Reforestation is being considered as a mitigation option to help combat the climate change predicted to result from atmospheric carbon dioxide pollution. Forestry-based carbon storage projects are being introduced in many tropical countries, and assessment of species-specific carbon storage potentials is made difficult by a lack of species-level information. This study focuses on teak (Tectona grandis), to measure many of the characteristics affecting the carbon storage potential both of the trees themselves and of the plantations they are in. Root-to-shoot ratio, above- and belowground biomass, as well as tissue carbon content were measured in 20-year-old teak trees in Panamanian plantations. A regression relating diameter at breast height (DBH) to total tree carbon storage for trees of various sizes was developed. To scale up to the plantation level, this regression was used to estimate the carbon storage of the trees of four plantations. Litter, undergrowth, and soil were studied to estimate carbon storage in these compartments. These estimates were collated to form a global estimate of carbon storage in Panamanian harvest age teak plantations. Various methods of calculation of carbon storage in short-rotation plantations are discussed. This work will allow greater precision in the assessment of carbon storage in individual plantations.

Cities are considered to be a major cause of climate change, as a result of city functions, which require energy and emit large quantities of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs). Therefore, cities are being targeted globally as key areas for climate change mitigation. In order to mitigate the impacts of climate change, it is important for policy makers to be able to understand the implications of possible future policy decisions and development plans on emissions. One possible way of developing forecasts is through emissions scenarios, which allow for the development of a series of forecasts based on changes in the drivers of emissions. The city of Durban is a developing city, which aims to promote economic development; however, this development would increase the demand for energy and therefore impact on the GHG emissions in the city. The aim of this study is to develop a number of GHG emissions scenarios that illustrate the implications of various development paths for the city. The methodology applied involved first identifying the gaps in existing GHG inventories for Durban and the data required to close these gaps. The data was input into the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) tool, which is a physical accounting and simulation tool that allows for the creation of scenarios. Five scenarios were created to illustrate different ways in which the city might develop which are the Growth without Constraints (GWC) Scenario, the Business as Usual (BAU) Scenario, the Natural Transition City, the Slow Go City and the Low Carbon City. Lastly, a sixth scenario, the Required by Science (RBS), was not modelled but created to illustrate what would be required if Durban followed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stabilisation guideline of a reduction of 60% - 80% of 1990 levels by 2100. Thereafter the IPCC scenarios were downscaled from a national level to a local level using a linear downscaling methodology, in order to illustrate the implications of global development paths on the city. The different development paths had a range of impacts on emissions. Rapid economic growth, with no climate change mitigation in the GWC Scenario, results in a 6.3 times increase in emissions from the base year to 2050. If the city continues with its current policies and strategies as in the BAU Scenario, emissions will increase 3.5 times from the base year. If there is a transition to a post-industrial society, with no climate change mitigation, emissions will increase 3 fold from 2005 to 2050. The National Transition Scenario illustrated that if Durban moves towards a service sector economy, which are predominantly low carbon sector, with no climate change mitigation, emissions will still increase 3.15 times the 2005 levels. If the city is slow to respond to climate change as in the Slow Go City, emissions will increase 2.5 times from the base year. A shift in the structure of the economy and an increase in the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency (i.e. a Low Carbon City) results in reduction in emissions of 1% from 2005. These were compared to the IPCC downscaled scenarios, which followed a similar pattern. The scenarios are comparable to developing city scenarios, but illustrate that the city is lagging behind developed cities. In order to make an impact in the reduction of emissions, it is essential for the city to target the commercial and industrial sector, which is the sector that emits the highest GHG emissions. However all these scenarios are still insufficient for achieving the RBS emissions target of a 60-80% reduction from 1990 levels. Achieving this reduction would require more than a 50% improvement in energy efficiency, structural change in the economy to low energy intensive sectors and a 20% contribution of renewable energy to total energy supply. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

The lower Churchill River has been an important travel route for people living in its vicinity for a long period of time. Churchillians’ have used it for subsistence harvesting, as their potable water source and as a place of recreation and relaxation. Previous research has documented the importance of the Churchill River to the residents and has explored how the Churchill River Diversion affected the community of Churchill (Boothroyd, 1992; 2000; Four Directions Consulting Group, 1994; 1995). The purpose of this project was to identify how Churchill residents used the lower Churchill River (from 1970 to 2006), recognizing three distinct periods of time. Twenty interviews were conducted with former or current long-term residents of Churchill, as well as two interviews with experts on issues concerning the lower Churchill River. Many interviewees stated that additional negotiations and measures are required before they deem the mitigation compensation package from Manitoba Hydro to be adequate considering the impact of the diversion on the residents of Churchill.

