrés (magnitude 9.3). S’en suit un tsunami cataclysmique, le plus meurtrier de l’histoire avec près de 230 000 victimes. Les vagues ont ravagé les côtes indonésiennes proches, avant de se propager vers la Thaïlande, le Sri Lanka, l’Inde puis les côtes africaines. La province d’Aceh, au nord-ouest de Sumatra, est de loin la plus touchée. La moitié de la ville de Banda Aceh est rasée par des vagues de plus de 15 m de haut, l’eau ayant même atteint une hauteur de 50 m sur les falaises de la côte ouest de Lhok Nga. De nombreux villages sont rayés de la carte. Durant près de deux ans (2005-2006), les scientifiques du programme de recherche « Tsunarisque » se sont relayés sur le terrain pour essayer de décrypter, reconstituer le tsunami dans ses moindres détails, afin de tirer les enseignements d’une catastrophe hors norme et de proposer des stratégies de prévention plus efficaces. Cet ouvrage retrace tout ce travail en trois volets : tout d’abord la reconstitution et la modélisation du tsunami, de l’extension des vagues à la cartographie des dégâts infligés au bâti, ensuite l’impact du tsunami sur l’environnement, et notamment les formes d’érosion et de dépôts, et enfin les aspects socioculturels, des facteurs ethniques aux enjeux de la reconstruction et de la prévention.

Description / Table of Contents: While the energy sector is a primary target of efforts to arrest and reverse the growth of greenhouse gas emissions and lower the carbon footprint of development, it is also expected to be increasingly affected by unavoidable climate consequences from the damage already induced in the biosphere. Energy services and resources, as well as seasonal demand, will be increasingly affected by changing trends, increasing variability, greater extremes and large inter-annual variations in climate parameters in some regions. All evidence suggests that adaptation is not an optional add-on but an essential reckoning on par with other business risks. Existing energy infrastructure, new infrastructure and future planning need to consider emerging climate conditions and impacts on design, construction, operation, and maintenance. Integrated risk-based planning processes will be critical to address the climate change impacts and harmonize actions within and across sectors. Also, awareness, knowledge, and capacity impede mainstreaming of climate adaptation into the energy sector. However, the formal knowledge base is still nascent—information needs are complex and to a certain extent regionally and sector specific. This report provides an up-to-date compendium of what is known about weather variability and projected climate trends and their impacts on energy service provision and demand. It discusses emerging practices and tools for managing these impacts and integrating climate considerations into planning processes and operational practices in an environment of uncertainty. It focuses on energy sector adaptation, rather than mitigation which is not discussed in this report. This report draws largely on available scientific and peer-reviewed literature in the public domain and takes the perspective of the developing world to the extent possible.

Description / Table of Contents: Climate change is beginning to have effects on climate, weather and resource availability in ways that need to be anticipated when planning for the future. In particular, changes in rainfall patterns and temperature may impact the intensity or schedule of water availability. Also the retreat of tropical glaciers, the drying of unique Andean wetland ecosystems, as well as increased weather variability and weather extremes will affect water regulation. These changes have the potential to impact the energy and other sectors, such as agriculture, and could have broader economic effects. Anticipating the impacts of climate change is a new frontier. There are few examples of predictions of the impact of climate change on resource availability and even fewer examples of the applications of such predictions to planning for sustainable economic development. However, having access to an effective methodology would allow planners and policy makers to better plan for adaptation measures to address the consequences of climate change on the power and water sectors. This report presents a summary of the efforts to develop methodological tools for the assessment of climate impacts on surface hydrology in the Peruvian Andes. It is targeted to decision makers in Peru and in other countries to give them guidance on how to choose available and suitable tools and make an assessment of climate impacts on water regulation.

Description / Table of Contents: Slope tectonics: a short introduction / Michel Jaboyedoff, Giovanni B. Crosta and Doug Stead / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 1-10, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.1 --- Paraglacial gravitational deformations in the SW Alps: a review of field investigations, 10Be cosmogenic dating and physical modelling / S. El Bedoui, T. Bois, H. Jomard, G. Sanchez, T. Lebourg, E. Trics, Y. Guglielmi, S. Bouissou, A. Chemenda, Y. Rolland, M. Corsini and J. L. Pérez / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 11-25, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.2 --- Inheritance of ductile and brittle structures in the development of large rock slope instabilities: examples from western Norway / A. Saintot, I. H. C. Henderson and M.-H. Derron / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 27-78, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.3 --- Regional spatial variations in rockslide distribution from structural geology ranking: an example from Storfjorden, western Norway / Iain H. C. Henderson and Aline Saintot / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 79-95, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.4 --- Rock slope instabilities in Sogn and Fjordane County, Norway: a detailed structural and geomorphological analysis / Martina Böhme, Aline Saintot, Iain H. C. Henderson, Helge Henriksen and Reginald L. Hermanns / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 97-111, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.5 --- Controlling factors for deep-seated gravitational slope deformation (DSGSD) in the Aosta Valley (NW Alps, Italy) / G. Martinotti, D. Giordan, M. Giardino and S. Ratto / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 113-131, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.6 --- Palaeostress analysis of a giant Holocene rockslide near Boaco and Santa Lucia (Nicaragua, Central America) / Ivo Baron̆, Markéta Kernstocková, Roman Novotný, David Buriánek, Petr Hradecký, Pavel Havlic̆ek and Rostislav Melichar / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 133-145, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.7 --- Complex landslide behaviour and structural control: a three-dimensional conceptual model of Åknes rockslide, Norway / Michel Jaboyedoff, Thierry Oppikofer, Marc-Henri Derron, Lars Harald Blikra, Martina Böhme and Aline Saintot / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 147-161, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.8 --- Structural analysis of Turtle Mountain: origin and influence of fractures in the development of rock slope failures / Andrea Pedrazzini, Michel Jaboyedoff, Corey R. Froese, C. Willem Langenberg and Francisco Moreno / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 163-183, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.9 --- A structural, geomorphological and InSAR study of an active rock slope failure development / I. H. C. Henderson, T. R. Lauknes, P. T. Osmundsen, J. Dehls, Y. Larsen and T. F. Redfield / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 185-199, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.10 --- Numerical modelling of Plio-Quaternary slope evolution based on geological constraints: a case study from the Caramanico Valley (Central Apennines, Italy) / G. Bianchi Fasani, E. Di Luzio, C. Esposito, S. Martino and G. Scarascia-Mugnozza / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 201-214, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.11 --- Valley shape influence on deformation mechanisms of rock slopes / Christian Ambrosi and Giovanni B. Crosta / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 215-233, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.12 --- The Celentino deep-seated gravitational slope deformation (DSGSD): structural and geomechanical analyses (Peio Valley, NE Italy) / M. Ghirotti, S. Martin and R. Genevois / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 235-251, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.13 --- Megafans and outsize fans from catastrophic slope failures in Alpine glacial troughs: the Malser Haide and the Val Venosta cluster, Italy / David Jarman, Federico Agliardi and Giovanni B. Crosta / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 253-277, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.14

Description / Table of Contents: The earth’s cryosphere, which includes snow, glaciers and ice caps, ice sheets, ice shelves, sea ice, river and lake ice, and frozen ground, contains about 75% of the earth’s fresh water. It exists at almost all latitudes, from the tropics to the poles, and plays a vital role in controlling the global climate system. It also provides direct visible evidence of the effect of climate change, and, therefore, requires proper understanding of the complex dynamics. This encyclopedia mainly focuses on the various aspects of snow, ice and glaciers, but also covers other cryospheric branches, and provides an up-to-date information and basic concepts on relevant topics. It includes alphabetically arranged and professionally written, comprehensive and authoritative academic articles by well-known international experts in individual fields. The encyclopedia contains a broad spectrum of topics, ranging from the atmospheric processes responsible for snow formation; transformation of snow to ice and changes in their properties; classification of ice and glaciers and their worldwide distribution; glaciation and ice ages; glacier dynamics; glacier surface and subsurface characteristics; geomorphic processes and landscape formation; hydrology and sedimentary systems; permafrost degradation; hazards caused by cryospheric changes; and trends of glacier retreat on the global scale along with the impact of climate change. This book can serve as a source of reference at the undergraduate and graduate level and help better understand snow, ice and glaciers. This will also be an indispensable tool containing specialized literature for geologists, geographers, climatologists, hydrologists, and water resources engineers; as well as to those who are engaged in the practice of agricultural and civil engineering, earth sciences, environmental sciences and engineering, ecosystem management, and other relevant subjects.

Description / Table of Contents: Generally, the term biomass is used for all materials originating from photosynthesis. However, biomass can equally apply to animals. Conservation and management of biomass is very important. There are various ways and methods for biomass evaluation. One of these methods is remote sensing. Remote sensing provides information about biomass, but also about biodiversity and environmental factors estimation over a wide area. The great potential of remote sensing has received considerable attention over the last few decades in many different areas in biological sciences including nutrient status assessment, weed abundance, deforestation, glacial features in Arctic and Antarctic regions, depth sounding of coastal and ocean depths, and density mapping. The salient features of the book include: Several aspects of biomass study and survey Use of remote sensing for evaluation of biomass Evaluation of carbon storage in ecosystems Evaluation of primary productivity through case studies.

