Engineering and Ecosystems: Seeking Synergies Toward a Nature-Positive World

ISBN-13: 9783031356919 / Angielski

Bhavik R. Bakshi

Spis treści

Part I. Introduction and Motivation

1) Why should Engineering Account for Ecosystems? 

2) Ecosystem Goods and Services 

Part II. Engineering’s Demand for Ecosystem Services

3) Quantifying the Direct and Indirect Demand for Ecosystem Services 

4) Water Provisioning 

5) Biogeochemical Cycles: Modeling Interaction of Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles with Industrial Systems 

6) The Significance of Insect Pollinators: Opportunities and Challenges 

7) Biodiversity 

Part III. Nature’s Capacity to Supply Ecosystem Services

8) Tools for Quantifying the Supply of Ecosystem Services 

9) Designing with Nature: Incorporating Hydrological services in Engineering Projects 

10) Improved Air Quality and Other Services from Urban Trees and Forests 

11) Services from Agroecosystems and their Quantification 

Part IV. Including Nature in Engineering

12) Challenges in Developing Synergies between Technological and Ecological Systems 

13) Making the Business Case for Nature-Based Solutions 

14) Greenprinting: Urban Planning for Ecosystem Services 

15) Wetlaculture: Solving Harmful Algal Blooms with a Sustainable Wetland/Agricultural Landscape 

16) Design of Agroecological Landscapes 

17) Integrated Design of Processes and Supply Chains with Wetlands 

18) Demand and Supply of Air Quality Regulation Ecosystem Service 

19) Designing Synergies between Homeorhetic Ecosystems and Homeostatic Manufacturing Systems 

20) Ecosystem Services in the Life Cycle of Biofuels 

21) Designing for Resilience and Sustainability: An Integrated Systems Approach 

Part V Socio-Economic Aspects of Accounting for Nature

22) Environmental Markets 

23) Preventing Unintended Harm from Socio-Ecological Interactions 

Part VI Directions for the Future

24) Outlook 

O autorze

Bhavik Bakshi holds the Wrigley Professorship at Arizona State University with appointments in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, School of Sustainability, and School of Complex Adaptive Systems. His research is developing systematic methods to ensure that engineering enables an effective transformation toward sustainability. This research results in novel solutions that respect nature’s limits, are socially just, and contribute to economic prosperity. Specific areas of research include life cycle assessment (LCA), product, process, and landscape design for sustainability and a circular economy.  In addition to many papers and invited talks, his contributions include a textbook on sustainable engineering, user-friendly software, and short courses taught worldwide. His work has been recognized by many awards, including the Education Leadership in LCA Award from the American Council for LCA, the Lawrence K. Cecil Award for environmental chemical engineering from the Environmental Division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the Research Excellence award and Education award from the Sustainable Engineering Forum of AIChE, the CAREER award from the U.S. National Science Foundation, and several best paper awards from journals and conferences. He is on the editorial boards of several multidisciplinary journals and has served on government committees such as task forces of the United Nations Environment Program. Prof. Bakshi received his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai and his MS in Chemical Engineering Practice and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a minor in Technology and Environmental Policy through courses and research conducted at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. 

Blurb

This book demonstrates how the inclusion of nature in engineering decisions results in innovative solutions that are economically feasible, ecologically viable, and socially desirable. It advances progress toward nature-positive decisions by protection and restoration of ecosystems and respect for ecological boundaries. The topic of this book is an active area of academic research, and leading companies are including goals associated with ecosystem services in their sustainability plans. This book is the first collection of methods and applications that explicitly include the role of nature in supporting engineering activities and describes the role that ecosystems play in supporting technology and industry. It describes approaches, models, applications, and challenges for innovation and sustainability that will be useful to students and practitioners.  

• Describes methods to account for ecosystem goods and services in  sustainability assessment and engineering design; 
• Presents a systematic framework for seeking synergies between technological and ecological systems;
• Enables convergence between engineering, environmental science, ecology, and economics.