Industry

Industry holds an indispensable relationship with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations, illuminating the fact that sustainable industrial development plays a vital role in achieving these global objectives. Industry, particularly manufacturing, serves as a critical driver for economic growth, employment, and technological advancement. SDG 9, specifically, underlines the importance of industry, innovation, and infrastructure, underscoring the need for resilient infrastructure, inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and fostering innovation. However, the intricate interlinkages between industry and other SDGs must not be overlooked.

For instance, clean and sustainable industrial processes contribute significantly to SDG 13, aiming at climate action, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving energy efficiency, and adopting clean and environmentally sound technologies. Similarly, SDG 12, responsible consumption and production, demands the industries to promote resource and energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, and provide access to basic services, green and decent jobs, and a better quality of life for all. It motivates industries to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle.

The role of industries extends to SDG 8 (Decent work and Economic Growth) as industries stimulate economic activities that lead to job creation and thus, improve living standards. Also, in respect to SDG 5 (Gender Equality), industrial sectors have the potential to provide opportunities for women in the workforce and help bridge the gender wage gap.

Nevertheless, the transformation to a more sustainable industry is not without challenges. The demands of rapid technological changes, the need for significant capital investments in green technologies, and the transition to a circular economy are some of the hurdles industry faces. Further, this transformation requires a multilevel and multi-stakeholder approach, calling for cooperation among governments, private sectors, academia, and civil society to pave the path to achieving SDGs.

Elsevier, Current Opinion in Insect Science, Volume 40, August 2020
Viral diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, known as arboviruses, pose a significant threat to human life and are a major burden on many health systems around the world. Currently, arbovirus control strategies rely on insecticides or vector source reduction and, in the absence of effective, accessible and affordable vaccines, mainly on symptomatic based, non-specific treatments. However, insecticides have the potential to interfere with non-target organisms, cause environmental toxicity and insecticide resistance reduces their effectiveness as a sustainable control method.
This book chapter advances SDGs 6, 14 and 15 by examining how sustainable materials for environmental remediation are useful tools for helping address goals relating to ecosystem health and pollution control.
Elsevier, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 126, July 2020
The new European Commission plans to raise the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target from 40% towards 55% by 2030 and make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Achieving this will require accelerated energy efficiency measures, deeper electrification of sectors currently consuming conventional fuels and the deployment of more renewables, faster. This opinion article looks specifically at the role of photovoltaics (PV), based on scenarios from the Commission's 2018 long-term strategy (LTS) for energy and climate.
This synthesis paper presents the objectives, approach and cross-cutting results of the Latin American Deep Decarbonization Pathways project (DDP-LAC). It synthesizes and compares detailed national and sectoral deep decarbonization pathways (DDPs) to 2050 compatible with the Paris Agreement objectives and domestic development priorities in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru.

Pathways towards a defossilated sustainable power system for West Africa within the time horizon of 2015–2050 is researched, by applying linear optimisation modelling to determine the cost optimal generation mix to meet the demand based on assumed costs and technologies in 5-year intervals. Six scenarios were developed, which aimed at examining the impact of various policy constraints such as cross-border electricity trade and greenhouse gas emissions costs.

High-tech products like batteries and electronics contain a variety of valuable, scarce, and in some cases potentially harmful materials, but in only a few exceptional cases (such as lead-acid batteries) is the material being recovered efficiently. Cotributing to SDGs 7, 9 and 12, this special issue seeks to elucidate the technical and institutional difficulties inherent in recycling these products and provide a forum for sharing potential ways to overcome them. 

Purpose and setting: Infrastructure is a global multi-trillion dollar market presenting many opportunities and risks for sustainable development. This article aims to foster better conceptualisation of the connections and tensions between infrastructure policy and public health in the light of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially ‘good health and wellbeing’ (number 3) and ‘industry, innovation and infrastructure’ (number 9), based on findings from interviews with a purposive sample of senior practicing Australian infrastructure policy makers.
The process industries have been facing ever increasing pressure in the monitoring and control of gaseous pollutants such as volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants. With increasingly stringent regulations and laws, emission management may need to go beyond the traditional leak detection and repair and continuous emissions monitoring system approaches to manage potential emission events. Alternative monitoring technologies, such as optical and remote sensing instruments and wireless sensors, can monitor emissions from a specific equipment/area/unit/plant in a timely manner.
Elsevier, Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 3, June 2020
Bio-based aerogels with customizable porosities and functionalities constitute a significant potential for CO2 capture. Developing bio-based aerogels from different polysaccharides and proteins is a safe, economical, and environmentally sustainable approach. Polysaccharides are biodegradable, sustainable, renewable, and plentiful in nature. Because of these advantages, the use of bio-based aerogels with porosity and amine functionality has attracted considerable interest.
Elsevier, Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 3, June 2020
The successful conversion of lignocellulose into value-added products depends on overcoming the recalcitrance of its structure towards enzymatic digestion. The highly crosslinked structure of lignin, crystallinity of cellulose, and low digestibility of hemicellulose create the recalcitrance. Many studies have proved that an appropriate pretreatment method could enhance the digestibility of lignocellulosic biomass by weakening the strong network of its chemical bonds among the cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin.

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