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  • 1
    Publication Date: 2019
    Description: The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has established the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) as the most important policy measure to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shipping. A vessel’s EEDI is based on sea trials at delivery, and vessels cannot exceed a threshold for emitted CO2 per ton-mile, depending on vessel type and size. From other industries such as cars we have learnt that testing methods must reflect realistic operating conditions to deliver the desired emission reductions. Present sea-trial procedures for EEDI adjust to ‘calm water conditions’ only, as a comparative basis, despite calm sea being the exception at sea. We find that this adjustment procedure excessively rewards full bodied ‘bulky’ hulls which perform well in calm water conditions. In contrast, hull forms optimized with respect to performance in realistic sea-conditions are not rewarded with the current EEDI procedures. Our results indicate that without adjusting the testing cycle requirements to also include a threshold for performance in waves (real sea), the desired reductions will be short on targets and GHG emissions could potentially increase.
    Electronic ISSN: 2071-1050
    Topics: Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
    Published by MDPI
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  • 2
    Publication Date: 2019
    Description: This study evaluates the performance of widely-used remotely sensed- and model-based soil moisture products, including: The Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT), the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-Earth Observing System (AMSR-E), the European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative (ESA-CCI), the Antecedent Precipitation Index (API), and the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS-NOAH). Evaluations are performed between 2008 and 2011 against the calibrated station-based soil moisture observations collected by the General Directorate of Meteorology of Turkey. The calibration of soil moisture observing sensors with respect to the soil type, correction of the soil moisture for the soil temperature, and the quality control of the collected measurements are performed prior to the evaluation of the products. Evaluation of remotely sensed- and model-based soil moisture products is performed considering different characteristics of the time series (i.e., seasonality and anomaly components) and the study region (i.e., soil type, vegetation cover, soil wetness and climate regime). The systematic bias between soil moisture products and in situ measurements is eliminated by using a linear rescaling method. Correlations between the soil moisture products and the in situ observations vary between 0.57 and 0.87, while the root mean square errors of the products versus the in situ observations vary between 0.028 and 0.043 m3 m−3. Overall, according to the correlation and root mean square error values obtained in all evaluation categories, NOAH and ESA-CCI soil moisture products perform better than all the other model- and remotely sensed-based soil moisture products. These results are valid for the entire study time period and all of the sub-categories under soil type, vegetation cover, soil wetness and climate regime.
    Electronic ISSN: 2072-4292
    Topics: Architecture, Civil Engineering, Surveying , Geography
    Published by MDPI
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  • 3
    Publication Date: 2018
    Description: A large-scale integration of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) into the power grid system has necessitated the design of online scheduling algorithms to accommodate the after-effects of this new type of load, i.e., PEVs, on the overall efficiency of the power system. In online settings, the low computational complexity of the corresponding scheduling algorithms is of paramount importance for the reliable, secure, and efficient operation of the grid system. Generally, the computational complexity of an algorithm is computed using asymptotic analysis. Traditionally, the analysis is performed using the paper-pencil proof method, which is error-prone and thus not suitable for analyzing the mission-critical online scheduling algorithms for PEV charging. To overcome these issues, this paper presents a formal asymptotic analysis approach for online scheduling algorithms for PEV charging using higher-order-logic theorem proving, which is a sound computer-based verification approach. For illustration purposes, we present the complexity analysis of two state-of-the-art online algorithms: the Online cooRdinated CHARging Decision (ORCHARD) algorithm and online Expected Load Flattening (ELF) algorithm.
    Electronic ISSN: 1996-1073
    Topics: Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
    Published by MDPI
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  • 4
    Publication Date: 2019
    Description: Palm oil’s utilization as a renewable energy (RE) source has led the government to intervene by introducing emission reduction projects. Carbon trading projects are part of the strategic direction adopted within the climate mitigation plan and sustainability drive in the palm oil industry. The perquisites and opportunities encountered within emissions trading are expected to aid palm oil producers economically, environmentally, and socially. This study addresses and analyses how the carbon trading projects’ targets in Malaysia can be achieved, the problematic, and pressing issues around their implementation and whether these projects are sustainable and create a positive impact. This paper is based on literature reviews and semi-structured interviews with expert palm oil producers in Malaysia. The findings have revealed that carbon trading implementation in Malaysia has delivered new insights towards the international climate policy approach on the feasibility and impact of long-term sustainability goals. However, the impact of the implementation needs support from the government for further development. In conclusion, the major contribution of this study is that the carbon trading implementation in Malaysia complies with the objectives and principles of sustainable development and creates a significant influx in investment for Malaysia’s economic growth.
