A W Jayawardena
The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong SAR, China
Abstract Title:
Relationship with climate changeBiography:
A. W. Jayawardena, currently an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Hong Kong, has over four decades of experience in academia, consulting engineering, international organizations, and government. He is a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, a Life Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and was a Fellow of the UK Institution of Civil Engineers. His awards include Visiting International Fellowship of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI), American Society of Civil Engineers; International Award, Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources; an Invitational Fellowship, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)’, and UNESCO-IHP Regional Steering Committee Asia-Pacific Award (2023). He has authored the books ‘Environmental and Hydrological Systems Modelling’ , ‘Fluid Mechanics, Hydraulics, Hydrology and Water Resources for Civil Engineers’, Water for Life: Drinking Water, Health, Food, Energy Nexus', A Concise History of Japan: Jomon Period to Heisei Period ', and authored/co-authored over 200 publications.
Research Interests:
Climate change is currently a hot topic. It has been recognized that anthropogenic contributions to climate change, as quantified by temperature, CO2 concentration, sea-level rise, glacial retreat, etc., are a major contributor to climate change. The driver of such contributions is the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and other burnable substances, which leave behind some energy waste. The question is how to recycle the waste produced in a user-friendly way. The waste is in the form of energy produced during energy production and consumption. Apart from the United States and China, the Middle Eastern countries are the major contributors to this energy waste. They also have a problem of inadequate fresh water for their consumption, and the shortage is addressed by desalting seawater, which is an energy-intensive process. An environmentally friendly approach to solve this problem would be to use the waste energy from the energy production and consumption processes, but the major energy-producing and consuming countries, in particular, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries, prefer to use the original fossil fuels as it is economically advantageous to them. For developing countries that import energy, the outlook can be different. They can be persuaded to recycle energy waste in a more productive way that helps them achieve their objectives. This approach appears to be the way forward.