Description / Table of Contents: INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS LIFE? I’m not going to answer this question. In fact, I doubt if it will ever be possible to give a full answer. (Haldane, 1949: 58) What Is Life? J. B. S. Haldane (1949) and Erwin Schrödinger (1944), two of the twentieth century’s most influential scientists, posed the direct question, ‘what is life?’ and declared that it was a question unlikely to find an answer. Life, they suggested, might exceed the ability of science to represent it and even though the sciences of biology, physics and chemistry might usefully describe life’s structures, systems and processes, those sciences should not seek to reduce it to the sum of its parts. While Schrödinger drew attention to the physical structure of living matter, including especially the cell, Haldane asserted that ‘what is common to life is the chemical events’ (1949: 59) and so therefore life might be defined, though not reduced, to ‘a pattern of chemical processes’ (62) involving the use of oxygen, enzymes and so on. Following Schrödinger and Haldane, Chris McKay’s article, published in 2004 and included in this collection, asks again ‘What is Life – and How Do We Search For It in Other Worlds?’. For him, the still open and unresolved question of life is intrinsically linked to the problem of how to find it (here, or elsewhere) since, he queries, how can we search for something that we cannot adequately define? It should be noted that this dilemma did not deter the founders of Artificial Life, a project that succeeded Artificial Intelligence and that sought to both simulate ‘life-as-we-know-it’ and synthesise ‘life-as-it-could-be’ by reducing life to the informational and therefore computational criteria of self-organisation, self-replication, evolution, autonomy and emergence (Langton, 1996: 40; Kember, 2003). McKay concedes that certain characteristics of life, such as metabolism and motion, can occur without biology, but rather than pursuing contestable (re)definitions of life that could not, for him, constitute the basis for a search, he prefers to ask a more pragmatic question: ‘what does life need?’. The elements that support life – energy, carbon, liquid water, nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus – are not contested and, barring only liquid water, they are abundant in the Solar System. It seems logical then, McKay argues, to search for life indirectly, by looking at where the water is. The case for liquid water on Mars has, as we will see, a long and argumentative history. In as far as the current case is, as McKay maintains, ‘tight’, then there is justification for his upbeat assessment that, with the correct instruments, it should be possible to find life-as-we-know-it – and even life-as-it-could-be. He writes: ‘while it could be similar at the top (ecological) and bottom (chemical) levels, life on Mars could be quite alien in the middle, in the realm of biochemistry’ (2004: 1261).

Description / Table of Contents: Soil erosion affects a large part of the Earth surface, and accelerated soil erosion is recognized as one of the main soil threats, compromising soil productive and protective functions. The land management in areas affected by soil erosion is a relevant issue for landscape and ecosystems preservation. In this book we collected a series of papers on erosion, not focusing on agronomic implications, but on a variety of other relevant aspects of the erosion phenomena. The book is divided into three sections: i) various implications of land management in arid and semiarid ecosystems, ii) erosion modeling and experimental studies; iii) other applications (e.g. geoscience, engineering). The book covers a wide range of erosion-related themes from a variety of points of view (assessment, modeling, mitigation, best practices etc.).

Description / Table of Contents: There is an estimated 1.4 billion km3 of water in the world but only approximately three percent (39 million km3) of it is available as fresh water. Moreover, most of this fresh water is found as ice in the arctic regions, deep groundwater or atmospheric water. Since water is the source of life and essential for all life on the planet, the use of this resource is a highly important issue. "Water management" is the general term used to describe all the activities that manage the optimum use of the world's water resources. However, only a few percent of the fresh water available can be subjected to water management. It is still an enormous amount, but what's unique about water is that unlike other resources, it is irreplaceable. This book provides a general overview of various topics within water management from all over the world. The topics range from politics, current models for water resource management of rivers and reservoirs to issues related to agriculture. Water quality problems, the development of water demand and water pricing are also addressed. The collection of contributions from outstanding scientists and experts provides detailed information about different topics and gives a general overview of the current issues in water management. The book covers a wide range of current issues, reflecting on current problems and demonstrating the complexity of water management.

Description / Table of Contents: The past decade has witnessed a major revival in attempts to separate biodiversity signals from biases imposed by sampling and the architecture of the rock record. How large a problem this poses to our understanding of biodiversity patterns remains debatable, and new approaches are being developed to investigate this question. Here palaeobiologists with widely differing approaches and interests explore the problems of extracting reliable information on biodiversity change from an imperfect geological record. Topics covered range from the application of information-theoretic approaches that identify directional causal relationships to an in-depth study of how geological biases could influence our understanding of dinosaur evolution. A wide range of new insights into the links between the land, shallow-marine and deep-sea rock and fossil records are presented, making this volume invaluable to anyone in the Earth or life sciences who wishes to remain abreast of this dynamic and rapidly evolving research area.

Description / Table of Contents: Recent global shocks, such as the 2008 financial crisis, have driven policy makers and industry strategists to re-examine how to prepare for and respond to events that can begin locally and propagate around the world with devastating effects on society and the economy. This report considers how the growing interconnectedness in the global economy could create the conditions and vectors for rapid and widespread disruptions. It looks at examples of hazards and threats that emerge from the financial world, cyberspace, biological systems and even the solar system, to reflect on what strategic capacities are called for to improve assessment, mapping, modelling, response and resilience to such large scale risks.

Description / Table of Contents: The civilization of present age is predominantly dependent on energy resources and their utilization. Almost every human activity in today's life needs one or other form of energy. As world's energy resources are not unlimited, it is extremely important to use energy efficiently. Both energy related technological issues and policy and planning paradigms are highly needed to effectively exploit and utilize energy resources. This book covers topics, ranging from technology to policy, relevant to efficient energy utilization. Those academic and practitioners who have background knowledge of energy issues can take benefit from this book.

Description / Table of Contents: New analytical strategies and techniques are necessary to meet requirements of modern technologies and new materials. In this sense, this book provides a thorough review of current analytical approaches, industrial practices, and strategies in Fourier transform application.

Description / Table of Contents: Soil contamination has severely increased over the last decades, mainly due to petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, lead and other heavy metals from industrial wastes and human activities. The critical point regarding contaminated soil monitoring is the intrinsic difficulty in defining fixed monitoring variables and indicators as the establishment of any a priori criterion and threshold for soil quality can be still considered subjective. This book is organized into eight chapters and presents the state-of-the art and new research highlights in the context of contaminated soil monitoring and remediation strategies, including examples from South America, Europe and Asia. The chapters deal with the following topics: - monitoring of dioxin, furan, hydrocarbons and heavy metals level in soils - bioindicators and biomarkers for the assessment of soil toxicity - use of reflectance spectroscopy for soil contaminants and waste material detection - remediation technologies and strategies.

Description / Table of Contents: While I write this Introduction, the meltdown of the three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in March 2011 is apparently still not under control and made new energy-saving technologies the centre of attention at CEATEC, Japan's largest information technology and electronics fair, in October of the same year. Hope rises among environmentally-conscious scientists like Sasaki et al. that better management of the island’s many forests and policy reinforcements will allow the sustainable use of woody biomass or any other natural resource freely available (as documented by the non-profit organization Japan for Sustainability or the German Energy Rich Japan Project) in order to generate the 858.5 billion kWh the Japanese population currently consumes per year. The techno-natural disaster has also recharged the empty batteries of anti-nuclear movements, not only in Japan, and fuelled pronunciamentos by political parties of almost all creeds for an ‚energy turn’ world-wide. In order to write the above paragraph, dozens of google clicks were needed, each spending an amount of energy equivalent to letting a light bulb of 60 watts burn for 18 seconds. And many dozens of clicks more to search for open-access articles and other information to compile this collection. Like all digital practices and social media, the Living Books about Life project depends upon energy-intensive infrastructures, partly coal-powered data centres (see dirty-data report by Greenpeace) and an equally energy-intensive cooling system for servers that never sleep. But this is not a book about renewable energies and how to turn the land of the rising sun into the Kingdom of Solar Energy or joining hands with Cheeky Cloud and making windmills turn round and round while unfriending Facebook’s Dirty Coal as promoted by the Greenpeace compaign and video. An energetic (r)evolution is depending on a climate change on all levels of society (including the microlevel of the individual and his or her life-style) and not just on a technological fix. This book is hence not exclusively about the E(nergy) of scientific equations such as Einstein's famous formula E = mc2. It is, rather, a book about energy as a nomadic concept and material-semiotic agent of transformation. Tapping into energy as both an idea and a substance, I hope to add another atom to Vicki Kirby's recent 'quantum-anthropological' proposition of a 'meta-physis of life at large' (2011). Or call it a modest proposal to embrace a 'cosmopolitics' (Stengers, 2010 and 2011) in order to sustain good vibrations.

