Sustainable Earth begins its journey

All life, particularly human, cannot be sustainable, unless complimented with shelter, poverty reduction, provision of basic infrastructure and services, equal opportunities and social justice. Yet, in the context of cities, it is believed that they can accommodate more and more people, endlessly, regardless to their carrying capacity and increasing ecological footprint. The 'inclusion', for bringing more and more people in the purview of development is often limited to social and economic inclusion rather than spatial and ecological inclusion. Economic investment decisions are also not always supported with spatial planning decisions. Most planning for a sustainable Earth, be at a level of rural settlement, city, region, national or Global, fail on the capacity and capability fronts. In India, for example, out of some 8,000 towns and cities, Master Plans exist for only about 1,800. A chapter on sustainability or environment is neither statutorily compulsory nor a norm for these Master Plans. Geospatial technologies including Remote Sensing, GIS, Indian National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), Indian National Urban Information Systems (NUIS), Indian Environmental Information System (ENVIS), and Indian National GIS (NGIS), etc. have potential to map, analyse, visualize and take sustainable developmental decisions based on participatory social, economic and social inclusion. Sustainable Earth, at all scales, is a logical and natural outcome of a digitally mapped, conceived and planned Earth. Digital Earth, in fact, itself offers a platform to dovetail the ecological, social and economic considerations in transforming it into a sustainable Earth.

Green chemistry can also be referred to as sustainable chemistry and it is the design of chemical products and processes aimed at less or less the use of hazardous substances. It's about lessening the destructive consequences on the environment and the earth's sustainability (Wale et al., 2023; Mane et al., 2023). This accommodates many principles that outline how to design safer chemical reactions as well as technology and the use of green chemicals (De, 2023; Rathi et al., 2023). Such principles include the elimination or reduction of generation, using renewable raw materials, and the production of safer substances and materials to decrease harm to human health and the environment, according to Nithya and Sathish (2023). Thus, green chemistry's goal is to bring radical changes in industries researching for effective and eco-friendly strategies for the synthesis of materials, including nanomaterials, through employing cost-efficiency and biocompatibility with the help of earth's resources (De, 2023).

Characterizing 3D vegetation structure from space: Mission requirements

There are many studies about the assessment of sustainability in various fields to keep Earth's sustainability. To keep Sustainable Transportation, we need knowing circumstances of region about transportation sector. This paper proposes sustainability index about transportation condition in cities. At first, it is reviewed and learned about index of sustainability and sustainable transportation. Next, sustainability index about urban transportation system is arranged with the review list.

Catalysis plays vital roles in chemical industries, which brings out significant convenience to human life in many aspects. With the development of both science and technology, various advanced and multivariate technologies have been cultivated in catalysis. Herein, a brief introduction in the frontiers of catalysis chemistry including single-atom catalysts, single crystal-based model catalysts, molecular switches catalysis and metal-organic frameworks / covalent-organic frameworks based catalysts has been given. Complex reactant systems (Biomass, vehicle exhausted gases, plastic wastes, and waste water) that featured with complex compositions, chemical-bonding and interactions endow researchers huge challenges to convert them to value-added chemicals or treat them to less-toxic or even non-toxic chemicals. Successes on catalytic conversion and degradation of these complex reactant systems sheds light on constructing a greener and more sustainable Earth via using both traditional and advanced catalysts combined with rational strategies. Progresses that achieved on the catalytic degradation of these complex reactant systems have been summarized here. However, the remaining issues concerned with these complex reactant systems drive us to think about how to further deal with them to achieve higher sustainability. Herein, four prospectives are proposed. We truly believe that with the continuous efforts on developing new catalysts with high efficiency and exploring reaction mechanisms under actual conditions towards these complex reactant systems, clearer understanding and better results could be achieved ultimately.

The impact of changing climate on natural resources is among the greatest challenges that currently threaten Earth. It is critical to educate the next generation of society on these impacts that endanger the sustainability of natural resources in the Earth system. A new textbook entitled “Climate Change and a Sustainable Earth” was published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing on March 2022 (see Figure 1).

Sustainable Earth and Beyond

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to explore the structural feasibility of substituting traditional thick joint mortars with earth slurry mortars modified with varying amounts of sand. Thin jointing of earth blocks would reduce the cost of sustainable earth construction.Design/methodology/approachCompressive strength of earth‐block cubes was determined. Flexural strength was measured using the BRE electronic bond wrench, which enables block couplets to be tested quickly and accurately. Three samples of earth block, one from southwest England and two from East Anglia, together with nine examples of earth slurry mortar jointing were studied, including the effect of reinforcing the joint and or the block using hessian.FindingsThe 28‐day cube characteristic compressive strengths were determined for Appley soil, Norfolk lump and Beeston soil, the last with 0 per cent sand, 25 per cent sand and with 25 per cent sand with hessian. The flexural strengths of Appley and Beeston earth slurries were determined, along with Thermalite thin jointed cement and cement mortar for comparison. The Beeston soil flexural strength increased with increasing sand content. Earth slurry with 40 per cent sand and hessian present in the joint gave the greatest strength. It is important to use blocks and slurry mortars of the same soil. Extruded and compressed earth blocks are best suited to slurry jointing.Originality/valueThis work successfully demonstrates the structural feasibility of carefully reducing the thickness of earth mortars when constructing sustainable earth block walling. Characteristic flexural strengths are suggested where the test results were sufficiently consistent, and of a magnitude likely to be useful in design.

