Necessity is the mother of invention. Where energy lacks there is much concern about finding it and using it with the most sustainable manner possible. This is why Iceland is among very few countries in the world where Renewable Energy Resources are managed with the best possible sustainable solutions. It is, also, possible that the availability and affordability of renewable energy in Iceland attracted Scandinavians to settle in Iceland sometime around the second half of the 9th century as in ancient cultures people sought living there were good possibilities to secure “WE-resources”. i.e. water and energy resources. The necessity and needs for survival are essential drivers for inventions and advances in science and technology. It is interesting to mention that 100% of the electricity production in Iceland is produced from renewable energy resources, i.e. hydropower and geothermal heat. Furthermore, 85% of total primary energy supply in Iceland is derived from domestically produced renewable energy sources.

So, we have something to learn from this country that in addition of being in the icy part of the world has a very long dark winter season. However, Iceland is not as cold as Minnesota (USA), for example, and not as dark as Tromso (Norway). That doesn’t mean that Island is some tropical paradise though.

To learn more about geothermal energy, please, visit:                                                                   (1) http://cognitiveanomalies.com/what-is-geothermal-energy-what-are-geothermal-energy-advantages-and-disadvantages/                                                                                                     (2) http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/09/working-on-this-one-developers-warm-to-small-scale-geothermal

The dream of any nation is to provide its population with safety and security especially in most critical situations with severe disasters, tragedies and collective nightmare arising from fear, insecurity and uncertain future. The nuclear disaster and the national tragedy from Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan demonstrated how collective efforts, the neat national planning along with continuous and intensive hard-work brought about safety and security for almost all the population in Japan.

An amazing awareness and responsibility on all levels for the DE-COMTAMINATION of every single inch or centimeter of land, houses, school, hospitals, roads, trees and practically all environmental compartments. A national DE-COMTAMINATION strategy if followed by other nations much of pollutions and waste problems can be solved. Successful sustainable management is about providing future generations with secure and safe living conditions, it is a collective discipline, awareness and responsibility from all for all and by all including preparing and fostering future generation for how to handle national disasters and severe tragedies.

Cleaning up Fukushima

Geothermal energy is among potential “semi-global” natural energy resources, as it is only accessible and affordable in economic terms in hot and limited areas around the globe. It is also considered to be relatively user friendly, more energy-intensive in comparison to solar energy, has less threats in case of technical failure as compared to nuclear power, simple and more safe production-technology in terms of drift and above all more durable and lasing natural source. It is indeed a form of “fossil resource” as being a remainder from the Big Bang. However, unlike energy produced in stars such as in the sun (solar energy) through fusion-reactions, energy in planets such as the earth is being produced through decay processes of the primordial radio-activity. Actually, without the embedded sources of heat in the earth’s body, i.e. the energy emitted through the decay of natural radio-activity, e.g. the radio-active members of the U and Th series, and many other radio-active isotopes of other elements that can have half-lives much longer than the age of the universe itself, e.g. Te-128 of half-life of 2.2 exa millions (billion billion millions) of years.

The most interesting issue in energy production and use is that water in always involved in these processes with two main impacts what concerns WE-resources, i.e. Water and Energy.  For energy we are consuming more energy resources and thereby less we are gradually facing less access to energy resources and as a consequence increasing prices of energy production. As energy production, use and consumption create more waste and pollution as well as bring water to more open systems and interactions there is continuous and gradual degradation in water quality and thereby increasing threats to all life forms on the earth.

So, production and use of geothermal energy can be, also, associated with negative impacts on water resources, environment and bio-diversity.

Making a Difference through Geothermal Energy

An important aspect for appropriate implementation of Sustainable Technologies is Sustainable Management. The fundamental question is How Sustainable is Sustainable? And what are the most appropriate solutions for Achieving the Best Socio-economic Sustainability? Among strategic long-term and large-scale policies for the MENA region, where arid and semi-arid conditions prevail, is Water Management because of its impacts on all involved sectors (energy, industry, agriculture and environment) in this region, life quality and bio-diversity. Unfortunately, existing literature still lack appropriate long-term and large-scale sustainability solutions as being based on “Business as Usual” without consideration to other possible and yet feasible alternatives.

