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Comprehensive Green Protocol

To overcome the ever-increasing shortage of natural resources and unsustainable waste management practices, a ‘comprehensive green protocol’ was required. In view of this, a consortium of experts and dignitaries from the partnering organizations (DSTE, PPCC, PU, and APSCC) had joined hands to conduct the “State-Level Awareness Program on Sustainable Waste Management – 2017-18”, a 30-day program conducted across all four districts of the Union Territory of Puducherry.  The collective knowledge gathered from the program has resulted in the creation of the ‘Comprehensive Green Protocol’ as a guide for Universities, Colleges, Schools, Industries, Tourism Sector, Hotels, Hospitals, and other organizations to carry forward the stated missions of the program. The protocol is expected to serve as a tool and guide to all stakeholders to commit to Environmental Responsibility and Sustainable Development. thereby creating a healthy environment for the campuses and communities at large.

Principles for the green protocol was adopted partially from UN Conference on Environment and Development called the Rio Declaration (1992) and Sustainable Development Goals (2016-2030).
The Comprehensive Green Protocol (GCP) even includes a guide to implement and measure the result through factual means. The protocol was grouped under different heads such as Water Management; Soil Conservation and Sustainable Food Production; Clean Air; Energy Conservation; Sustainable Management of Waste Resources; Sustainable Use of Natural Resources among Others.

[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.apsccglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Green-Protocol-Book-Final-9-8-20181.pdf” title=”Green-Protocol-Book-Final-9-8-2018(1)”]
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Event Projects

Sustainable Management and Promotion of Territory-2015

APSCC team was invited as a Committee Member for the round table in the “Sustainable Management and Promotion of Territory”-SIS-GPST-SMPT Summer School held at the University of Perugia, Italy. The School’s aim is to improve the management methods ability to safeguard – through the constant monitoring – the development of good quality of life, and the protection of environmental resources, especially landscape and biodiversity. This is to direct the processes of growth and innovation, aimed at safeguarding sustainable development which is repeatable and transferable. In this sense, science must facilitate the removal of barriers, which often imprisoned and overshadowed the ancestral values of the ancient societies, not to be approached as if they belonged to a museum, rather with the revival and rediscovery spirit: a kind of science that awards humanity. The growth of university research centers will characterize them, even more, as a window of consciousness together with their spirit of analysis, and the skills brought by all the autonomous self-decision-making people of the world society.

The participation in the SIS-SMPT gave the opportunity for everyone from all over the world to learn and touch directly the high level of theory and practice of the Strategy of Sustainable Development, jointly to the positive atmosphere, history and culture of Umbria.

APSCC team discussed Green Campus Initiative as a catalyst for the sustainable Management and Promotion of Territory

Over the period of time due to rapid urbanization and consumerist lifestyles, the natural resources are over exploited resulting in depletion and disruptions in natural cycles. The challenges are immense and complex. It was unanimously agreed that education is the most effective means to address the challenges the society faces today to create a better world tomorrow.

Universities and Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s) are responding to these issues in a number of ways, from research to retro-fitting, to recycling and raising awareness, technically called as Green Campus Initiative (GCI).  Over a period of time these initiatives become well rooted and pave way for a green campsis2015us (GC) or sustainable green campus (SGC). The focus of the GCI is to reduce the University’s and HEI’s water footprint, energy footprint, ecological footprint and environmental impact through resource recycling, etc… Most of the actions are guided by the Green Campus Action Plan involving cooperation between students, professional and academic staff.

“The drive to attain the GREEN CAMPUS status is to serve as a model for global environmental sustainability where all the processes and operational functions of the campus are closely knit, providing educational and practical value to the institution and the surrounding environment”

We believe that the green initiatives will impact on the learning environment positively, and such measures will help the campus community to value nature and take care of it, by conserving it for the future generations.

 

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Biomass briquettes – an alternative to fossil fuels

Biomass briquettes are a renewable source of energy and avoids adding fossil carbon to the atmosphere thereby making it eligible to earn Carbon Credits for its usage. A large number of companies are switching from furnace oil to biomass briquettes that are made from agricultural waste to save costs on boiler fuels. Plant biomass can be converted into charcoal briquettes by igniting the biomass under low oxygen conditions. These briquettes have higher calorific value and burning capacity than using plant biomass directly. APSCC team attended a workshop on an improved Biomass charcoal briquetting technology developed by MCRC, Chennai. The center carries out studies for the improvement and standardization of the technology and as a part of it different agricultural wastes such as Casuarina leaf litter, Prosaphis twigs, Ipomoea stem, Lantana camara stem, Eucalyptus leaves and coconut leaves were used as biomass source. Carbonization was carried out at different temperatures from 100°C to 600°C for optimizing the char yield and different cost effective binders such as starch, rice powder, clay etc. were also tried. The fuel briquettes produced through briquetting machines (calorific values – max.6500 kcal/kg and min.4500 kcal/kg) were tested at local teashops, laundry and small hotels in Chennai for alternative fuel. The biomass charcoal briquetting technology has been standardized at MCRC and disseminated to various beneficiaries such as farmers, individuals, unemployed people, NGOs and college students.

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Implementing Campus Greening Initiatives: Approaches, Methods and Perspectives

As an objective of the Green Campus Summit, the team published the book titled “Implementing Campus Greening Initiatives: Approaches, Methods and Perspectives” with Springer Publication. Firmly rooted in the theory and practice of sustainable development, this book offers a comprehensive resource on sustainability, focusing on both industrialized and developing nations. The book is an attempt to promote and disseminate the work being done in this field by universities around the world. The need to integrate the principles and concepts of green campuses and sustainability into the core of students’ educational experiences, from high school to college or university, has now been broadly recognized. By doing so, we can ensure that the students of today and tomorrow will acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values needed to create a more sustainable economy and social environment.

  • Contains a comprehensive list of initiatives on campus greening around the world
  • Embeds various case studies from industrialized and developing countries
  • Provides an account of issues, problems and opportunities

Buy Book at http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319119601

Table of Contents:

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Projects

Alternative analytical technologies for soil nutrient analysis

Frequent soil testing is essential for sustainable agriculture to maintain and improve the existing soil structure and innate productive capacity of the soil. In this context, APSCC explores the feasibility of establishing and promoting a cost effective soil testing laboratories equipped with alternative analytical technology (AAT) for the benefit of thousands of farmers in the region. The team participated in the AAT for soil testing workshops organized by Shri AMM MCRC, Chennai.

Why alternative analytical technology (AAT) for soil testing: Indian agriculture occupies an eminent position in global cultivation of rice, wheat, sugarcane, pulses and vegetables. There is no simple, cost effective and reliable technology available to determine the level of organic carbon, humus, nitrogen, phosphMCRC2orus, potassium and micronutrients (10) in soil so as to provide the farmer the information he requires for maintaining the health of the soil. The present methods that are available require sophisticated, costly equipment. Depending on the information required, the cost of testing a single soil sample could vary between Rs. 250 to Rs. 1250 per test. AAT for testing soil nutrients: Shri AMM MCRC and IIT Madras has jointly undertaken a project titled “Integrated Knowledge Systems on Soil Nutrient Analysis through Image Processing of Chromatograms” funded by Department of Science & Technology and Murugappa Group for a period of 3 years. More than 12,000 soil samples have been processed for the determination of physicochemical properties, circular Paper chromatograms, image processing and case based reasoning. Software for image processing of soil chromatogram so as to know the soil composition, fertilizer recommendation and best suitable crop has been developed and was tested at various levels. For more details, visit http://www.amm-mcrc.org/