This book was motivated by the need to approach with a fresh look what we regard as perhaps the most embarrassing predicament of the Anthropocene/Capitalocene (Capra and Mattei, 2015, Altvater et al., 2016, Moore, 2017). We live in an era with roughly the same number (about one billion) of over-fed people and of people lacking access to nutritious food (which means that do not know in the morni…
Sustainable agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa; Agricultural economics; Climate change economics; Agricultural productivity; Modern technology adoption by farmers; Agricultural sustainability; Bioenergy Crop Adoption; Agro-Industrialization; Agriculture sector development; Environmental Efficiency; Global Value Chains; Regional value chains; African economic development; African agricultural tra…
Robotic engineering inspired by biology—biomimetics—has many potential applications: robot snakes can be used for rescue operations in disasters, snake-like endoscopes can be used in medical diagnosis, and artificial muscles can replace damaged muscles to recover the motor functions of human limbs. Conversely, the application of robotics technology to our understanding of biological systems…
The growing of crops for bioenergy has been subject to much recent criticism, as taking away land which could be used for food production or biodiversity conservation. This book challenges some commonly-held ideas about biofuels, bioenergy and energy cropping, particularly that energy crops pose an inherent threat to ecosystems, which must be mitigated. The book recognises that certain energy c…
Sustainability; Biomass Management; Resource Management; Agriculture; Macroeconomics
George Brown (1835-1917) was many things during his long life; leader in the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Australasia, explorer, linguist, political activist, apologist for the missionary enterprise, amateur anthropologist, writer, constant traveller, collector of artefacts, photographer and stirrer. He saw himself, at heart, as a missionary. The islands of the Pacific Ocean were the scene of h…
Wastewater treatment plants are large non-linear systems subject to large perturbations in wastewater flow rate, load and composition. Nevertheless these plants have to be operated continuously, meeting stricter and stricter regulations. Many control strategies have been proposed in the literature for improved and more efficient operation of wastewater treatment plants. Unfortunately, their eva…
This multidisciplinary volume brings together scholars and writers who try to come to terms with the histories and legacies of European slavery in the Indian Ocean. The volume discusses a variety of qualitative data on the experience of being a slave in order to recover ordinary lives and, crucially, to place this experience in its Asian local context. Building on the rich scholarship on the sl…
This book provides systematic coverage of the beam-based techniques that accelerator physicists use to improve the performance of large particle accelerators, including synchrotrons and linacs. It begins by discussing the basic principles of accelerators, before exploring the various error sources in accelerators and their impact on the machine's performances. The book then demonstrates the lat…
The first book dedicated to the potential applications and unique properties of bacterial cellulose (BC), this seminal work covers the basic science, technology, and economic impact of this bulk chemical as well as the companies and patents that are driving the field. It reviews the biosynthesis and properties of BC, including genetics and characterization; discusses the advancing technology as…