Seawater desalination constitutes an important source for water supply for all sector activities and the population in the bordering the Arabian Gulf, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Red Sea. Desalination has advantages and disadvantages that may depend on the region, location, technology, impact and amount of fresh water production. Apart from the energy requirements for desalination, there are also other negative impacts in terms of waste management, fish production and quality of marine life in general. However, these impacts can be mitigated or even eliminated, by solutions other than those currently available.

Desalination poredictions in MENA region

The earth’s surface went through enormous large-scale and long-term shaping and re-shaping evolution history that resulted in todays earth’s “face”. In the last million years these shaping and re-shaping processes of the earth’s surface were continuously fueled by dominant erosion processes of natural origin that carved land-areas, holes and trajectories for coastal, surface and groundwater systems, e.g. rivers, lakes, coastal deltas and shores, fjords, water-falls, forests, natural parks, caves and other major geological formations. However, modern man-made interferences are becoming increasingly important, primarily because of increasing activities and processes on the earth’s surface in particular urbanization, mining and global warming. Recent climate changes, for example, are imposing extreme daily and seasonal variations in atmospheric temperature, gradual warming of oceans, seas and surface water systems with feedback impacts on atmospheric, oceanographic and hydrospheric erosion processes. These processes are brought about by the action of more dynamic air and water masses on different scales ranging from micro, local, regional and global scales, e.g. dynamic changes in speed and velocity of wind and water waves, also heating, freezing and de-freezing cycles “expansion and contraction” and geothermal processes.

Erosion is the main source of nutrients supporting the formation of vegetation cover, animal and evolution of bio-diversity and the very origin of natural agricultural production through photo-synthesis and associated biogeochemical, geophysical and geochemical machinery of the functioning and metabolism of global eco-systems. However, modern pollution and waste because of industry, agriculture and household have severe negative impacts of all life forms on the earth’s surface.

Whether we agree or not on the causes of global warming, facts still remain about the increasing impacts of climate change not only on weather but, also, life quality on earth. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has enormous evidence on increasing average global temperatures; rising sea levels; changing global precipitation patterns, including increasing amounts and variability; and increasing mid-continental summer drought. The combined effects of weather changes may have significant impacts on wildlife, domestic animal, and human health and diseases. Expanding human populations is already causing intensive pressures on the limited water resources with feedback impacts on habitat destruction, and more risks for infectious diseases to cross from one species to another.

Click to access Climate_Change_and_Wildlife_Health.pdf

Water is the natural environment for the life quality of fish and hence water quality is of prime importance for fish production and the quality of fish as well. Even in aquatic eco-systems, one can simply say “what goes around comes around”. Understanding how to improve the conditions in fish farming in terms of production and quality have very much to do with understanding the functioning and metabolism in natural aquatic systems. There are key issues that are essential to be understood about water quality in aquatic systems (fresh, brackish and marine), in particular the physical (e.g. density, stratification and mixing as well as turbidity, mineral particulate, light transmission) and chemical (e.g. pH, solubility of gases such as oxygen, carbon di-oxide, ammonia, salt concentration, dissolved matter, organic and inorganic particulates) properties and characteristics in these waters at different temperatures. The physical and chemical conditions of water determine to large extent the water quality status, along with toxic anthropogenic compounds that originates from pollution and water from industrial, agricultural and household sources. The impacts of all these conditions, factors and properties on water quality, the response and feedback effects on fish in terms of production and quality are to large extent summarized in the following document, it can be used as a guide for fish farmers.

http://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/AS/AS-503.html

Life on earth, and its origin, has been a puzzle and still. Classically humans believed that the essential “elements” upon which the constitution and fundamental powers of anything are based are: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. In the past the concept of Energy was unknown to humans though fire was very much needed for life. It is as early as in stone-ages where humans discovered how to make fire, it came by accident. People at that time both appreciated and hated fire, however from that time humans went on to explore the whole range of energy forms, including production and consumption. Full benefits of Water and Energy resources for life on earth required/requires the other two “elements”, i.e. earth and air. However, there are specific requirement for the properties and qualities of earth and air for the life to exist. Even for humans, the full benefits of energy and water were/are only possible through earth and air with given specifications and qualities.