Description / Table of Contents: The first book of this four-volume edition is dedicated to one of the most promising areas of photovoltaics, which has already reached a large-scale production of the second-generation thin-film solar modules and has resulted in building the powerful solar plants in several countries around the world. Thin-film technologies using direct-gap semiconductors such as CIGS and CdTe offer the lowest manufacturing costs and are becoming more prevalent in the industry allowing to improve manufacturability of the production at significantly larger scales than for wafer or ribbon Si modules. It is only a matter of time before thin films like CIGS and CdTe will replace wafer-based silicon solar cells as the dominant photovoltaic technology. Photoelectric efficiency of thin-film solar modules is still far from the theoretical limit. The scientific and technological problems of increasing this key parameter of the solar cell are discussed in several chapters of this volume.

Description / Table of Contents: Today science is moving in the direction of synthesis of the achievements of various academic disciplines. The idea to prepare and present to the international academic milieu, a multidimensional approach to globalization phenomenon is an ambitious undertaking. The book The Systemic Dimension of Globalization consists of 14 chapters divided into three sections: Globalization and Complex Systems; Globalization and Social Systems; Globalization and Natural Systems. The Authors of respective chapters represent a great diversity of disciplines and methodological approaches as well as a variety of academic culture. This is the value of this book and this merit will be appreciated by a global community of scholars.

Description / Table of Contents: Aquaculture is the art, science and business of cultivating aquatic animals and plants in fresh or marine waters. It is the extension of fishing, resulted from the fact that harvests of wild sources of fish and other aquatic species cannot keep up with the increased demand of a growing human population. Expansion of aquaculture can result with less care for the environment. The first pre-requisite to sustainable aquaculture is clean wate, but bad management of aquatic species production can alter or even destroy existing wild habitat, increase local pollution levels or negatively impact local species. Aquatic managers are aware of this and together with scientists are looking for modern and more effective solutions to many issues regarding fish farming. This book presents recent research results on the interaction between aquaculture and environment, and includes several case studies all over the world with the aim of improving and performing sustainable aquaculture.

Description / Table of Contents: Driven by the increasing necessity to define the biological diversity frame of widespread, endemic and threatened species, as well as by the stimulating chance to describe new species, the study of the evolutive and spatial dynamics is in constant execution. Systematic overviews, biogeographic and phylogenic backgrounds, species composition and distribution in restricted areas are focal topics of the 15 interesting independent chapters collected in this book, chosen to offer to the reader an overall view of the present condition in which our planet is.

Description / Table of Contents: Submarine earthquakes, submarine slides and impacts may set large water volumes in motion characterized by very long wavelengths and a very high speed of lateral displacement, when reaching shallower water the wave breaks in over land – often with disastrous effects. This natural phenomenon is known as a tsunami event. By December 26, 2004, an event in the Indian Ocean, this word suddenly became known to the public. The effects were indeed disastrous and 227,898 people were killed. Tsunami events are a natural part of the Earth’s geophysical system. There have been numerous events in the past and they will continue to be a threat to humanity; even more so today, when the coastal zone is occupied by so much more human activity and many more people. Therefore, tsunamis pose a very serious threat to humanity. The only way for us to face this threat is by increased knowledge so that we can meet future events by efficient warning systems and aid organizations. This book offers extensive and new information on tsunamis; their origin, history, effects, monitoring, hazards assessment and proposed handling with respect to precaution. Only through knowledge do we know how to behave in a wise manner. This book should be a well of tsunami knowledge for a long time, we hope.

Description / Table of Contents: With growing attention on global environmental and climate change, geoscience has experienced rapid change and development in the last three decades. Many new data, methods and modeling techniques have been developed and applied in various aspects of geoscience. The chapters collected in this book present an excellent profile of the current state of various data, analysis methods and modeling techniques, and demonstrate their applications from hydrology, geology and paleogeomorphology, to geophysics, environmental and climate change. The wide range methods and techniques covered in the book include information systems and technology, global position system (GPS), digital sediment core image analysis, fuzzy set theory for hydrology, spatial interpolation, spectral analysis of geophysical data, GIS-based hydrological models, high resolution geological models, 3D sedimentology, change detection from remote sensing, etc. Besides two comprehensive review articles, most chapters focus on in-depth studies of a particular method or technique.

Description / Table of Contents: The book presents several approaches in the key areas of practice for which the MATLAB software package was used. Topics covered include applications for: -Motors -Power systems -Robots -Vehicles The rapid development of technology impacts all areas. Authors of the book chapters, who are experts in their field, present interesting solutions of their work. The book will familiarize the readers with the solutions and enable the readers to enlarge them by their own research. It will be of great interest to control and electrical engineers and students in the fields of research the book covers.

Description / Table of Contents: The purpose of the ET Carbon Ranking is to provide information on a company's greenhouse gas emissions intensity as well as its level of disclosure and verification. The aim of the ET Carbon Ranking is to encourage increasingly higher levels of disclosure and verification while incentivising corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction on a global scale.

Description / Table of Contents: The digital world is changing at a tremendous speed. New communication technologies open up new possibilities, but by using them you can also expose yourself, and others, to risks. Many people have trouble assessing these risks especially with regard to the subject of safe digital communication. This is particularly true for people working in regimes with high levels of censorship. However, also in countries considered to be relatively free and uncensored, your data can be used or misused by others - governments, companies, or other persons (sometimes even unintended). How to protect yourself, your sources or your friends? What are safe routes to take? How do you secure after your personal data? This manual aims to address these issues to help you choose your own 'level' of safety.

Description / Table of Contents: The past few decades have witnessed the growth of the Earth Sciences in the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the planet that we live on. This development addresses the challenging endeavor to enrich human lives with the bounties of Nature as well as to preserve the planet for the generations to come. Solid Earth Geophysics aspires to define and quantify the internal structure and processes of the Earth in terms of the principles of physics and forms the intrinsic framework, which other allied disciplines utilize for more specific investigations. The first edition of the Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics was published in 1989 by Van Nostrand Reinhold publishing company. More than two decades later, this new volume, edited by Prof. Harsh K. Gupta, represents a thoroughly revised and expanded reference work. It brings together more than 200 articles covering established and new concepts of Geophysics across the various sub-disciplines such as Gravity, Geodesy, Geomagnetism, Seismology, Seismics, Deep Earth Processes, Plate Tectonics, Thermal Domains, Computational Methods, etc. in a systematic and consistent format and standard. It is an authoritative and current reference source with extraordinary width of scope. It draws its unique strength from the expert contributions of editors and authors across the globe. It is designed to serve as a valuable and cherished source of information for current and future generations of professionals.

Description / Table of Contents: The atmosphere may be our most precious resource. Accordingly, the balance between its use and protection is a high priority for our civilization. While many of us would consider air pollution to be an issue that the modern world has resolved to a greater extent, it still appears to have considerable influence on the global environment. In many countries with ambitious economic growth targets the acceptable levels of air pollution have been transgressed. Serious respiratory disease related problems have been identified with both indoor and outdoor pollution throughout the world. The 25 chapters of this book deal with several air pollution issues grouped into the following sections: a) air pollution chemistry; b) air pollutant emission control; c) radioactive pollution and d) indoor air quality.

Description / Table of Contents: This book represents recent research on tropical cyclones and their impact, and a wide range of topics are covered. An updated global climatology is presented, including the global occurrence of tropical cyclones and the terrestrial factors that may contribute to the variability and long-term trends in their occurrence. Research also examines long term trends in tropical cyclone occurrences and intensity as related to solar activity, while other research discusses the impact climate change may have on these storms. The dynamics and structure of tropical cyclones are studied, with traditional diagnostics employed to examine these as well as more modern approaches in examining their thermodynamics. The book aptly demonstrates how new research into short-range forecasting of tropical cyclone tracks and intensities using satellite information has led to significant improvements. In looking at societal and ecological risks, and damage assessment, authors investigate the use of technology for anticipating, and later evaluating, the amount of damage that is done to human society, watersheds, and forests by land-falling storms. The economic and ecological vulnerability of coastal regions are also studied and are supported by case studies which examine the potential hazards related to the evacuation of populated areas, including medical facilities. These studies provide decision makers with a potential basis for developing improved evacuation techniques.

Description / Table of Contents: The Tsunami from the 1960 Chilean earthquake affected the entire Pacific Ocean and motivated the international coordination on tsunami research and warning systems around the Pacific. However, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami affected the entire world, and reminded that tsunamis are not a local or regional problem but a global issue. This volume contains 18 papers, mostly presented at the 24th International Tsunami Symposium held in 14-16 July 2009. They reflect the current state of tsunami science, including case studies of earthquake-generated tsunamis, tsunami forecasting and hazard assessments, and theoretical and computational modeling of tsunami generation, propagation and coastal behavior.

