• Energy Research
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Abstract Performance and testing of an improved community size solar cooker have been carried out and compared with a hot box solar cooker with a single reflector. The cooker can meet the requirement of about 80 persons, therefore it is very suitable for hostels, temples, canteens, restaurants, etc. The economic analysis of the cooker has been carried out by considering the annual interest, maintenance cost and inflation in fuel prices and maintenance cost. The payback periods are in increasing order with respect to the fuels, firewood, coal, electricity, LPG and kerosene.

Abstract Coalbed methane (CBM) is an emerging clean coal technology in India to extract in-situ entrapped methane of coal beds. Methane is a greenhouse and a calorific valuable gas providing an energy source for power production. The capture of entrapped methane gas prior to coal mining or from unmineable deep coal seams would result in a safe, clean and viable energy source. The use of major greenhouse gas CO 2 for desorbing the entrapped methane in coal beds would result in efficient carbon capture and storage (CCS). As India contains 37% of coal reserves in the deep underground (>300 m), enhanced coalbed methane (ECBM) is a promising clean coal technology for methane recovery as well as CO 2 sequestration. The present study evaluates the CBM potential of Indian bituminous/sub-bituminous coal reserves using Kim׳s correlation and further estimates the CO 2 sequestration capacity of coal seams. These data are useful to the industries, which are aiming at the CBM resources of India. Further, the technical feasibility of ECBM integration with underground coal gasification (UCG) technology is also discussed for clean recovery of deep underground coal resources.

This research aims in providing an efficient way to detect, control and manage the traffic and the traffic problems at the lanes without the involvement of any traffic police or the traffic management staff. This research finishes the human involvement completely. This system also provides the congestion control mechanism. This research overcomes drawbacks of other techniques developed earlier like Inductive Loop Detection, Video Data Analysis etc. The present intelligent system will consist of the RFID readers placed at the start of the lane and the end of the lane that is near the traffic lights. The readers placed at the end of the lane will measure the traffic at the end of the lane and the readers at the start of the lane will measure the upcoming traffic and they will also detect the emergency vehicles, (if any), plus they will also contribute in the congestion control mechanism. The traffic lights will work on priority basis dynamically. This research believes in saving the time of the vehicles at the cross roads where the traffic lights have been installed.

Abstract Megacities in emerging markets are a relatively new phenomenon. The size of these cities combined with the high growth rates provides substantial sustainability challenges. Urban freight transport (UFT) contributes to these challenges. Despite its relatively low share as part of total traffic, the negative impact of UFT is disproportionate. Improving the sustainability in this context is inevitable in the light of further prospected urbanization. To study this topic, a theoretical framework is developed which is subsequently applied on literature. This allows characterizing the UFT system in a city. Such a framework is currently lacking. The framework is developed around the components of a UFT system (demand, supply and context) and the factors influencing these components. Factors include the different supply chains (demand), vehicles used (supply) and traffic measures (context). It is applied to analyze the UFT system in megacities in emerging markets. Results show that demand in different supply chains is fragmented as well as the transport. Uncontrolled sprawl and the existence of an informal economy further contribute to the complexity to regulate UFT. Based hereupon, we discuss efforts to move to more sustainable UFT in this context.

The effects of climate change on infectious diseases are an important global health concern and necessitate decisions for allocation of resources. Economic tools have been used previously; however, how prioritization results might differ when done using broader considerations identified by local stakeholders has yet to be assessed. A multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach was used to assess multi-stakeholder expressed concerns around disease prioritization via focus groups held in Quebec and Burkina Faso. Stakeholders weighted criteria and comparisons were made across study sites. A pilot disease prioritization was done to examine effects on disease rankings. A majority of identified criteria were common to both sites. The effect of context specific criteria and weights resulted in similar yet distinct prioritizations of diseases. The presence of consistent criteria between sites suggests that common concerns exist for prioritization; however, context-specific adjustments reveal much regarding resource availability, capacity and concerns that should be considered as this impacts disease ranking. Participatory decision aid approaches facilitate rich knowledge exchange and problem structuring. Furthermore, given multiple actors in low- and middle-income countries settings, multi-actor collaborations across non-governmental organizations, local government and community are important. Formal mechanisms such as MCDA provide means to foster consensus, shared awareness and collaboration.

