Thermal insulation is an important technology to reduce energy consumption in buildings by preventing heat gain/loss through the building envelope. Thermal insulation is a construction material with low thermal conductivity, often less than 0.1W/mK. These materials have no other purpose than to save energy and protect and provide comfort to occupants. Of the many forms, shapes and applications of thermal insulation, this section focuses on those that are commonly used for building envelopes– i.e., floor, walls and roof, and have potential for South-South technology transfer.

Seawalls are hard engineered structures with a primary function to prevent further erosion of the shoreline. They are built parallel to the shore and aim to hold or prevent sliding of the soil, while providing protection from wave action (UNFCCC, 1999). Although their primary function is erosion reduction, they have a secondary function as coastal flood defences.

The physical form of these structures is highly variable; seawalls can be vertical or sloping and constructed from a wide variety of materials. They may also be referred to as revetments.

Wind energy technologies can be classified into two categories – macro wind turbines that are installed for large-scale energy generation such as wind farms, and micro wind turbines used for local electricity production. Micro wind turbines are suitable for application at the building scale and are called ‘building-integrated wind turbines’. The main components of a wind turbine include blades, rotor, gearbox and generator. Small wind turbines were originally designed with a horizontal axis, also known as HAWTs.

Fogs have the potential to provide an alternative source of fresh water in dry regions and can be harvested through the use of simple and low-cost collection systems. Captured water can then be used for agricultural irrigation and domestic use. Research suggests that fog collectors work best in locations with frequent fog periods, such as coastal areas where water can be harvested as fog moves inland driven by the wind.

A reliable and clean water supply is an essential need but a large number of people currently lack this basic provision. Solar water pumps is a socially and environmentally attractive technology to supply water. Especially if the need for water is in remote locations which are beyond the reach of power lines, solar power is often the economically preferred technology.

Materials and products used in building, such as steel and aluminum, are created by a production process of raw material extraction, raw material process, melting, manufacture to final products, and transportation to building sites. Each of the steps consumes energy, which is also expressed in terms of carbon emissions. Total carbon emissions of all building materials and products and the construction involved to put them together is known as building’s embodied carbon. Embodied carbon accounts for about 20% of the carbon emissions from the building sector (Lane, 2010).

Total freshwater withdrawals reported for 163 countries by the Pacific Institute showed that in the median country residential water use accounted for 16% of total freshwater withdrawals (Gleick et al., 2006). Therefore, residential conservation efforts can make a strong positive contribution to reducing pressure on water resources. Reducing water use in municipal systems also contributes to climate change mitigation by decreasing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

What is Micro-algae

Micro-algae are a group of unicellular or simple multicellular fast growing photosynthetic microorganisms that can conserve CO2 efficiently from different sources, including the atmosphere, industrial exhaust gases, and soluble carbonate salts. Micro-algae act as a major system for converting atmospheric CO2 into lipids under sunlight and increase the output of algal oil. The enzyme acetyl Co-A carboxylase (ACCase) from micro-algae catalyzes the key metabolic step in the synthesis of oil in algae.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a combination of technologies designed to prevent the release of CO₂ generated through conventional power generation and industrial production processes by injecting the CO₂ in suitable underground storage reservoirs. Basically, capture technology separates CO₂ emissions from the process, after which the compressed CO₂ is transported to a suitable geological storage location and injected. Feasible methods of transporting of CO₂ include both pipelines and shipping.

The use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in transport is a suitable option to power large long-distance trucks in areas where gas is transported as liquefied natural gas because there are indigenous gas supplies and no gas network. The use of LNG in passenger cars is far less viable because on average passenger cars stand idle more often, which would give rise to high evaporative losses.