Description / Table of Contents: A well-known statement says that the PID controller is the "bread and butter" of the control engineer. This is indeed true, from a scientific standpoint. However, nowadays, in the era of computer science, when the paper and pencil have been replaced by the keyboard and the display of computers, one may equally say that MATLAB is the "bread" in the above statement. MATLAB has became a de facto tool for the modern system engineer. This book is written for both engineering students, as well as for practicing engineers. The wide range of applications in which MATLAB is the working framework, shows that it is a powerful, comprehensive and easy-to-use environment for performing technical computations. The book includes various excellent applications in which MATLAB is employed: from pure algebraic computations to data acquisition in real-life experiments, from control strategies to image processing algorithms, from graphical user interface design for educational purposes to Simulink embedded systems.

Description / Table of Contents: The book consists of 24 chapters illustrating a wide range of areas where MATLAB tools are applied. These areas include mathematics, physics, chemistry and chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, biological (molecular biology) and medical sciences, communication and control systems, digital signal, image and video processing, system modeling and simulation. Many interesting problems have been included throughout the book, and its contents will be beneficial for students and professionals in wide areas of interest.

Description / Table of Contents: The book consists of 21 chapters which present interesting applications implemented using the LabVIEW environment, belonging to several distinct fields such as engineering, fault diagnosis, medicine, remote access laboratory, internet communications, chemistry, physics, etc. The virtual instruments designed and implemented in LabVIEW provide the advantages of being more intuitive, of reducing the implementation time and of being portable. The audience for this book includes PhD students, researchers, engineers and professionals who are interested in finding out new tools developed using LabVIEW. Some chapters present interesting ideas and very detailed solutions which offer the immediate possibility of making fast innovations and of generating better products for the market. The effort made by all the scientists who contributed to editing this book was significant and as a result new and viable applications were presented.

Description / Table of Contents: The book addresses the subjects related to the selected aspects of pollutants emission, monitoring and their effects. The most of recent publications concentrated on the review of the pollutants emissions from industry, especially power sector. In this one emissions from opencast mining and transport are addressed as well. Beside of SOx and NOx emissions, small particles and other pollutants (e.g. VOC, ammonia) have adverse effect on environment and human being. The natural emissions (e.g. from volcanoes) has contribution to the pollutants concentration and atmospheric chemistry governs speciation of pollutants, as in the case of secondary acidification. The methods of ambient air pollution monitoring based on modern instrumentation allow the verification of dispersion models and balancing of mass emissions. The comfort of everyday human's activity is influenced by indoor and public transport vehicles interior air contamination, which is effected even by the professional appliances operation. The outdoor pollution leads to cultural heritage objects deterioration, the mechanism are studied and the methods of rehabilitation developed. However to prevent emissions the new technologies are being developed, the new class of these technologies are plasma processes, which are briefly reviewed at the final part of the book.

Description / Table of Contents: This book covers a number of topics in heat and mass transfer processes for a variety of industrial applications. The research papers provide advances in knowledge and design guidelines in terms of theory, mathematical modeling and experimental findings in multiple research areas relevant to many industrial processes and related equipment design. The design of equipment includes air heaters, cooling towers, chemical system vaporization, high temperature polymerization and hydrogen production by steam reforming. Nine chapters of the book will serve as an important reference for scientists and academics working in the research areas mentioned above, especially in the aspects of heat and mass transfer, analytical/numerical solutions and optimization of the processes.

Description / Table of Contents: Acoustics is an discipline that deals with many types of fields wave phenomena. Originally the field of Acoustics was consecrated to the sound, that is, the study of small pressure waves in air detected by the human ear. The scope of this field of physics has been extended to higher and lower frequencies and to higher intensity levels. Moreover, structural vibrations are also included in acoustics as a wave phenomena produced by elastic waves. This book is focused on acoustic waves in fluid media and elastic perturbations in heterogeneous media. Many different systems are analyzed in this book like layered media, solitons, piezoelectric substrates, crystalline systems, granular materials, interface waves, phononic crystals, acoustic levitation and soft media. Numerical methods are also presented as a fourth-order Runge-Kutta method and an inverse scattering method.

Description / Table of Contents: The content of this book covers several up-to-date approaches in the heat conduction theory such as inverse heat conduction problems, non-linear and non-classic heat conduction equations, coupled thermal and electromagnetic or mechanical effects and numerical methods for solving heat conduction equations as well. The book is comprised of 14 chapters divided into four sections. In the first section inverse heat conduction problems are discuss. The first two chapters of the second section are devoted to construction of analytical solutions of nonlinear heat conduction problems. In the last two chapters of this section wavelike solutions are attained.The third section is devoted to combined effects of heat conduction and electromagnetic interactions in plasmas or in pyroelectric material elastic deformations and hydrodynamics. Two chapters in the last section are dedicated to numerical methods for solving heat conduction problems.

Description / Table of Contents: In 90 minutes, enough sunlight strikes the earth to provide the entire planet's energy needs for one year. While solar energy is abundant, it represents a tiny fraction of the world’s current energy mix. But this is changing rapidly and is being driven by global action to improve energy access and supply security, and to mitigate climate change. Around the world, countries and companies are investing in solar generation capacity on an unprecedented scale, and, as a consequence, costs continue to fall and technologies improve. This publication gives an authoritative view of these technologies and market trends, in both advanced and developing economies, while providing examples of the best and most advanced practices. It also provides a unique guide for policy makers, industry representatives and concerned stakeholders on how best to use, combine and successfully promote the major categories of solar energy: solar heating and cooling, photovoltaic and solar thermal electricity, as well as solar fuels. Finally, in analysing the likely evolution of electricity and energy-consuming sectors – buildings, industry and transport – it explores the leading role solar energy could play in the long-term future of our energy system.

Description / Table of Contents: Electricity use is growing worldwide, providing a range of energy services: lighting, heating and cooling, specific industrial uses, entertainment, information technologies, and mobility. Because its generation remains largely based on fossil fuels, electricity is also the largest and the fastest-growing source of energy-related CO2 emissions, the primary cause of human-induced climate change. Forecasts from the IEA and others show that “decarbonising” electricity and enhancing end-use efficiency can make major contributions to the fight against climate change. Global and regional trends on electricity supply and demand indicate the magnitude of the decarbonisation challenge ahead. As climate concerns become an essential component of energy policy-making, the generation and use of electricity will be subject to increasingly strong policy actions by governments to reduce their associated CO2 emissions. Despite these actions, and despite very rapid growth in renewable energy generation, significant technology and policy challenges remain if this unprecedented essential transition is to be achieved. The IEA Climate and Electricity Annual 2011 provides an authoritative resource on progress to date in this area, with statistics related to CO2 and the electricity sector across ten regions of the world. It also presents topical analyses on meeting the challenge of rapidly curbing CO2 emissions from electricity, from both a policy and technology perspective.

Description / Table of Contents: Despite public calls in many countries for reducing reliance on coal as a primary but high-carbon energy source, global demand continues to escalate. Coal has traditionally been seen as a low-cost and price-stable source of energy, but recently coal prices have increased and become much more volatile. Moreover, while coal is viewed as a very secure energy source, infrastructure bottlenecks and weather-related events can dramatically tighten the market. This new annual IEA publication, Medium-Term Coal Market Report 2011, presents a comprehensive analysis of recent trends in coal demand, supply and trade, as well as an IEA outlook for coal market fundamentals for the coming five years. The report places a special focus on trade and infrastructure development in the key exporting countries. Given the existing uncertainties on the production capacity of China to meet its challenging coal demand growth, the book presents two scenarios for coal trade: a high and a low Chinese production outlook. This comparison highlights the massive influence of Chinese behaviour on the international coal trade.

Description / Table of Contents: Special early excerpt of the World Energy Outlook 2010 for the United Nations General Assembly on the Millenium Development Goals.

Description / Table of Contents: MOSES contains a novel approach to analysing energy security, which can be used to identify energy security priorities, as a starting point for national energy security assessments and to track the evolution of a country’s energy security profile. By grouping together countries with similar “energy security profiles”, MOSES depicts the energy security landscape of IEA countries. By extending the MOSES methodology to electricity security and energy services in the future, the IEA aims to develop a comprehensive policy-relevant perspective on global energy security. Ensuring energy security has been at the centre of the IEA mission since its inception, following the oil crises of the early 1970s. While the security of oil supplies remains important, contemporary energy security policies must address all energy sources and cover a a comprehensive range of natural, economic and political risks that affect energy sources, infrastructures and services. In response to this challenge, the IEA is currently developing a Model Of Short-term Energy Security (MOSES) to evaluate the energy security risks and resilience capacities of its member countries. The current version of MOSES covers short-term security of supply for primary energy sources and secondary fuels among IEA countries. It also lays the foundation for analysis of vulnerabilities of electricity and end-use energy sectors. MOSES contains a novel approach to analysing energy security, which can be used to identify energy security priorities, as a starting point for national energy security assessments and to track the evolution of a country’s energy security profile. By grouping together countries with similar “energy security profiles”, MOSES depicts the energy security landscape of IEA countries. By extending the MOSES methodology to electricity security and energy services in the future, the IEA aims to develop a comprehensive policy-relevant perspective on global energy security. This Brochure provides and overview of the analysis and results. Readers interested in an in-depth discussion of methodology are referred to the MOSES Working Paper.