Through science and technology the classical four “elements” were developed and expanded to an enormous amount and spectra of knowledge that allowed all possible application and inventions. The most common feature of modern educated and intelligent humans and stone-age illiterate humans is how to solve the dilemma of mastering energy and water in sustainable matter. The difference is illiterate and ancient humans discovered energy “fire” by an accident but intelligent and modern humans will, at some stage, consume all energy resources on earth to a level that makes further life on earth difficult.  Are we gradually moving to stone-ages?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChxvN4WjxWg&feature=youtu.be

The rosy festival of continuous prosperity growth has recently been challenged by the theory of “Peak Oil”, which concludes that the amount fossil energy (oil, gas and coal) being extracted from the earth will shortly start an irreversible decline.  We will be increasingly dependent on other energy sources to power our civilization, if not to say our long-term survival.

Assessment of the global energy resources, consumption and trends in global energy-mix with consideration to increasing global population shows that energy per capita will decrease. This will have negative impacts on GDP “Gross Domestic Product” and probable escalation in the costs of raw material, e.g. fertilizer and the diesel fuel or electricity for water pumps that are essential for agriculture and production of food. We will be, therefor, moving fast not only towards energy poverty but also towards global economic recession, pushing many countries and population towards increasing poverty, e.g. shortage of water, food and housing.

http://www.paulchefurka.ca/WEAP2/WEAP2.html

Knowledge on the World Energy Resources “WER” is much more important to know as compared to the World Water Resources “WWR”. In both cases management policies in terms of quantity and quality are IMPERATIVE.

While knowledge about Climate Change is essential for implementation of sustainable long-term and long-term management policies of the Water Resources, there are relatively more aspects to be considered for the sustainable management of the Energy Resources. Humans cannot manipulate “WWR” or Global Water Resources “GWR” in terms of quantity. What we get, we will get, and we can do nothing about it. However, regarding the quality of GWR it is the responsibility of humans to keep track on quality at all levels and on different scales, i.e. in terms of location and occasion “spatio-temporal scales”. So, what regards “GWR” management policies, technology is primarily coupled to consumption priorities of sectors, stakeholders and users as well as waste and pollution issues with consideration to climatic issues.

Management of “WER” involves production, consumption, and waste and pollution issues taking in consideration sectors, stakeholders and users. But “WER” require global players for import-export of both raw material and processed energy as well and in both cases waste and pollution aspects are involved. The dynamic balance of fossil versus renewable energy resources are very much technology related. Even in this case, Climate Change is becoming an important factor regulating how the dynamic balance of fossil versus renewable energy should look like, i.e. on “spatio-tempral” scales.

http://www.worldenergy.org/data/resources/

Climate Change and the expected impacts of Global Warming on global water resources will have pronounced effects worldwide in the 21st century. To see any change some references must be used and in this case as explained here the 20th century will be used reference for comparison. Among key processes in the global water cycle that are undergoing dramatic changes in dynamics and rates are: evapotranspiration; soil moisture; surface water flow and ground water levels. Changes in the dynamics and rates of these  processes will have direct and indirect effects on the vegetation cover, forest, agriculture and farming as well as remarkable impacts on the global water supply with feedback effects on agriculture, industry and basic human need including drinking water .

http://www.earthonlinemedia.com/ebooks/tpe_3e/hydrosphere/future_geographies_water_resources.html

Mercury is among toxic pollutants with harmful effects on humans. Mercury in aquatic eco-systems originate from atmospheric pollution and ends up in aquatic systems where fish get exposed to different levels of mercury concentrations in water. Direct injections of pollutants, involving other types, can occur also from agriculture, industry and household. Here are simple facts on mercury pollution in aquatic systems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRqAS4Eow-c&feature=youtu.be

In the next video we are demostrating how pollution gradually degraded the water quality in natural aquatic systems making then of less recreation and economic value.  Water quality monitoring, assessment and regulations are essential management instruments for protection and preservation of natural waters against all types of pollution. Protection of air and water qualities have feedback effetcs on health of humans and safety of the environment, they are also imperative for achieving sustainable socio-economic developments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T53IeowjRCc&feature=youtu.be

