-
Date submitted2024-07-04
-
Date accepted2024-07-04
-
Date published2024-07-04
Environmental safety and sustainable development: new approaches to wastewater treatment
In 2015, the UN member states adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Despite significant progress, billions of people – one in three people – do not have access to safe, clean drinking water. Modern wastewater treatment methods include a wide range of biological, chemical and physical processes, each having its own advantages and applications. This thematic volume considers the latest achievements in wastewater treatment technologies, wastewater purification and treatment as well as their potential applications at the local level. The problem of surface water pollution is relevant for all regions of the world. One of the largest sources of pollutants is mining and processing industry. The first stage in the development of wastewater treatment technologies is monitoring of anthropogenically modified water bodies.
-
Date submitted2023-04-25
-
Date accepted2023-04-25
-
Date published2023-04-25
Ecological security and sustainability
- Authors:
- Mariya A. Pashkevich
- Alexandr S. Danilov
In 2015, UN Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, aimed at balancing initiatives by the world community and individual countries in the environmental, social, and economic spheres. The global sustainable development goals are to promote the well-being of the world population, preserve the planet’s resources, and maintain ecological security, which is vital in the age of the rapid industrial growth and ever-increasing anthropogenic pressure on the environment. For the successful achievement of sustainability goals in the manufacturing sector, integrated measures should be undertaken for monitoring and assessing the technogenic impact of industrial facilities. Additionally, it is necessary to develop environmentally-friendly technologies in the fields of gas and water treatment, land reclamation, and waste disposal. Therefore, fundamental and applied research in these related spheres is of particular importance. Currently, environmental monitoring of all components of the environment, along with anthropogenic objects and processes, receives considerable attention, which is determined by the vector of development in science and technology. In this regard, the latest innovations in green technology in this area are becoming increasingly significant.
-
Date submitted2020-07-29
-
Date accepted2021-03-29
-
Date published2021-09-20
Critical analysis of methodological approaches to assessing sustainability of arctic oil and gas projects
Development of hydrocarbon resources in the Arctic is one of the priority tasks for the economy of the Russian Federation; however, such projects are associated with significant risks for the environment of nearby regions. Large-scale development of hydrocarbon resources in the Arctic should be based on the principles of sustainable development, which imply a balance between socio-economic benefits and environmental risks. The purpose of this study is to analyze the gaps in scientific knowledge on the issues of assessing sustainability of Arctic oil and gas projects (OGPs) and systematize the key problematic elements of such assessments. The analysis was carried out in terms of four key elements that determine the feasibility of implementing Arctic OGPs in the context of sustainable development: economic efficiency, social effects, environmental safety and technological availability. The methodology for conducting bibliometric analysis, which included more than 15.227 sources from the Scopus database over the period of 2005-2020, was based on PRISMA recommendations for compiling systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Methodological problems of assessing sustainability of Arctic OGPs were mapped and divided into four key sectors: consideration of factors that determine sustainability; sustainability assessment; interpretation of assessment results; sustainability management. This map can serve as a basis for conducting a series of point studies, aimed at eliminating existing methodological shortcomings of the sustainable development concept with respect to Arctic OGPs.
-
Date submitted2020-05-13
-
Date accepted2020-06-24
-
Date published2020-10-08
Barriers to implementation of hydrogen initiatives in the context of global energy sustainable development
Modern trends in the global energy market linked to the Sustainable Development Goals often lead to the adoption of political decisions with little basis in fact. Stepping up the development of renewable energy sources is an economically questionable but necessary step in terms of its social and ecological effects. However, subsequent development of hydrogen infrastructure is, at the very least, a dangerous initiative. In connection with mentioned above, an attempt to examine hydrogen by conducting an integral assessment of its characteristics has been made in this article. As a result of the research conducted, the following conclusions concerning the potential of the widespread implementation of hydrogen in the power generation sector have been made: as a chemical element, it harms steel structures, which significantly impedes the selection of suitable materials; its physical and volume characteristics decrease the general efficiency of the energy system compared to similar hydrocarbon solutions; the hydrogen economy does not have the necessary foundation in terms of both physical infrastructure and market regulation mechanisms; the emergence of widely available hydrogen poses a danger for society due to its high combustibility. Following the results of the study, it was concluded that the existing pilot hydrogen projects are positive yet not scalable solutions for the power generation sector due to the lack of available technologies to construct large-scale and geographically distributed infrastructure and adequate international system of industry regulation. Thus, under current conditions, the risks of implementing such projects considerably exceed their potential ecological benefits.