Description / Table of Contents: Electric motor-driven system is the largest single energy end use accounting for more than 40% of global electricity consumption. This paper sets out an ambitious but achievable target with the global work plan to improve the energy efficiency of electric motor-driven system by 10% to 15% based on the finding of working paper “Energy-Efficiency Policy Opportunities for Electric Motor-Driven Systems (Waide et al., 2011)”. If governments commit to the proposed work plan immediately and maintain resourcing levels, this could be achieved by 2030 and it would be equivalent to reducing total global electricity use by around 5%. The proposed work plan of this paper is to align regulatory settings within a globally applicable scheme. The IEA believes this target can only be achieved through global co-operation leading to aligned national policy settings that countries can unlock the economies of scale that will result from using more energy efficient EMDS.

Description / Table of Contents: This report examines inaccuracies in some commonly held views of China’s National Oil Companies (NOCs). Until now, there has been little analysis to test the widely held presumption that these companies act under the instructions and in close co-ordination with the Chinese government. Nor have critics been challenged on the validity of their concerns about investments made by these NOCs, and how they could be blocking supplies of oil for other importing countries. The IEA analysis, however, finds that contrary to these views, the NOCs actually operate with a high degree of independence from the Chinese government, and their investments have in fact largely boosted global supplies of oil and gas, which other importers rely on.

Description / Table of Contents: As demonstrated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami-triggered blackouts in Japan, electricity shortfalls can happen anytime and anywhere. Countries can minimise the negative economic, social and environmental impacts of such electricity shortfalls by developing emergency energy-saving strategies before a crisis occurs. This new IEA report Saving Electricity in a Hurry: Update 2011 highlights preliminary findings and conclusions from electricity shortfalls in Japan, the United States, New Zealand, South Africa and Chile. It draws on recent analysis to: - reinforce well-established guidelines on diagnosing electricity shortfalls, identifying energy-saving opportunities and selecting a package of energy-saving measures; and - highlight proven practice for implementing emergency energy-saving programmes. This paper will be valuable to government, academic, private-sector and civil-society stakeholders who inform, develop and implement electricity policy in general, and emergency energy-saving programmes in particular.

Description / Table of Contents: Power systems must be actively managed to maintain a steady balance between supply and demand. This is already a complex task as demand varies continually. But what happens when supply becomes more variable and less certain, as with some renewable sources of electricity like wind and solar PV that fluctuate with the weather? To what extent can the resources that help power systems cope with the challenge of variability in demand also be applied to variability of supply? How large are these resources? And what share of electricity supply from variable renewables can they make possible? There is no one-size-fits-all answer. The ways electricity is produced, transported and consumed around the world exhibit great diversity. Grids can cross borders, requiring co-ordinated international policy, or can be distinct within a single country or region. And whether found in dispatchable power plants, storage facilities, interconnections for trade or on the demand side, the flexible resource that ensures the provision of reliable power in the face of uncertainty likewise differs enormously. Written for decision makers, Harnessing Variable Renewables: a Guide to the Balancing Challenge sheds light on managing power systems with large shares of variable renewables. It presents a new, step-by-step approach developed by the IEA to assess the flexibility of power systems, which identifies the already present resources that could help meet the twin challenges of variability and uncertainty.

Description / Table of Contents: Timely and effective deployment of demand response could greatly increase power system flexibility, electricity security and market efficiency. Considerable progress has been made in recent years to harness demand response. However, most of this potential remains to be developed. The paper draws from IEA experience to identify barriers to demand response, and possible enablers that can encourage more timely and effective demand response including cost reflective pricing, retail market reform, and improved load control and metering equipment. Governments have a key role to play in developing and implementing the policy, legal, regulatory and market frameworks needed to empower customer choice and accelerate the development and deployment of cost-effective demand response.

Description / Table of Contents: This paper is the first global analysis of energy consumption and energy efficiency potential of EMDS (electric motor- driven system). The electric motors and systems they drive are the largest single electricity end use accounting for more than 40% of global electricity consumption. Huge energy efficiency potential was found untapped in EMDS - around 25 % of EMDS electricity use could be saved cost-effectively, reducing total global electricity demand by about 10%. However, the energy efficiency of EMDS has been relatively neglected in comparison with other sustainable energy opportunities. It is crucial to scale up the operations and resources committed to realizing the vast savings potential of optimized EMDS. This paper proposes a comprehensive package of policy recommendations to help governments realize the potential for energy savings in EMDS.

Description / Table of Contents: G-20 Clean Energy, and Energy Efficiency Deployment and Policy Progress, a report prepared by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in collaboration with the G-20 Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Working Group, provides an overview of clean energy and energy efficiency technology deployment and summarises support policies in place across G-20 countries. The report highlights that while clean energy technology deployment has made steady progress and energy efficiency improvements have been made, continued reliance on fossil fuels to meet growth in global energy demand presents a significant challenge. Scaling-up the deployment of renewable energy, in addition to improving end-use efficiency, enhancing the efficiency of fossil fuel based power generation, and supporting the widespread deployment of CCS will, therefore, also be crucial aspects of the transition to a cleaner energy future. Reporting to G-20 on Clean Energy and Efficiency Progress. This report was issued on the authority of the IEA Executive Director, it does not necessarily represent the views of IEA Member countries or the G20. G-20 Clean Energy, and Energy Efficiency Deployment and Policy Progress, a report prepared by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in collaboration with the G-20 Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Working Group, provides an overview of clean energy and energy efficiency technology deployment and summarises support policies in place across G-20 countries. The report highlights that while clean energy technology deployment has made steady progress and energy efficiency improvements have been made, continued reliance on fossil fuels to meet growth in global energy demand presents a significant challenge. Scaling-up the deployment of renewable energy, in addition to improving end-use efficiency, enhancing the efficiency of fossil fuel based power generation, and supporting the widespread deployment of CCS will, therefore, also be crucial aspects of the transition to a cleaner energy future. Because the G-20 group of countries represent close to 80% of energy-related CO₂emissions, by developing and deploying energy efficiency and clean energy technologies, they are presented with a unique opportunity to make collective progress in transitioning the global energy system. IEA Deputy Executive Director Richard Jones emphasised the importance of G-20 efforts, saying, "The IEA welcomes this important collaboration with the G-20. Enhanced deployment of clean energy technologies and of energy efficiency improvements offers energy security and environmental benefits. It will also enable cost savings over the medium and long term – an aspect that is particularly relevant at a time of economic uncertainty. We believe that enhanced policy assessment and analysis, building on this initial report, will enable governments to take more cost effective and efficient policy decisions.”

Description / Table of Contents: Alternative energy sources have become a hot topic in recent years. The supply of fossil fuel, which provides about 95 percent of total energy demand today, will eventually run out in a few decades. By contrast, biomass and biofuel have the potential to become one of the major global primary energy source along with other alternate energy sources in the years to come. A wide variety of biomass conversion options with different performance characteristics exists. The goal of this book is to provide the readers with current state of art about biomass and bioenergy production and some other environmental technologies such as Wastewater treatment, Biosorption and Bio-economics. Organized around providing recent methodology, current state of modelling and techniques of parameter estimation in gasification process are presented at length. As such, this volume can be used by undergraduate and graduate students as a reference book and by the researchers and environmental engineers for reviewing the current state of knowledge on biomass and bioenergy production, biosorption and wastewater treatment.

Description / Table of Contents: The IEA’s Smart Grids Technology Roadmap identified five global trends that could be effectively addressed by deploying smart grids. These are: increasing peak load (the maximum power that the grid delivers during peak hours), rising electricity consumption, electrification of transport, deployment of variable generation technologies (e.g. wind and solar PV) and ageing infrastructure. Along with this roadmap, a new working paper – Impact of Smart Grid Technologies on Peak Load to 2050 – develops a methodology to estimate the evolution of peak load until 2050. It also analyses the impact of smart grid technologies in reducing peak load for four key regions; OECD North America, OECD Europe, OECD Pacific and China. This working paper is a first IEA effort in an evolving modelling process of smart grids that is considering demand response in residential and commercial sectors as well as the integration of electric vehicles.

Description / Table of Contents: For the past several years, the IEA and others have been calling for a clean energy revolution to achieve global energy security, economic growth and climate change goals. This report analyses for the first time progress in global clean energy technology deployment against the pathways that are needed to achieve these goals. It provides an overview of technology deployment status, key policy developments and public spending on RDD&D of clean energy technologies.

