Unsustainable to sustainable development
Human beings are both the causative agents and victims of the changes that our environment is going through. Human beings and their surrounding environment are integrated; therefore, the well-being of one is dependant upon the well-being of the other. The imperative that humanity faces can be formulated as follows: "Without increased incomes and economic development environmental protection will fail; without environmental protection economic development will be undermined". The idea of sustainable development was conceived in early 1970s, when the need was felt to preserve the fast depleting natural resources. Prior to that the developments were almost unsustainable. The natural resources were fast depleting and ecological balance was in danger.
Sustainable developments are those which fulfil the present needs of the mankind without curtailing the needs of future generations. This can be made possible by maintaining the ecological processes, preserving the biodiversity and controlled consumption of natural resources.
Objectives of sustainable developments
The concept of sustainable developments has been devised to achieve the following objectives.
i) Basic needs of life should be available to all human beings.
ii) Consumption of natural resources should be utility based.
iii)Economic growth should be made within the safeguarded limits, to safeguard the interests of future generations to come.
iv) Ecological processes should continue unabated.
v) The development and maintenance of environment should run simultaneously.
vi) Regional imbalance in conservation of nature should be minimised or removed.
vii) The international fraternity should unite to fight the menace of pollution. viii) A long-term view should be adopted for a better relation between the human and species generations.
Sustainable development, thus, is a moderate position between the extremes of 'no growth' versus 'unlimited growth', and is based on the use of renewable resources in harmony with ecological systems. It is moderate in the sense that there is no restriction on using the resources for development. However, there is a restriction on using the resources exhaustively. Therefore, the sustainable development should be enforced effectively to prevent environmental degradation.
Urban Problems Related to Energy
Energy is the key input in the economic growth and there is a close link between the availability of energy and the future growth of a nation. Power generation and energy consumption are crucial to economic development as the major sectors of the economy depend upon the availability of energy resources. With rapid growth in industrialization, urbanisation and population explosion; the demand for energy has undergone a sharp rise. It may be the thermal energy obtained from fossil and nuclear fuels, or be the electrical energy; a big hike in their consumption has brought in some problems to urban inhabitants. Greater concern of the problem is an imbalance between the demand and supply. Whereas, on one hand the energy demand is increasing at a faster rate, on the other the conventional energy sources are fast exhausting. It has created a big gap between demand and supply. Therefore, the feelings of energy scenario, particularly the urban front, present a despair and formidable scene.
The main issues regarding the energy problem in urban areas are:
(a) How to utilize the energy from non-renewable sources at their maximum efficiency?
(b) How to make use of renewable sources of energy or the alternative energy sources?
To face the energy problems, suitable policies have to be chalked out and managed. To accomplish this, the following policies (paths) can be chosen.
i) Hard path: This emphasizes upon the continued use of fossil fuels,augmenting its exploration and a large scale use in power plants.
ii) Soft path: This emphasizes upon the utilization of environment friendly energy sources such as solar energy, wind energy, biomass energy, etc.
iii) Integrated (or mixed) path: This advocates for a mixed path by co ordinating all the energy sources, eg, fossil, nuclear, water, wind, solar etc. into one.
However, the final choice of adopting the type of path (policy) depends on the technical, economical, social and political situations.
Water Conservation
Water is precious natural resource. It is an essential commodity for maintaining the life, producing the agricultural products and for industrial development. On earth, it is available through a hydrological cycle. Therefore varying quantities of water is available season-wise in different parts of the world. Hence, its conservation is essential for all purposes.
Water conservation is the careful use and protection of water resources and involves both the quantity and quality of water used. There are many strategies that can be adopted to conserve the water. Main among them are (1) careful measures in day to day life to save water, (2) sustainable water utilization and (3) rainwater harvesting.
1. Careful measures to conserve water in day-to-day life
In day-to-day life, the need of water conservation exists in different areas of activities. Main among these are the following:
(a) Domestic Conservation: As much as half of the water used for domestic purposes can be saved without great sacrifice or serious changes in the life-styles by implementing the following measures.
i)Water leakage should not be allowed.
ii) Turn-off water when not absolutely needed for washing, brushing teeth, shaving and so on.
iii) The utensils, appliances and equipments such as dishwashers, washing machines etc. should be efficient enough to consume minimum quantity of water.
iv) Grassy lawns, toilet commodes, house floors etc. should be washed when really necessary.
v) Avoid irrigating the garden in noon. As far as possible, use drip t irrigation or direct sprinkling of water on garden plants.
b) Agricultural conservation: Agriculture is the biggest water user and perhaps half of all the agricultural water used is lost to leaks in irrigation canals, application to areas where plants do not grow, runoff and evaporation. Tremendous saving may be achieved by implementing following agricultural conservation measures.
i) The canal should be efficiently lined on its sides and bottom to minimise the seepage. If possible, it should be covered also to reduce the evaporation.
ii) Adopt better farming techniques, such as minimum tillage, leaving crop residue on fields and ground cover on drainage ways, inter cropping, etc.
iii) In arid and semi-arid regions, encourage the development of crops that require less water and are drought resistant.
iv) Use mulch (artificial protective covering around the plants) to help to retain water around the plants.
v) Irrigate fields in the early morning or at night when evaporation is minimal.
c) Industrial Conservation: Water Conservation measures that can be taken by industries and manufacturing units include:
i) Using dry cooling systems or cooling towers that use less water.
ii) Reuse the cooling water for irrigation or other purposes.
iii) By recycling the water again and again, in thermal power plants.
2. Sustainable Water Utilization
Sustainable water utilisation necessitates such a consumption which fulfils the minimum essential needs, as well as its considerable preservation for future generations. The measures to be adopted for doing so, are suggested as Follows:
i) Domestic water consumption should be restricted to a minimum.
ii) The irrigational canals should be designed and constructed such that there is a minimum seepage through their sides and bottom and also the evaporation is minimum from the top.
iii) In industrial applications, the outgoing/waste water should be recycled to use it again and again.
iv) In production of vegetation, natural means of regeneration should be utilised instead of supplementing it by artificial means. This will save unnecessary waste of water.
v) The quality of water should be maintained within desirable limits by adopting different methods of pollution checks.
Rainwater Harvesting
Rainwater harvesting essentially means collecting rainwater on the roofs of buildings and storing it underground for later use. Not only does this recharging arrest ground water depletion, it also raises the declining water table and can help to augment water supply.
Reasons for rainwater harvesting
i) Shortage of drinking water in urban and semi-urban areas.
ii) Lack in recharging of ground water during rainy days, because of blockage of recharging area due to urbanization and large scale construction of building.
iii) Increased demand of water due to population growth
iv) Free of cost availability of rainwater.
v) Lowering of the ground water table (level) that results in dry wells, inability of handpumps to work, and deep drilling for tube-wells.
vi) The escalating environmental and economic costs of providing water by centralised water systems or by well drilling.