AbstractGradual depletion of world petroleum reserves and the impact of environmental pollution of increasing exhaust emissions lead to the search for a suitable alternative fuels for diesel engines. The substitution of conventional fuels (gasoline, diesel) by renewable biofuels is considered a potential way to reduce pollution and to support the sustainable development of a country. Direct use of vegetable oil and animal fat is a promising alternative to solve these problems. An exhaustive review of the experiments in this area, carried out by several researchers in last three decades, is presented here. Different problems associated with the direct use of vegetable oil and animal fat and potential solutions from both public and private sectors are discussed. Some engine manufacturers have started to launch full‐warranty engines with vegetable oil as fuel. It is expected that the competitive engine market will witness more intense research, resulting in the launch of more vegetable‐oil engines with full warranties. The steep rise in food prices in recent years is concerning policy‐makers and has raised the old ‘food vs fuel’ debate. It has been concluded that vegetable oil can probably only substitute small to medium portions of petroleum‐based fuel due to future severe land‐usage competition from food sector. This calls for intense research initiatives into the production of suitable fuel from non‐edible vegetable oil, grown in wasteland. In this regard, genetic engineering may prove to be extremely effective in developing ‘designer fuel’. © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Many households in Cameroon live in energy poverty. Thus, energy usage and energy efficiency have become increasingly important in Cameroon. An important step towards improving building energy efficiency is knowledge about household energy appliances. In Cameroon, the construction sector is mostly informal, presenting huge challenges for stakeholders including clients or dwelling owners to establish quality factors of household energy appliances for use in various building projects. Furthermore, studies about household energy appliances are scarce. The aim of this study is to investigate household energy appliances in relation to energy efficiency in dwellings. To achieve this aim, 15 dwellings in the political capital Yaounde of Cameroon were surveyed. Given the wider nature of building energy efficiency and the limited research materials about the same, the scope was limited to typology of household energy appliances, typical dwellings’ characteristics and energy consumption pattern. Some factors that have influence on energy consumption/pattern such as occupants’ daily activities were also considered. Although this study is still in its preliminary stages, the findings reported here can be useful in conducting detail research in the future.

Abstract Most of the world’s energy consumption is greatly dependent on fossil fuel, which is exhaustible and is being used extensively due to continuous escalation in the world’s population and development. This valuable resource needs to be conserved and its alternatives need to be explored. In this perspective, dissemination and utilisation of renewables such as solar energy has gained worldwide momentum since the onset of oil crises of 1970s. Moreover, burning of fuels is the principal cause of air pollution, and possibly environmental warming. Saudi Arabia, being blessed with a fairly high level of solar radiation, is a suitable candidate for deployment of solar photo-voltaic (PV) panels for power generation during crisis. Literature indicates that commercial/residential buildings in Saudi Arabia consume an estimated 10–45% of the total electrical energy generated/consumed. In the present study, hourly mean solar radiation data for the period 1986–1993 recorded at the solar radiation and meteorological monitoring station, Dhahran (26° 32′ N, 50° 13′ E), Saudi Arabia, have been analyzed to investigate the potential of utilizing hybrid (PV+diesel) power systems to meet the load requirements of a typical commercial building (with an annual electrical energy demand of 620,000 kWh). The monthly average daily solar global irradiation for Dhahran ranges from 3.61 to 7.96 kWh/m 2 . The hybrid systems considered in the present analysis consist of different combinations of PV panels/modules (different array sizes) supplemented with a battery storage unit and diesel back-up. The study shows that with a combination of 3700 m 2 PV together with 12 h of battery storage, the diesel back-up system has to provide 6% of the load demand. However, in the absence of a battery bank, about 56% of the load needs to be provided by the diesel system.