Sustainability is a systems concept, and ICT4D plays a vital role in a sustainable earth, as well as in sustainable communities. The concept of resilience is introduced since rapid change can push a system into another, possibly undesirable, state. Resilience is the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance. ICTs play a key role in the decoupling of economic development from the use of natural resources, by reducing the energy use of economic processes. ICT4D has moved to the use of ICTs as a platform for transformative development. This development must start with human development, since technology is only a multiplier of human intent and capacity and cannot substitute for it. Human scale development strategies are discussed where self‐reliant relationships are built via a network of aligned interests. These in turn are built from the bottom up and are supported via networks that span the local, regional, and national levels.

Aim and background The aim of this study was to investigate students’ attitudes, rationales, and approaches to making open educational resource (OER) videos (a form of OERs) on sustainable development (SD) in order to identify students’ competencies and effective pedagogical designs. Method Students registering for a teacher training course were invited to design and create pedagogies, make OER videos, and share the videos on YouTube on five SD topics: sustainable lifestyle, campus, community, enterprise, and earth development. The students provided their weekly journals and a final reflection on the whole process of making the OER videos on SD. This study used qualitative data analysis and text mining methodologies to analyse students’ process data of making OER videos on SD. Results and discussion The analysis results revealed that making OER videos on SD needed students’ ideational, inquiry, societal, and disciplinary competencies. Inferred pedagogical suggestions for practitioners to support students in making digital products on SD are to follow a linear pathway from ideational creation, inquiry process, societal transformation, to transdisciplinary reflection.

Compreender a atual crise global pelo panorama ambiental requer reconhecimento, disposição e vontade para pensar e criar possibilidades de uma ação justa e em concordância com o paradigma ecológico, em prol da mudança desta realidade. Dentre várias ações em andamento a educação para a sustentabilidade acena com perspectivas reais e concretas. Esta pesquisa se insere no âmbito da investigação desta educação, e teve como objetivo identificar a espiritualidade e qual sua tipologia através da analise sob a perspectiva do paradigma ecológico e da espiritualidade, no curso Eco design em sustentabilidade do Programa Gaia Education realizado na Ecovila Terra Una/MG. O programa foi criado em 2005 pela Rede de Educadores Globais de Ecovilas para uma Terra Sustentável, passando a ser considerado complemento padrão pela ONU para a Década de Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável 2005\2014. Baseado na Pedagogia de Aprendizagem Vivencial, o Programa Gaia Education tem a finalidade de fornecer instrumentos\técnicas que possibilitem aos seus alunos aprender diferentes práticas sustentáveis, baseadas nas experiências comunitárias e nas relações que elas estabelecem com o ambiente, sendo rural ou urbano. A metodologia adotada consistiu na pesquisa bibliográfica de fontes primarias e secundárias dos materiais do curso e de obras de referencia na área da sustentabilidade e espiritualidade, no âmbito das Ciências da religião, da teologia, da educação, das ciências ambientais e sociais. Realizou-se a análise sistemática e hermenêutica dos discursos. Ao final da pesquisa, constatou-se a identificação da espiritualidade presente no curso, assim como outras perspectivas de praticas espirituais e de dialogo como referência para o desenvolvimento da educação para a sustentabilidade de forma integral. Palavras chave: Ecologia. Paradigma ecológico. Educação. Sustentabilidade. Espiritualidade. Gaia Education. Ciências da Religião.