    Electronic ISSN: 1996-1073
    Topics: Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
    Published by MDPI
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  • 5
    Publication Date: 2016-06-03
    Description: This paper discusses the driving forces (DFs) of informal urbanization (IU) in the greater Cairo metropolitan region (GCMR) using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The IU patterns in the GCMR have been extremely influenced by seven DFs: geographical characteristics, availability of life facilities, economic incentives, land demand and supply, population increase, administrative function, and development plans. This research found that these forces vary significantly in how they influence urban growth in the three study sectors, namely, the middle, north, and south areas in the western part of the GCMR. The forces with the highest influence were economic incentives in the middle sector, population increase in the north sector, and the administrative function in the south sector. Due to the lower availability of buildable land in the middle sector, the land demand and supply force had a lesser influence in this sector compared to in the north and south sectors. The development plans force had medium influence in all sectors. The geographical characteristics force had little influence in both the middle and the north sectors, but higher influence than economic incentives, availability of life facilities, and development plans in the south sector. Because of the spatial variances in life facilities organizations in the GCMR, the life facilities availability force had little effect on IU in the south sector.
    Electronic ISSN: 2076-3298
    Topics: Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
    Published by MDPI
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  • 6
    Publication Date: 2015-09-30
    Description: This study was undertaken with the objective of evaluating micro-dosing of mineral fertilizer combined with seed priming in sorghum, groundnut, sesame, and cowpea. On-station and on-farm trials were conducted for two consecutive seasons (2009/2010 and 2010/2011) at Al-Tukma village (12°00′57.60′′ N and 29°46′12.15′′ E) in South Kordofan State, 15 km southeast of Dilling city. Heavy cracking clay soil is the dominant soil type in the region with low fertility. The experiments for each crop consisted of two priming levels (primed seeds vs. non-primed) and four micro-doses of NPK mineral fertilizer (0, 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 g per planting pocket or hole). On-farm trials in 15 fields consisted of control, seed priming, and seed priming + micro fertilizer (0.3 g/planting hole). Data collected included plant vigor, stand count, plant height, grain and straw yield, seed weight, and other relevant agronomic traits. This study shows that it is possible to increase productivity of sorghum, sesame, groundnut, and cowpea in the semi-arid cracking clay of South Kordofan State at a low cost and with a moderate risk for farmers through seed priming and micro-dosing of fertilizers. Seed priming combined with micro-dosing NPK mineral fertilizer of 0.9 g was the best treatment for plant establishment, seedling vigor, grain yield, and hay yield in sorghum and groundnut, whereas the combination of seed priming and 0.3 g micro-doing of fertilizer was the best in sesame. Seed priming and micro-dosing of fertilizer of 0.6 g was the best combination for cowpea. On-farm trial results indicated that priming alone and priming combined with fertilizer application significantly increased the yields of sorghum, groundnut, and cowpea over the control (P = 0.01). Of the crops tested, groundnut responded most favorably to micro-dosing and seed priming, with a value to cost ratio (VCR) of 26.6, while the highest VCR for sorghum, sesame, and cowpea was 12.5, 8.0 and 4.4, respectively. For the best productivity and profitability, we recommend using seed priming in combination with the micro-dosing of 0.9 g/hole of 15:15:15 NPK fertilizer for sorghum and groundnut, of 0.3 g/hole for sesame, and of 0.6 g/hole for cowpea grown in the semiarid South Kordofan State of Sudan.