The increasing consumption of, and competition on, natural resources, in particular Water-Energy resources “WE-resources” is introducing new long-term and large-scale impacts on the sustainability of natural eco-systems and quality of life with major feedbacks socio-economic developments. Without credible environmental, social impact assessments and early-warning instruments, environmental compliance systems, rehabilitation measures and solid management policies can not be established whenever necessary. Impacts of large-scale manipulations of major river systems, as in this case, have rather slowly and unpredicted impacts on the environment and ecosystems. In addition, there are different regional consequence on re-location of population, water hydrology, farming and forests. Since the industrial revolution, and because of the ongoing globalization, there had been an accelerating consumption of energy and water resources. Currently, there are major threats, in some critical regions, resulting from transformations in energy policies, global warming, pollution and waste from industrial sectors as well as increasing consumption of natural resources.

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/aug/10/china-india-water-grab-dams-himalayas-danger

The Earth, our unique home is just an immense ball of rock with proper mix of essential components for life at the surface, in the atmosphere, in water bodies, within and beneath the crust. It went through dramatic history of 4.5 million years with extreme environments and catastrophic transformations that eventually resulted in diverse forms of life. We now exist on its surface after a long struggle over ruins of fire, ice, violent seas, poisonous fumes and dead mass-extinctions. We are the survivals but yet for sometime, how long no one knows.

For thousands of years humans had no idea of the true age of the earth and the origin of the world. It is just in the past two hundred years scientists have explored and un-earthed its secrets through remarkable discoveries that led to tell the incredible story “How the earth was made”. It was a simple Scottish farmer “James Hutton” that triggered the generation of the enormous knowledge about the evolution of the earth. He spent years of own research with horse-expeditions around Scotland, to understand how rocks were formed from layers of sediments. Hutton finally found proves that the earth was very much older than what the Christian Church had been telling for generations. The Archbishop in the 17th century had calculated that the age of the earth was 6000 years old and indeed it was made on October the 14th on the afternoon. Hutton’s discovery was a turning point. It is now the rocks, who are the gays knowing the truth about age and evolution of the earth.

The journey of our blue-green planet began in a world full of fire and media made up of the early solar system with temperature similar to the surface of the sun. The origin of enormous heat of the earth, and the large-scale and long-time slow cooling-processes of the earth, is radioactivity. Based on heat evolved from the primordial radioactivity in the earth, uranium, thorium and potassium, Kelvin estimated that the earth would take millions of years to cool down. However, radiometric dating gives the correct age of the earth, i.e. using uranium found throughout the rocks on the earth and decaying into another element, lead. By measuring the ratio between lead and uranium trapped in rocks the view changed from millions to billions of years.

The origin of water on the earth remains to be a mystery. As the planet cools the surface of rocks burns out into carbon dioxide and together with water vapor formed thick cloudy atmosphere and toxic hostile water that remained for half billion years along yet with volcanic activity, formation of basaltic and granite rocks, ocean and continents. With radioactive dating, the scientists for the first time have tools to know the age of rocks, arrange them in systematic order and re-write the history of the evolution of the earth. With the slowly declining radioactivity and thereby removal of heat at the earth’s surface the first radical change towards a watery world took place and the formation of oceans.

Life was first appearing in the ocean and became free to move to land for 400 million years ago. For 200 million years swamps developed and later transformed to coal. Also, dead marine organisms transformed to oil and gas. These are the origin of fossil fuel, coal, oil and gas which probably required at least tens of million of years for formation and transformation. The first mass-destruction was the death of dinosaurs about 65 million years ago with appearance of mammals some 50 million years ago. Two million years ago modern humans appeared in the east coast of Africa and spread out of Africa where the ice age restricted the spread of humans further to Europe. As the last glacial retreated 10 thousand years ago, many new living conditions were further developed, e.g. with the creation of huge depressions making up many freshwater lakes and river systems in the northern hemi-sphere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLMeA3M_PaU&feature=youtu.be