C'est dans le contexte délicat du milieu marin, marqué par l'écroulement des stocks halieutiques et la conservation urgente des espèces de prédateurs marins, que s'inscrit cette étude sur la déprédation (i.e. prélèvement des poissons capturés) par les orques et les cachalots sur la pêche à la palangre dans la ZEE de l'Archipel de Crozet. Le premier objectif a été d'évaluer les conséquences socio-économiques du phénomène. Entre 2003 et 2010 les orques ont interagi avec un total de 43,3% des palangres relevées et les cachalots avec 57,5%, les deux espèces étant présentes simultanément sur 27.8% des palangres (n =5 438). Les orques, seules ou associées aux cachalots ont été estimées prélever 926 ± 76 tonnes de légines sur l'ensemble de la période, représentant un taux de déprédation de 17,7%. Trois facteurs opérationnels ont été identifiés comme faisant varier la déprédation par les orques : i) utilisation de palangres courtes (<5 000 m) en absence d'orques, ii) déplacement du navire sur des distances supérieures à 75 km pour quitter une zone confrontée à la déprédation et changer de zone, iii) utilisation de vitesse de remontée des hameçons à bord supérieures à 50 ham.min-1. Le deuxième objectif de cette étude a été d'évaluer les conséquences démographiques de la déprédation sur la population d'orques de Crozet. Le suivi à long terme des individus a permis de mettre en évidence des réponses différentielles des unités sociales en fonction de leur degré d'interaction avec les pêcheries. En effet, les années 1990 sont d'abord marquées par une sur-mortalité des orques interagissant à des hauts niveaux avec les pêcheries, confirmant l'effet de réponses de type létales de la part des navires braconniers sur les individus. Cette tendance s'inverse à partir de 2003 avec une survie et une reproduction supérieure dans les unités à fort taux d'interaction, suggérant un effet bénéfique de la déprédation. Avec l'augmentation des cas de déprédation dans le monde, la portée de cette étude est globale, d'une part par ses résultats positifs issus d'une collaboration entre pêcheurs, gestionnaires et scientifiques, et d'autre part par la précision des priorités de conservation impliquées.

The rise of the Environmentalism in every sector of the Industry has lead the aircraft and engine manufacturing companies to develop new generations of more environmentally friendly engines. The companies, encouraged to this purpose, are in a constant research for new manufacturing and production techniques, in order to improve their products, from the environmental point of view, by gaining efficiency in the manufacturing techniques and reduce the fuel consumption and emissions in-flight. Having in mind this scenario, the sponsor of this Project is interested in understanding how changing the materials of the blades, titanium alloys currently, for other lighter materials, such as composites, is going to have an effect in the overall gas turbine efficiency. In the particular case of this Project, it will be studied the influence of the Stiffness and coating Thickness of those non-metallic materials suitable to be employed as coatings on gas turbine fan blades, from the icing point of view. The work procedure will be based on a study of Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics of bi-material junctions and will extrapolate the general problem to the ice-coatings case, by getting experimental data from tests carried out in an Icing Tunnel. It will be observed that the coating Stiffness has an influence on the Adhesion Level of ice to less stiff materials, if compared with the Adhesion Level of ice to metals. Besides, it will be described how a 0.5 millimetres thin polymeric coating placed over a metallic substrate is enough to reduce the Adhesion Level of ice, hiding any effect that the underneath materials might have on the Adhesion Level.

For present day global economies energy use is the single most important criteria determining a nation’s wealth and sustainability. The global energy needs are met primarily by fossil fuels which are of finite supply. One means to extend the life span of the fossil fuel reserves has been to improve the efficiency of existing systems including generation, storage, usage etc., as a means of conservation. This dissertation investigates a motor technology that promises to complement existing conservation techniques. Given advances in high voltage power semiconductors, manufacturing techniques and materials research this dissertation evaluates the potential of the switched impedance motor (SIM), a type of electrostatic motor (ESM), as an efficient alternative to induction machines. Starting with a broad look at how force can be created using electrical means, this dissertation reviews the contributions of prior art, details their inhibitors and develops analytic expressions that allow these inhibitors to be overcome. Using these analytic expressions as design tools allows future SIM designers to realize this motor topology’s potential as a highly efficient machine and a global tool for energy conservation.