    Electronic ISSN: 2073-4395
    Topics: Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition , Economics
    Published by MDPI
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  • 7
    Publication Date: 2019
    Description: The Malaysian Government has set an ambitious target to achieve a higher penetration of Renewable Energy (RE) in the Malaysian energy mix. To date, Malaysia has approximately 2% of its energy coming from RE generation sources compared to the total generation mix and targets achieving 20% penetration by 2025. The current energy mix for Malaysia power generation is mainly provided by natural gas and coal. The discussion will cover the traditional sources of generation including natural gas, coal and big hydro stations. In addition, the paper will cover in depth the potential of RE in the country, challenges, and opportunities in this sector. This study can give an initial evaluation of the Malaysian energy industry, especially for RE and can initiate further research and development in this area in order to support the Government target to achieve RE target of 20% by 2025.
    Electronic ISSN: 1996-1073
    Topics: Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
    Published by MDPI
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  • 8
    Publication Date: 2019
    Description: This study investigated the potentiality of methane production from alginate-extracted (AEWLJ) and non-extracted (NAEWLJ) waste of Laminaria japonica through batch anaerobic fermentation in mono- and co-digestion with rice straw (RS) at different mixing ratios. Optimal C/N ratio was demonstrated, and system stability was monitored in terms of the total ammonia nitrogen, total volatile fatty acids, and pH throughout the digestion period. The results show that the combination of AEWLJ/RS at 67% mixing ratio generated the highest biogas yield of 247 NmL/gVS, which was 36% higher than the AEWLJ alone. The synergetic effect was clearly observed leading to an increase in the total methane yield up to 78% and 88%, respectively, for arrays of AEWLJ/RS and NAEWLJ/RS. The kinetic model showed a high coefficient of determination (R2 ≥ 0.9803) when the modified Gompertz model was applied to predict methane production. These outcomes support the possibility of an integrated biorefinery approach to attain value-added products in order to achieve circular economies.
    Electronic ISSN: 2071-1050
    Topics: Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
    Published by MDPI
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  • 9
    Publication Date: 2019
    Description: In the practical reality of face recognition applications, the human face can have only a limited number of training images. However, it is known that, in general, increasing the number of training images also increases the performance of face recognition systems. In this case, a new set of training samples can be generated from the original samples, using the symmetry property of the face. Although many face recognition methods have been proposed in the literature, a robust face recognition system is still a challenging task. In this paper, recognition performance was improved by using the property of face symmetry. Moreover, the effects of illumination and pose variations were reduced. A Two-Dimensional Discrete Wavelet Transform, based on the Local Binary Pattern, which is a new approach for face recognition using symmetry, has been presented. The method has three main stages, preprocessing, feature extraction, and classification. A Two-Dimensional Discrete Wavelet Transform with Single-Level and Gaussian Low-Pass Filter were used, separately, for preprocessing. The Local Binary Pattern, Gray Level Co-Occurrence Matrix, and the Gabor filter were used for feature extraction, and the Euclidean Distance was used for classification. The proposed method was implemented and evaluated using the Olivetti Research Laboratory (ORL) and Yale datasets. This study also examined the importance of the preprocessing stage in a face recognition system. The experimental results showed that the proposed method had a recognition accuracy of 100%, for both the ORL and Yale datasets, and these recognition rates were higher than the methods in the literature.
    Electronic ISSN: 2073-8994
    Topics: Mathematics
    Published by MDPI
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  • 10
    Publication Date: 2019
    Description: A steady laminar flow over a vertical stretching sheet with the existence of viscous dissipation, heat source/sink, and magnetic fields has been numerically inspected through a shooting scheme based Runge—Kutta–Fehlberg-integration algorithm. The governing equation and boundary layer balance are expressed and then converted into a nonlinear normal system of differential equations using suitable transformations. The impact of the physical parameters on the dimensionless velocity, temperature, the local Nusselt, and skin friction coefficient are described. Results show good agreement with recent researches. Findings reveal that the Nusselt number at the sheet surface augments, since the Hartmann number, stretching velocity ratio A, and Hartmann number Ha increase. Nevertheless, it reduces with respect to the heat generation/absorption coefficient δ.
    Electronic ISSN: 2073-8994
    Topics: Mathematics
    Published by MDPI
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