Environmental Biotechnology : Basic Concepts and Applications

Contents Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Environment and ecosystem processes. 3. Environmental resources air water and soil. 4. Environmental perturbation air water and soil pollution. 5. Global environmental problems atmosphere and environmental issues. 6. Structural and functional dynamics of microbial life. 7. Air pollution and its control. 8. Water pollution and its control. 9. Soil waste and soil pollution management. 10. Degradation of Lignocellulose compounds. 11. Degradation of Xenobiotic compounds. 12. Bioabsorption of metals. 13. Bioremediation. 14. Biofertilizers and Biopesticides. 15. Composting. 16. Bio polymers and bio plastics. 17. Bioleaching. 18. Biomethanation. 19. Biofuel and biodiesel. 20. Pulp and paper industry. 21. Tanning industry. 22. Distilling industry. 23. Dye industry. 24. Antibiotic industry. 25. Petroleum industry. 26. Dairy industry. Index. The field of Environmental Sciences has acquired new dimensions in the last fifty years due to the changing scenario of population explosion agricultural activities for food production rapid industrial development for commercial and household commodities and so on. The upsurge in all these activities has contributed in one way or the other to environmental problems at the local regional and global levels. Economic growth and the continuing heavy consumption of natural resources and energy are responsible for global environmental crisis like global warming acid rain and the destruction of the ozone layer. This has resulted in an increased interest in this area and most institutions today have included it as a part of their educational curriculum. Environmental biotechnology is a vast and rapidly growing field which continues to revolutionise the understanding of basic life sustaining processes in the environment by identifying and exploiting the Biomolecules and their utilities to provide clean technologies in order to counter environmental problems. 472 pp.…