Description / Table of Contents: Buildings account for almost a third of final energy consumption globally and are an equally important source of CO2 emissions. Currently, both space heating and cooling, as well as hot water are estimated to account for roughly half of global energy consumption in buildings. Energy-efficient and low/zero-carbon heating and cooling technologies for buildings have the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 2 gigatonnes (Gt) and save 710 million tonnes oil equivalent (Mtoe) of energy by 2050. Most of these technologies – which include solar thermal, combined heat and power (CHP), heat pumps and thermal energy storage – are commercially available today. The Energy-Efficient Buildings: Heating and Cooling Equipment Roadmap sets out a detailed pathway for the evolution and deployment of the key underlying technologies. It finds that urgent action is required if the building stock of the future is to consume less energy and result in lower CO2 emissions. The roadmap concludes with a set of near-term actions that stakeholders will need to take to achieve the roadmap’s vision. Buildings account for almost a third of final energy consumption globally and are an equally important source of CO2 emissions. Currently, both space heating and cooling as well as hot water are estimated to account for roughly half of global energy consumption in buildings. Energy-efficient and low/zero-carbon heating and cooling technologies for buildings have the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 2 gigatonnes (Gt) and save 710 million tonnes oil equivalent (Mtoe) of energy by 2050. Most of these technologies – which include solar thermal, combined heat and power (CHP), heat pumps and thermal energy storage – are commercially available today.

Description / Table of Contents: Very often the process of globalization is referred the word economy evolution. Often we measure and study globalization in the economic relevance. The economy is possibly the most recognized dimension of globalization. That is why we see many new phenomena and processes on economic macro levels and economic sectoral horizons as well as on specific "geography of globalization". The book The Economic Geography of Globalization consists of 13 chapters divided into two sections: Globalization and Macro Process and Globalization and Sectoral Process. The Authors of respective chapters represent the great diversity of disciplines and methodological approaches as well as a variety of academic culture. This book is a valuable contribution and it will certainly be appreciated by a global community of scholars.

Description / Table of Contents: PART I. INTRODUCTION --- 1. Background and overview of the JSPS Coastal Marine Science Program / Shuhei Nishida, Nobuyuki Miyazaki and Miguel D. Fortes / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 3-10 --- PART II. SCIENTIFIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS --- 2. Water circulation and material transport in the coastal areas and marginal seas of East and Southeast Asia (Project-1) / Tetsuo Yanagi / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 13-22 --- 3. Ecology and oceanography of harmful marine microalgae (Project-2) / Yasuwo Fukuyo, Masaaki Kodama, Takuo Omura, Ken Furuya, Elsa F. Furio, Mirriam Cayme, Lim Po Teen, Dao Viet Ha, Yuichi Kotaki, Kazumi Matsuoka, Mitsunori Iwataki, Rujinard Sriwoon and Thaithaworn Lirdwitayaprasit / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 23-48 --- 4. Biodiversity studies on seaweeds and sea grasses in the coastal waters of Southeast Asia (Project-3: Seaweed/seagrass Group) / Shigeo Kawaguchi and Ken-ichi Hayashizaki / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 49-57 --- 5. Biodiversity of marine zooplankton in Southeast Asia (Project-3: Plankton Group) / Shuhei Nishida and Jun Nishikawa / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 59-71 --- 6. Fish diversity studies in the JSPS Coastal Marine Science Program (Project-3: Fish Group) / Keiichi Matsuura / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 73-79 --- 7. Biodiversity of benthos in the coastal waters of Southeast Asia (Project-3: Benthos Group) / Yoshihisa Shirayama / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 81-85 --- 8. Pollution of hazardous chemicals in the coastal marine environment and their ecological effect (Project-4) / Koji Inoue and Nobuyuki Miyazaki / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 87-101 --- PART III. CAPACITY BUILDING AND OUTREACH --- 9. Material transport: Capacity building in Project-1 / Tetsuo Yanagi / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 105-106 --- 10. Harmful algal blooms: Capacity building in Project-2 / Yasuwo Fukuyo and Masaaki Kodama / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 107-109 --- 11. Biodiversity of seaweeds and sea grasses: Capacity building in Project-3 / Shigeo Kawaguchi / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 111-116 --- 12. Biodiversity of zooplankton: Capacity building in Project-3 / Shuhei Nishida / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 117-123 --- 13. Biodiversity of fishes: Capacity building in Project-3 / Keiichi Matsuura / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 125-128 --- 14. Biodiversity of benthos: Capacity building in Project-3 / Yoshihisa Shirayama / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 129-134 --- 15. Marine pollution: Capacity building in Project-4 / Koji Inoue and Nobuyuki Miyazaki / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 135-141 --- PART IV. COORDINATION IN MEMBER COUNTRIES --- 16. JSPS Coastal Marine Science Program in Indonesia / Suharsono / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 145-161 --- 17. JSPS Coastal Marine Science Program in Malaysia / Mohd Ibrahim Seeni Mohd / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 163-171 --- 18. The Philippine JSPS Coastal Marine Science Program: Status, problems and perspectives / Miguel D. Fortes / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 173-187 --- 19. Research coordination of JSPS Coastal Marine Science Program in Thailand / Charoen Nitithamyong / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 189-199 --- 20. National coordination of the JSPS Coastal Marine Science Program in Vietnam / Tran Duc Thanh / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 201-209 --- PART V. GENERAL SUMMARY --- 21. Synthesis, challenges and future prospects / Shuhei Nishida, Nobuyuki Miyazaki and Miguel D. Fortes / S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. / Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia—Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan / pp. 213-216 --- Appendix-1. Directory of Project Members / pp. 217-250 --- Appendix-2. Publications / pp. 251-315

Description / Table of Contents: Irrespective of whether we use economic or societal metrics, the Internet is one of the most important technical infrastructures in existence today. It will be a catalyst for much of our innovation and prosperity in the future. A competitive Europe will require Internet connectivity and services beyond the capabilities offered by current technologies. Future Internet research is therefore a must.  This book is published in full compliance with the Open Access publishing initiative; it is based on the research carried out within the Future Internet Assembly (FIA). It contains a sample of representative results from the recent FIA meetings spanning a broad range of topics, all being of crucial importance for the future Internet.  The book includes 32 contributions and has been structured into the following sections, each of which is preceded by a short introduction: Foundations: architectural issues; socio-economic issues; security and trust; and experiments and experimental design. Future Internet Areas: networks, services, and content; and applications

Description / Table of Contents: Despite agreement on first-order features and mechanisms, critical aspects of the origin and evolution of the Tibetan Plateau, such as the exact timing and nature of collision, the initiation of plateau uplift, and the evolution of its height and width, are disputed, untested or unknown. This book gathers papers dealing with the growth and collapse of the Tibetan Plateau. The timing, the underlying mechanisms, their interactions and the induced surface shaping, contributing to the Tibetan Plateau evolution are tightly linked via coupled and feedback processes. We present interdisciplinary contributions allowing insight into the complex interactions between lithospheric dynamics, topography building, erosion, hydrological processes and atmospheric coupling. The book is structured in four parts: early processes in the plateau formation; recent growth of the Tibetan Plateau; mechanisms of plateau growth; and plateau uplift, surface processes and the monsoon.

Description / Table of Contents: This study on Poland is part of the World Bank's series of low-carbon growth studies. It poses the question of how Poland, an EU member state, an industrialized 'Annex I' country for the purposes of international climate discussions,1 and an OECD member, can transition to a low emissions economy as successfully as it underwent transition to a market economy in the early 1990s. With a broad consensus that global coordinated action is needed to prevent dangerous climate change estimated to cost about 1 percent of global GDP) and with EU policies on climate change already in place, Poland faces immediate policy challenges. Could the country commit to more ambitious overall greenhouse gas mitigation targets for the longer term - to 2030 and beyond? What technological options are available, and how expensive are they compared with existing technologies? Would there be high costs in lost growth and employment? Over a shorter horizon, to 2020, what are the implications for Poland of implementing EU policies on climate change? The report addresses these questions while advancing the approach of the Bank's low carbon studies by integrating 'bottom-up' engineering analysis with 'top-down' economy-wide modeling.

Description / Table of Contents: This Study explores arguments about the impact of climate change on human rights, examining the international legal frameworks governing human rights and climate change and identifying the relevant synergies and tensions between them. It considers arguments about (i) the human rights impacts of climate change at a macro level and how these impacts are spread disparately across countries; (ii) how climate change impacts human rights enjoyment within states and the equity and discrimination dimensions of those disparate impacts; and (iii) the role of international legal frameworks and mechanisms, including human rights instruments, particularly in the context of supporting developing countries’ adaptation efforts. The Study surveys the interface of human rights and climate change from the perspective of public international law. It builds upon the work that has been carried out on this interface by reviewing the legal issues it raises and complementing existing analyses by providing a comprehensive legal overview of the area and a focus on obligations upon States and other actors connected with climate change. The objective has therefore been to contribute to the global debate on climate change and human rights by offering a review of the legal dimensions of this interface as well as a survey of the sources of public international law potentially relevant to climate change and human rights in order to facilitate an understanding of what is meant, in legal terms, by 'human rights impacts of climate change' and help identify ways in which international law can respond to this interaction. This is a complex and dynamically evolving legal and policy landscape and this study aims to capture its most salient features insofar as they appear at present.