Algae are being considered as a possible tool for carbon dioxide mitigation because they uptake carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. Using flue gas from a coal-fired power plant as a carbon source would allow the algae to remove CO2 from the flue gas before it is emitted into the atmosphere. Because algae do not grow well at the high temperature, low pH conditions presented by flue gas, the traditional approach has been to alter the flue gas to suit the needs of the algae; however, this work aimed to genetically modify the algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to grow better at less than optimal conditions. Heat shock proteins are important in the stress responses of many organisms; therefore, this work modified C. reinhardtii to overexpress HSP70A in order to increase the tolerance of C. reinhardtii to higher temperature and lower pH. Experiments yielded mixed results, but there were several instances in which the modified algae appeared to have gained an increased tolerance to decreased pH based on the chlorophyll concentration of the algae.

Solid foams have been studied for years for their ability to mitigate damage from sudden impact. Small explosive attacks threaten to damage or destroy key structures in some parts of the world. A newly developed material, carbon foam, may offer the ability to mitigate the effects of such blasts. This project investigates the energy absorbing properties of carbon and polyurethane based foams in dynamic compression to illustrate their viability to protect concrete structures from the damaging effects of pressure waves from a small blast. Cellular solid mechanics fundamentals and a survey of the microscopic cellular structure of each type of foam are discussed. Experiments were performed in three strain rate regimes: low strain rate compression testing, middle strain rate impact testing, and high strain rate blast testing to reveal mechanical behavior. Experiments show a 7.62 cm (3”) thick hybrid composite layered foam sample can protect a concrete wall from a small blast.

ABSTRACT ROSS CARTER Traffic-related Pollution Exposure Assessment of Fulton County and Atlanta Public Schools (K-12) in Proximity to Major Highways and Expressways Background: A number of studies have linked traffic-related pollutant exposures to asthma in children. Health conditions such as asthma can contribute to school absenteeism and missed learning opportunities as well as place a major burden on health resources. Although children spend a significant amount of time in school, few states have adopted school siting policies that prevent the placement of schools near major highways. Furthermore, schools often fail to take appropriate steps (e.g. adequate HVAC and air filters) to address indoor air quality concerns for students. The study was designed to identify the number of schools and the number of children in Fulton County and Atlanta Public Schools that attend schools in proximity to major highways and expressways where they are likely to have greater exposure to traffic pollution. The results of this study can be used to build an evidence base for stricter school siting guidelines, for planning safe routes to school, and for mitigation strategies to limit pollutant exposures for children who attend high-risk schools. Methods: Highway, expressway, county, and school shapefiles were overlaid using ArcMap in ArcGIS version 10.1 (ERSI, USA). A circular buffer with radius 0.5 mile (~ 800 m) was created for each school. ArcMap geospatial tools were used to identify major highways and expressways with these buffers. Results: A total of 119 of the 225 schools in Fulton County and Atlanta Public school districts were identified as being located within 0.5 miles of a major highway or expressway. Of the 119 schools meeting the intersection criteria, 72.2% (86 of 119 schools) were designated Title I. Conclusion: Approximately half of schools were located within 0.5 miles of a major highway or expressway. This may result in elevated levels of traffic-related air pollution on the school campuses and potential increased exposure for students. Proper air filter selection, HVAC maintenance, and air quality programs as well as land use, planning, and assessment measures are recommended for these schools to help mitigate exposures.

The lower Churchill River has been an important travel route for people living in its vicinity for a long period of time. Churchillians’ have used it for subsistence harvesting, as their potable water source and as a place of recreation and relaxation. Previous research has documented the importance of the Churchill River to the residents and has explored how the Churchill River Diversion affected the community of Churchill (Boothroyd, 1992; 2000; Four Directions Consulting Group, 1994; 1995). The purpose of this project was to identify how Churchill residents used the lower Churchill River (from 1970 to 2006), recognizing three distinct periods of time. Twenty interviews were conducted with former or current long-term residents of Churchill, as well as two interviews with experts on issues concerning the lower Churchill River. Many interviewees stated that additional negotiations and measures are required before they deem the mitigation compensation package from Manitoba Hydro to be adequate considering the impact of the diversion on the residents of Churchill.