Many countries in the developing countries, in particular Africa, were unfortunate by being left in a state of political chaos after their independence. The independence of Uganda in 1963 brought the country, with the help of the British officers, in the hands of Idi Amin, an uneducated illiterate commander. The U.K. was the first country to recognize Idi Amin’s regime after the shift of power from Milton Obote, Uganda’s socialist political leader. The U.K. Prime Minister Edward Heath, during the days of the cold war, welcomed the change from “communist government”. The people of Uganda though it is a new addition of social and political life as Idi Amin promised Uganda’s population to return to democracy after his overnight coup in 1971. Since that time Uganda sank in a very unpredictable history full of state corruption, nation-wide killing and mass execution by weapons, guns and airplanes brought from the U.K. to surprise Idi Amin’s enemies. Uganda’s middle class who built Uganda’s services, economy and businesses, i.e. the Asians and Indians previously brought by the British colonialism to build railways, were asked by Idi Amin to leave Uganda within one week. This was done in a move to further humiliate the British, to hand over the wealth of Asians and Indians, about 50 000 people, and to run the country affairs by Idi Amin’s supporters. This brought Uganda in enormous economic collapse as a result of destruction of Uganda’s infrastructure of services, entrepreneurs, commercial people, bankers, also the doctors were suddenly expelled out of the country. Those who started to run the country didn’t know how to run it with severe shortage of services. The collapse of Uganda’s services and economy followed a chain of public executions by Idi Amin of the critics and opposition of regime and further state corruption through black-market trade with coffee and alcohol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyaTWKv44Hs&feature=youtu.be

Trans-boundary water systems are hot issues as pressures on water resources are enormous especially shared trans-boundary systems. Utilization of surface water and groundwater resources differs in many aspects; also the negative impacts resulted from using these two water resources may differ. While surface water, e.g. rivers and lakes, are renewable, some groundwater are known to be of fossil origin, i.e. not renewable. In general, the rest of all water resources have specific residence times depending on the nature, structure and composition of their drainage areas as well as the hydrology of the systems. Rivers have the shortest residence times, typically few days, while lakes can vary from days or months for small ones up to several decades for large lakes. Sallow gravel aquifers may have residence times of few days, while deep aquifers may have very long residence times of some millions of years. Residence time of water, and particles therein, is simply the average time that a water/particle spend in a given system. Residence times of water have many important engineering applications in particular time-space hydrological, hydro-chemical processes, e.g. water budget, water balance and flow-rates as well as contamination and pollution studies. Also, in other water engineering disciplines such as biological, biochemical, biogeochemical, environmental and geological engineering as well sd rehabilitation actions.

For the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS), shared by Chad, Egypt, Libya & Sudan, which is one of the largest aquifer systems in the world, an agreement were conducted during the 1989-1999 “Constitution of the Joint Authority for the Study and Development of the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer Waters”. This agreement is more an institutional agreement than merely a water management one. However, the outcome of two projects that were conducted following this agreement, 1998-2006, identified key transboundary concerns what regards declining water levels, damage or loss of ecosystems and biodiversity, and deterioration of water quality. Based on these studies common management actions with adopted vision for the NSAS were concluded.

Adoption of Regional Strategic Action Plan on the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer

An African farmer, who out of nothing, created a whole bio-diversity in a dry desert. An innovation “Yacouba’s Zai-techniques” that proved effective for fighting against desertification. The word Zai comes from the original word Zaigre which means to left up the land and dig holes, a simple approach that can very well compete with high-tech solutions. Yacouba’s innovation, also, a revolution that can be used for mitigation of climate change by bringing people together in friendly mobile workshops to turn the desert, and stony land, to cultivated land where farmers can invest in trees, improve there food security and also help people to adapt to climate change. These are emerging new possibilities for young people.

However, illiteracy is major obstacle in developing countries that brings with it new threats for any new idea thus are endangering what has been achieved so far. Whenever threats appear wise people without power always appeal to intellectuals and authorities rather that verbal violence that doesn’t benefit anybody rather than damage and losses for everybody including authorities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wezxNnkcsW8&feature=youtu.be