-
Date submitted2019-09-29
-
Date accepted2020-02-24
-
Date published2020-04-24
Vs sustainable development: scenarios for the future
Issues of sustainable development began to concern mankind starting from the 20th century, when mass industrialization and the depletion of natural resource potential contributed to the formulation of environmental issues at one of the leading places in scientific discourse. However, what if the goals of sustainable development would not be achieved to 2030? What other way we can identify for humanity to survive? So, the study is about the problems of studying the understanding of the term “sustainable development”, considering the evolution of the formation of the concept of sustainable development and analyzing the modern goals of sustainable development for attainability. From an analysis of domestic and foreign experience, possible scenarios of the development of mankind are identified (such as 1. Creating an environmental framework, 2. Implementation of sustainable nature management practices in the conditions of natural and man-made objects, 3. Implementation of “geoengineering projects”, 4. Construction of autonomous ecosystems, 5. Space exploration in search of a new planet for life, provided that the goals of sustainable development would not be achieved. It has been established that today probability of achieving all the sustainable development goals by 2030 is too small, and the indicated scenarios require, firstly, the development of science and technology, and secondly, a competent assessment of the value of nature and solving the issue of specifying property rights for natural goods.
-
Date submitted2017-08-26
-
Date accepted2017-11-10
-
Date published2018-02-22
On enhancement of cooperation between universities for implementation of the program «Sustainable development–2030»
- Authors:
- P. Ochirbat
- B. Chinzorig
The article is focused on one of the pressing issues of our time – the international training of qualified personnel in higher education institutions with the aim of developing a stable economic system of the state, the main elements of which are interrelated stages of economic activity (exploration, prospecting, extraction, processing, and use of mineral resources). The question of the contribution and role of universities of different countries cooperating in the sphere of sustainable development of this sector is considered. The necessity of practical solution of this task for the implementation of UNESCO's program «Sustainable Development – 2030» is determined. In this relation, the concept of «sustainable development», its philosophical, scientific-theoretical and cultural aspects are considered, the special significance of the connection between the sustainable development of society and its individual fragments with modern education is emphasized. It is stated that education, in the context of sustainable development, should be anticipating, advancing and open. Given the current trends in higher education, it is possible to mention the work carried out by the Mining Institute of the Mongolian State University of Science and Technology in the direction of international cooperation.
-
Date submitted2015-12-13
-
Date accepted2016-02-02
-
Date published2016-12-23
Corporate social responsibility in coal industry (practices of russian and european companies)
- Authors:
- T. V. Ponomarenko
- R. Volnik
- O. A. Marinina
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is built on interaction between companies and the society which is especially important for major companies that exploit natural resources and play the role of city-forming socially significant entities. Various interpretations of the notion of social responsibility define the varying levels of influence companies have on the society, different levels of contribution of companies in the said process and the degree and level of implementation of CSR. The relations between social responsibility and economic results and the effects of implementing CSR policies are often not obvious. This study offers an assessment of present-day state of corporate social responsibility policies in coal companies of Russia and Poland and formulates proposals on implementing social responsibility projects with consideration of state-of-the-art CSR concepts. The results of the study are as follows: the achieved level of social responsibility in coal companies of Russia and Poland has been assessed; it is proven that most companies in the coal industry are at the level of fragmentary application of CSR concepts; an analysis has been carried out of tools available in the area of social responsibility of coal companies.
-
Date submitted2008-11-01
-
Date accepted2009-01-27
-
Date published2009-12-11
The influence of the technological and organizational factors on the steady growth of the mining industry
- Authors:
- E. M. Pronin
- V. E. Vasiliev
The steady growth of the mining industry calls forth the character of its activities connected with the dependence of the work on the natural conditions which are practically unpredictable and constantly changeable. The two basic factors are chosen – the technology of the mining work and the organization of the industry, which have the decisive importance in the increasing of the basic indices of the activity of the enterprise. The possible technological and organizational solutions are offered as they permit to find possible directions in the lowering of the negative influence of the appearing problems.
-
Date submitted2008-11-17
-
Date accepted2009-01-18
-
Date published2009-12-11
Economic efficacy estimate of minerals multiple use for the purpose of efficient nature management
- Authors:
- O. A. Marinina
- Y. N. Vasiliev
In this article was studied major issues of natural resources management and environmental protection methodology. There are explained resource saving, resource- providing, ecological, social estimates and standards economic evaluation minerals multiple use factors as foundations of efficient nature management.
-
Date submitted2008-11-19
-
Date accepted2009-01-03
-
Date published2009-12-11
Prerequisites for sustainable development of mining region
- Authors:
- M. A. Nevskaya
The article deals with issues related to the identification of conditions for sustainable development of mining area. In such conditions, the author highlights the investment potential, the specificity of specialization and structure of economy of the region, the balance of state, regional and sectoral interests. As the characteristics used in evaluating the productive capacity of the territory proposed rates structure, dynamics and effectiveness, based on the integral rate of gross regional product.
-
Date submitted2008-11-28
-
Date accepted2009-01-27
-
Date published2009-12-11
Sustainable development: theoretical and methodological approaches
- Authors:
- I. B. Sergeev
- L. V. Lapochkina
In article the essence of an economic category sustainable development is reveals. The points of view on a problem of sustainable development economists of the basic modern scientific schools are considered. In a context of the neoclassic approach the condition of stability of development of Russia is shown.