Solar fuels derived from solar energy are envisioned to replace fossil fuels for a sustainable earth and society. Photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen (H2) production and photocatalytic carbon dioxide (CO2¬) reduction for gaseous or liquid fuels production are two of the most promising but challenging processes. Advancement of these two reactions for solar fuels production is largely hindered by the lack of efficient, stable and low-cost photocatalysts. In this thesis, the work was focused on the development of economical photocatalyst systems toward more efficient and stable solar fuels production via water splitting and carbon dioxide reduction. Firstly, well-dispersed layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanocrystals were used to immobilize the photosensitizer of rose bengal (RB) and Pt nanoparticles to construct a self-assembled RB-LDH-Pt system for more stable H2 generation from water. Such a system offers many advantages in photocatalytic water splitting: (i) immobilizing the organic dye photosensitizer for suppressed self-quenching, (ii) close arrangement between photosensitizer molecules and catalyst nanoparticles for efficient electron transfer, (iii) formation of well-dispersed catalysts nanoparticles on the support surface, and (iv) easy recycle of the expensive catalyst. Secondly, in situ sulfur-doped mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (mpgCNS) was synthesized from a single precursor of thiourea, by using SiO2 nanoparticles as template. Sulfur group was found to facilitate the condensation of carbon nitride (C3N4) polymer. Higher product yield was obtained from thiourea than that from urea as the starting material. The resultant sulfur-doped mesoporous C3N4 exhibited 30 times higher activity than the native C3N4 for hydrogen evolution. A relatively high apparent quantum efficiency of 5.8% was obtained at 440 nm. The activity enhancement was attributed to 1) stronger and extended light absorption in the visible light region by sulfur doping, 2) more efficient mass and charge transfer in mesoporous structure. Thirdly, noble metal-free C3N4 based photocatalyst was developed for H2 production by loading nickel sulfide (NiS) cocatalyst on C3N4 via a simple hydrothermal method. Both the weight percentage of NiS and the hydrothermal reaction temperature were found to have great influence on the photocatalytic activities. The optimal NiS/C3N4 photocatalyst has 253 times higher activity than the pristine C3N4 and is able to retain over 80% of the activity after 4 runs of 24 h. Fourthly, systematic analysis methods were developed for photocatalytic CO2 reduction by a combination of gas chromatography (GC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods. The developed methods are able to detect and quantify major products in both gas and liquid phases with low detection limits. The effects of several organic additives including commonly used solvents, photosensitizers and sacrificial reagents in photoreaction were investigated. It has been found that alcohol analysis by GC method is more sensitive to organic additives. In comparison, aldehyde and acid analyses by HPLC method are not affected by most of the organics investigated. The importance of carbon source verification is highlighted and techniques for the verification were proposed. Finally, self-assembly of carbon nitride (C3N4) and LDH was constructed by the electrostatic force based on their opposite surface charges. The immobilized nitrate LDH can easily turn into carbonate LDH in situ anion exchange during photocatalytic reduction of CO2. The CO32- anions present in the interlayer space of LDH exhibit much higher reduction efficiency than the free gaseous CO2 molecules. As a result, 2.6 times higher activity for CH4 production can be achieved on 10 wt% LDH/C3N4 than that without the LDH coating. In summary, this thesis was devoted to the development of low-cost, stable and efficient photocatalysts for water splitting and carbon dioxide reduction. Different modification on photocatalytic materials such as sensitization, doping, mesoporous structure formation and cocatalyst loading were studied. Carbon nitride was used as the main photocatalytic materials for both water splitting and carbon dioxide reduction. LDH was introduced as a support to enhance the stability in H2 production and a CO2 capture medium to improve the activity of CO2 reduction. Besides, systematic analytical methods based on GC and HPLC were also developed for the analysing the products of CO2 reduction.

Unsustainable Science

Deep underground energy storage is crucial for efficient energy utilization, strategic petroleum reserves, and overall energy security. This paper provides a systematic review of the theoretical and technological advances in water sealing control for underground oil storage caverns, drawing on extensive literature and field practice. The discussion focuses on sealing effectiveness criteria and seepage analysis, with particular emphasis on the water curtain system as the core mechanism for maintaining hydraulic integrity. Numerical simulations and long-term field monitoring are highlighted as key tools for evaluating seepage behaviour and guiding design and operation. Water sealing control mainly targets concentrated seepage zones and water pressure failure areas through water plugging and targeted recharge. Typical engineering measures include optimizing water curtain parameters, implementing precise grouting to reduce seepage in storage zones, and reinforcing the surrounding rock with anti-seepage supports. The ultimate objective is to minimise water loss while ensuring a stable and reliable hydraulic seal. In addition, the review analyses the role of hydraulic gradients in controlling sealing performance and outlines future research priorities aimed at enhancing the long-term reliability, safety, and economic efficiency of water sealing technologies for underground oil storage caverns. Document Type: Review Cited as: Su, X., Zou, J., Chang, J. Advances in water sealing mechanisms and technologies for underground oil storage caverns. Sustainable Earth Resources Communications, 2025, 1(2): 40-52. https://doi.org/10.46690/serc.2025.02.03

Sustainability is the current theme of global development, and for China, it is not only an opportunity but also a challenge. In 2016, the Paris Agreement on climate change was adopted, addressing the need to limit the rise of global temperatures. The United Nations (UN) has set Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to transform our world in terms of closely linking human well-being, economic prosperity, and healthy environments. Sustainable development requires the support of spatial information and objective evaluation, and the capability of macroscopic, rapid, accurate Earth observation techniques plays an important role in sustainable development. Recently, Earth observation technologies are developing rapidly in China, where scientists are building coordinated, comprehensive and sustainable Earth observation systems for global monitoring programs. Recent efforts include the Digital Belt and Road Program (DBAR) and comparative studies of the "three poles". This and other researches will provide powerful support for solving problems such as global change and environmental degradation.