Description / Table of Contents: Sediment Transport in Aquatic Environments is a book which covers a wide range of topics. The effective management of many aquatic environments, requires a detailed understanding of sediment dynamics. This has both environmental and economic implications, especially where there is any anthropogenic involvement. Numerical models are often the tool used for predicting the transport and fate of sediment movement in these situations, as they can estimate the various spatial and temporal fluxes. However, the physical sedimentary processes can vary quite considerably depending upon whether the local sediments are fully cohesive, non-cohesive, or a mixture of both types. For this reason for more than half a century, scientists, engineers, hydrologists and mathematicians have all been continuing to conduct research into the many aspects which influence sediment transport. These issues range from processes such as erosion and deposition to how sediment process observations can be applied in sediment transport modeling frameworks. This book reports the findings from recent research in applied sediment transport which has been conducted in a wide range of aquatic environments. The research was carried out by researchers who specialize in the transport of sediments and related issues. I highly recommend this textbook to both scientists and engineers who deal with sediment transport issues.

Description / Table of Contents: The book deals with several aspects of soil erosion, focusing on its connection with the agricultural world. Chapters’ topics are various, ranging from irrigation practices to soil nutrient, land use changes or tillage methodologies. The book is subdivided into fourteen chapters, sorted in four sections, grouping different facets of the topic: introductive case studies, erosion management in vineyards, soil erosion issue in dry environments, and erosion control practices. Certainly, due to the extent of the subject, the book is not a comprehensive collection of soil erosion studies, but it aims to supply a sound set of scientific works, concerning the topic. It analyzes different facets of the issue, with various methodologies, and offers a wide series of case studies, solutions, practices, or suggestions to properly face soil erosion and, moreover, may provide new ideas and starting points for future researches.

Description / Table of Contents: Medianatures picks up from Donna Haraway’s idea of naturecultures – the topological continuum between nature and culture, the material entwining and enfolding of various agencies, meanings and interactions. Medianatures gives the concept of naturecultures a specific emphasis, and that emphasis is at the core of this living book. It is a useful concept and framework for investigating some of the ways in which our electronic and high-tech media culture is entwined with a variety of material agencies. The notion of ‘materiality’ is taken here in a literal sense to refer, for instance, to ‘plasma reactions and ion implantation’ (Yoshida, 1994: 105) – as in processes of semiconductor fabrication, or to an alternative list of media studies objects and components which are studied from an e-waste management perspective: ‘metal, motor/compressor, cooling, plastic, insulation, glass, LCD, rubber, wiring/electrical, concrete, transformer, magnetron, textile, circuit board, fluorescent lamp, incandescent lamp, heating element, thermostat, brominated flamed retardant (BFR)-containing plastic, batteries, CFC/HCFC/HFC/HC, external electric cables, refractory ceramic fibers, radioactive substances and electrolyte capacitors (over L/D 25 mm)’, and which themselves are constituted from a range of materials – plastics, wood, plywood, copper, aluminum, silver, gold, palladium, lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, selenium, hexavalent chromium and flame retardants (Pinto, 2008). In short, media are of nature, and return to nature – where the production process for our media devices, from screens to circuits, networks to interfaces, involves the standardization and mass-mobilization of minerals and other materialities. Discarded media technologies are themselves part of such a regime of natural ‘things’ – whether picked apart in an Asian recycling village, or then left to decay in urban or rural places. The natural affords our cultural agencies and assemblages – including media practices and concrete devices – and all of that comes back to nature. The articles selected express this materiality at the core of media technological culture, and the various ecological ties these themes share with the current political economy. They range from perspectives in environmental sciences concerning e-waste and the management of electronic media remains to computer science and ideas in green computing – as well as showcasing articles and reports about the production and dismantling of things such as Cathode Ray Tubes and LCD-displays. Hence, this living book is not only about life, but also about death and dead media – but dead media in a very concrete sense of media as the death of nature, biological processes and organisms (including humans).

Description / Table of Contents: Professor Richard (Rick) Sibson revolutionized structural geology by illustrating that fault rocks contain an integrated record of earthquakes. Fault-rock textures develop in response to geological and physical variables such as composition, environmental conditions (e.g. temperature and pressure), fluid presence and strain rate. These parameters also determine the rate- and state-variable frictional stability of a fault, the dominant mineral deformation mechanism and shear strength, and ultimately control the partitioning between seismic and aseismic deformation. This volume contains a collection of papers that address the geological record of earthquake faulting from field-based or theoretical perspectives. The papers cover observations in active fault zones, the relationships between fault rocks and fault-slip styles, interpretation of fault-rock textures from the base of the seismogenic zone, consideration of the effects of fluids on faulting, discussion of fault reactivation v. initiation, and a review of future directions in geological earthquake research by Professor Sibson.

Description / Table of Contents: The utilization of renewable energy sources such as wind energy, or solar energy, among others, is currently of greater interest. Nevertheless, since their availability is arbitrary and unstable this can lead to frequency variation, to grid instability and to a total or partial loss of load power supply, being not appropriate sources to be directly connected to the main utility grid. Additionally, the presence of a static converter as output interface of the generating plants introduces voltage and current harmonics into the electrical system that negatively affect system power quality. By integrating distributed power generation systems closed to the loads in the electric grid, we can eliminate the need to transfer energy over long distances through the electric grid. In this book the reader will be introduced to different power generation and distribution systems with an analysis of some types of existing disturbances and a study of different industrial applications such as battery charges.

Description / Table of Contents: The third book of four-volume edition of 'Solar Cells' is devoted to solar cells based on silicon wafers, i.e., the main material used in today's photovoltaics. The volume includes the chapters that present new results of research aimed to improve efficiency, to reduce consumption of materials and to lower cost of wafer-based silicon solar cells as well as new methods of research and testing of the devices. Light trapping design in c-Si and mc-Si solar cells, solar-energy conversion as a function of the geometric-concentration factor, design criteria for spacecraft solar arrays are considered in several chapters. A system for the micrometric characterization of solar cells, for identifying the electrical parameters of PV solar generators, a new model for extracting the physical parameters of solar cells, LBIC method for characterization of solar cells, non-idealities in the I-V characteristic of the PV generators are discussed in other chapters of the volume.

Description / Table of Contents: To better understand the contemporary world, the world of innovation and technology, science should try to synthesize and assimilate social science in the development of our civilization. Does the new era require new knowledge? Does the age of globalization demand new education, new human attitudes? This books tries to clarify these questions. The book New Knowledge in a New Era of Globalization consists of 16 chapters divided into three sections: Globalization and Education; Globalization and Human Being; Globalization and Space. The Authors of respective chapters represent a great diversity of disciplines and methodological approaches as well as a variety of academic culture. This book is a valuable contribution and it will certainly be appreciated by a global community of scholars.

Description / Table of Contents: The phenomena related to the flow of fluids are generally complex, and difficult to quantify. New approaches - considering points of view still not explored - may introduce useful tools in the study of Hydrodynamics and the related transport phenomena. The details of the flows and the properties of the fluids must be considered on a very small scale perspective. Consequently, new concepts and tools are generated to better describe the fluids and their properties. This volume presents conclusions about advanced topics of calculated and observed flows. It contains eighteen chapters, organized in five sections: 1) Mathematical Models in Fluid Mechanics, 2) Biological Applications and Biohydrodynamics, 3) Detailed Experimental Analyses of Fluids and Flows, 4) Radiation-, Electro-, Magnetohydrodynamics, and Magnetorheology, 5) Special Topics on Simulations and Experimental Data. These chapters present new points of view about methods and tools used in Hydrodynamics.

Description / Table of Contents: Understanding the sediments deposited by glaciers or other cold-climate processes assumes enhanced significance in the context of current global warming and the predicted melt and retreat of glaciers and ice sheets. This volume analyses glacial, proglacial and periglacial settings focusing, among others, on sedimentation at termini of tidewater glaciers, on hitherto not-well-understood high-mountain features, and on sediments such as slope and aeolian deposits whose clasts were sourced in glacial and periglacial regions, but have been transported and deposited by azonal processes. Difficulties are thus often encountered in inferring Pleistocene and pre-Pleistocene cold-climate conditions when the sedimentary record lacks many of the specific diagnostic indicators. The main objective of this volume is to establish the validity and limitations of the evidence that can be obtained from widely distributed clastic deposits, in order to achieve reliable palaeogeographic and palaeoclimatic reconstructions. At a more general level and on the much longer geological timescale, an understanding of ice-marginal and periglacial environments may better prepare us for the unavoidable reversal towards cooler and perhaps even glacial times in the future.

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides the latest knowledge and practice in responding to the challenge of climate change in cities. Case studies focus on topics such as New Orleans in the context of a fragile environment, a framework to include poverty in the cities and climate change discussion, and measuring the impact of GHG emissions.

