Sustainable energy land environments

From a different (but related) environmental perspective, provision of adequate supplies of food, shelter, medicines and resources of energy and raw materials already constitute serious global challenges. Superimposed over the issues of safety and the environment introduced above are difficult and long-term problems involving sustainability. The current population of planet earth, approximately 6 billion, has tripled since 1938. Various projections indicate that by 2050 it will be about 11 billion, nearly twice the present level. Innovative methods for greater food production from diminishing tracts of available arable land and increased and efficient utilization of renewable resources will be essential. 

With growing concern of environment and sustainability, Imerys has taken an initiative to evaluate the sustainability aspects of the calcium carbonate mineral. lifecycle inventory (LCI) is a key part of the International Environmental Management System standards 14044 2006. This tool is used by companies in the plastics supply chain to understand the environmental impact of raw materials critical for plastics production. LCI analysis of treated ground calcium carbonate compared to base resins was carried out since treated GCC is used to replace some of the resin volume in plastics production. The production of treated GCC was found to have a lower impact on the environment than the production of various resin systems, including PVC, PE, and PP. Raw material and energy use inputs were included in the study, as were environmental emissions to land, air, and water [11]. 

Figure 8.1 illustrates how resource efficiency is the key issue for sustainability in the built environment and how resources can be evaluated using the seven principles shown on the Principles axis [3]. The fundamental idea is to ensure the resources of construction are used in a sustainable manner throughout the life-cycle of the constructed artifact, from planning through to ultimate disposal in a sustainable manner. The physical resources needed to create constructed artifacts are land, energy, water, materials, and landscaping or biota. 

Sustainability can be measured by the outcomes of using a material, process, or system on the environment, society, and economy. The three components of sustainability have economic, social, and environmental aspects and are related with each other as shown in Figure 1.1. Materials, processes, and systems can have environmental, economic, and societal impact. Sustainable materials, processes, and systems have all three impacts. For example, the development of materials will have environmental impacts of using raw materials, energy sources, and transportation that come from natural resources, which can create air, land. 

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