Description / Table of Contents: Collision between Australia and SE Asia began in the Early Miocene and reduced the former wide ocean between them to a complex passage which connects the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Today, the Indonesian Throughflow passes through this gateway and plays an important role in global thermohaline flow. The surrounding region contains the maximum global diversity for many marine and terrestrial organisms. Reconstruction of this geologically complex region is essential for understanding its role in oceanic and atmospheric circulation, climate impacts, and the origin of its biodiversity. The papers in this volume discuss the Palaeozoic to Cenozoic geological background to Australia and SE Asia collision. They provide the background for accounts of the modern Indonesian Throughflow and oceanographic changes since the Neogene, and consider aspects of the region's climate history.

Description / Table of Contents: The latest Mars missions are returning data of unprecedented fidelity in their representation of the martian surface. New data include images with spatial resolution better than 30 cm per pixel, stereo imaging-derived terrain models with one meter postings, high-resolution imaging spectroscopy, and RADAR data that reveal subsurface structure. This book reveals how this information is being used to understand the evolution of martian landscapes, and includes topics such as fluvial flooding, permafrost and periglacial landforms, debris flows, deposition and erosion of sedimentary material, and the origin of lineaments on Phobos, the larger martian moon. Contemporary remote sensing data of Mars, on a par with those of Earth, reveal landscapes strikingly similar to regions of our own planet, so this book will be of interest to Earth scientists and planetary scientists alike. An overview chapter summarising Mars’ climate, geology and exploration is included for the benefit of those new to Mars.

Description / Table of Contents: Air pollution has been a major transboundary problem and a matter of global concern for decades. High concentrations of different air pollutants are particularly harmful to large cities residents, where numerous anthropogenic activities strongly influence the quality of air. Although there are many books on the subject, the one in front of you will hopefully fulfill some of the gaps in the area of air quality monitoring and modeling, and be of help to graduate students, professionals and researchers. The book is divided in five sections, dealing with mathematical models and computing techniques used in air pollution monitoring and forecasting; air pollution models and application; measuring methodologies in air pollution monitoring and control; experimental data on urban air pollution in China, Egypt, Northeastern U.S, Brazil and Romania; and finally, the health effects due to exposure to benzene, and on the influence of air pollutants on the acute respiratory diseases in children in Mexico.

Description / Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Plates Amalgamation and Plate Destruction, the Western Gondwana History by Ngako Vincent and Njonfang Emmanuel --- Chapter 2: Lithospheric Structure and Tectonics of the Eastern Alps – Evidence from New Seismic Data by Ewald Brückl --- Chapter 3: Structure and Plate Tectonic Evolution of the Northern Outer Carpathians by Jan Golonka, Kaja Pietsch and Paweł Marzec --- Chapter 4: Tectonic Model of the Sinai Peninsula Based on Geophysical Investigations by Taha Rabeh --- Chapter 5: Siberia - From Rodinia to Eurasia by Dmitry V. Metelkin, Valery A. Vernikovsky and Alexey Yu. Kazansky --- Chapter 6: Proto-Basin Types of North China Craton (NCC) in Late Triassic and Its Implication for Regional Tectonics of Initial Craton Destruction by Yang Minghui, Liu Chiyang, Zeng Peng, Bai Hua and Zhou Jin --- Chapter 7: Tectonic Implications of Stratigraphy Architecture in Distal Part of Foreland Basin, Southwestern Taiwan by Jong-Chang Wu, Kenn-Ming Yang, Yi-Ru Chen and Wen-Rong Chi --- Chapter 8: Seismic Hazard in Tien Shan: Basement Structure Control Over the Deformation Induced by Indo-Eurasia Collision by Buslov, Mikhail M. and De Grave, Johan --- Chapter 9: Lithosphere as a Nonlinear System: Geodynamic Consequences by E. G. Mirlin --- Chapter 10: Layer-Block Tectonics, a New Concept of Plate Tectonics - An Example from Nansha Micro-Plate, Southern South China Sea by Hai-ling Liu, Hong-bo Zheng, Yan-Lin Wang, Chao-Hua Wu, Mei-Song Zhao and Yun-Kong Du --- Chapter 11: The Role of Geoelectrical DC Methods in Determining the Subsurface Tectonics Features. Case Studies from Syria by Jamal Asfahani --- Chapter 12: Salt Tectonics of the Lisan Diapir Revealed by Synthetic Aperture Radar Images by Damien Closson, Najib Abou Karaki, Nada Milisavljević, Frédéric Hallot, and Marc Acheroy --- Chapter 13: Mantle-like Trace Element Composition of Petroleum – Contributions from Serpentinizing Peridotites by Peter Szatmari, Teresa Cristina O. da Fonseca and Norbert F. Miekeley

Description / Table of Contents: Given that the essence of the invisible lies in our inability to see it, the large number of cultural attempts to represent and mobilise it as metaphor presents an irony. The use of invisibility as a trope dates back at least to the legend of Gyges, discussed in Plato's Republic, written around 360 BC. Gyges discovers a ring that makes him invisible; the advantage this bestows helps him to win a kingdom. Ancient etymology indicates that the name of Hades, Greek god of the underworld, means ‘invisible’ and in mythology, a helmet, rather than a ring, enables Hades to escape detection (Roman & Roman, 2009: 182). More recently, H.G. Wells warned of its dangers, exploring the suspicion and havoc invisibility can wreak; Queen have sung about its appeal; and Harry Potter dons an invisibility cloak to vanquish dark forces in the first book. In philosophy, at least for Merleau-Ponty and Derrida, albeit in different ways, the possibility of perception relies on the difference between the visible and invisible (see Reynolds, 2004). After Adam Smith, economists refer to the ‘invisible hand’ of the market: indicating a supposedly self-regulating entity. In terms of identity politics the invisible is used as a marker of the marginalised and voiceless – unrecognised by the state or society and without power, they are effectively invisible. Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, for example, begins: ‘I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fibre and liquids - and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me’ (1952: 1). As a result of all this cultural activity around the invisible, the strangeness, the absence, the alterity that attracts us, and encourages us to find ways to represent invisibility through existing paradigms, is undoubtedly domesticated.

Description / Table of Contents: Water is an essential and basic human need for urban, industrial and agricultural use. While an abundance of fresh water resources is available, its uneven distribution around the globe creates challenges for sustainable use of this resource. Water conservation refers to an efficient and optimal use as well as protection of valuable water resources and this book focuses on some commonly used tools and techniques such as rainwater harvesting, water reuse and recycling, cooling water recycling, irrigation techniques such as drip irrigation, agricultural management practices, groundwater management, and water conservation incentives.

Description / Table of Contents: Worldwide attention to environmental issues combined with the energy crisis force us to reduce greenhouse emissions and increase the usage of renewable energy sources as a solution to providing an efficient environment. This book addresses the current issues of sustainable growth and applications in renewable energy sources. The fifteen chapters of the book have been divided into two sections to organize the information accessible to readers. The book provides a variety of material, for instance on policies aiming at the promotion of sustainable development and implementation aspects of RES.

Description / Table of Contents: This book aims to provide information about Fourier transform to those needing to use infrared spectroscopy, by explaining the fundamental aspects of the Fourier transform, and techniques for analyzing infrared data obtained for a wide number of materials. It summarizes the theory, instrumentation, methodology, techniques and application of FTIR spectroscopy, and improves the performance and quality of FTIR spectrophotometers.

Description / Table of Contents: This book on X-ray Crystallography is a compilation of current trends in the use of X-ray crystallography and related structural determination methods in various fields. The methods covered here include single crystal small-molecule X-ray crystallography, macromolecular (protein) single crystal X-ray crystallography, and scattering and spectroscopic complimentary methods. The fields range from simple organic compounds, metal complexes to proteins, and also cover the meta-analyses of the database for weak interactions.

Description / Table of Contents: Issues pertaining to urban risks are a pressing concern for those involved in disasters mitigation. Development of effective mitigation strategies requires sound seismic hazard information that is commonly derived through a seismic hazard assessment (SHA). The purpose of SHA is to provide a scientifically consistent estimate of seismic hazard for engineering design and other considerations. The time is ripe to move beyond the old paradigms of the traditional Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis (PSHA). This two-part volume advocates advanced methods for SHA that utilize up to date earthquake science and basic scientific principles to derive the seismic hazard in terms of a ground motion or related quantity and its occurrence frequency at a site, as well as the associated uncertainty. It aims to: 1) identify the issues in the current SHAs, 2) facilitate the development of a scientifically consistent approach for SHA and 3) disseminate, both in scientific and in engineering practice societies, advanced reliable tools for independent hazard estimates, like NDSHA (neo-deterministic SHA), which incorporates physically based ground motion models. It provides a fresh approach to seismic hazard analysis. Part 1 deals with the general issues of SHA methodology review and development, as well as with recent advances in earthquake science that may have relevant implications toward an improved SHA. It is addressed to seismologists, engineers and stake-holders, and aims to contribute to bridging between modern interdisciplinary research and practitioners.