Usability of clay mixed red mud in Hungarian building material production industry

The naturally occurring radionuclide (²²⁶Ra,²³²Th and⁴⁰K) content of building Materials (NORM) contributes to the total radiation dose experienced by humans. In this survey 27 clay and 68 red mud samples were surveyed with gamma spectrometry and screened according to European Basic Safety Standards (BSS) I-index. It was found that average I-index of clays was 0.6 (0.4–0.8) less than the I-index of 1, which makes them suitable for building material production. The average I-index of red mud 2.3 (1.3–3.0). The maximal mixing ratio of red mud was calculated, varied between 12 and 39 %, with 23 % average.

An energy based force prediction method for UD-CFRP orthogonal machining

The machining of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite presents a significant challenge to the industry, and a better understanding of machining mechanism is the essential fundament to enhance the machining quality. In this study, a new energy based analytical method was developed to predict the cutting forces in orthogonal machining of unidirectional CFRP with fiber orientations ranging from 0° to 75°. The subsurface damage in cutting was also considered. Thus, the total specific energy for cutting has been estimated along with the energy consumed for forming new surfaces, friction, fracture in chip formation and subsurface debonding. Experiments were conducted to verify the validity of the proposed model.

Energy drinks in Ireland - a review

Energy drinks have risen in popularity in recent years and are now sold in over 165 countries worldwide. On the island of Ireland, energy drinks advertising accounted for 20% of the total soft drinks market advertising in 2014. In the United States, sales increased by 60% between 2008 and 2012, and in 2006, a staggering 500 new brands of energy drinks were released worldwide. In the UK, the energy drinks market is worth £491 million and is growing by 7% year on year. This report has found an eightfold increase in the number of energy drinks available in 2015 compared to 2002. While no standard definition of an energy drink is used in the scientific literature, it is commonly understood to be a non-alcoholic drink that contains caffeine (usually its main ingredient), taurine, vitamins and sometimes a combination of other ingredients (such as guarana and ginseng, among others), and it is marketed for its perceived or actual benefits as a stimulant, for improving performance and for increasing energy. As this report will highlight, there is some confusion amongst the public as to what the term "energy drink" means, as some soft and sports drinks, while containing little or no caffeine, use the term ‘energy’ in the product label, for example, Lucozade. Both the scientific community and the public have raised health concerns about the caffeine and calorie intakes associated with energy drinks and the use of these drinks as a mixer with alcohol. These concerns are disputed by the energy drinks industry.

What kind of expertise is needed for low energy construction

The construction industry is responsible for 40% of European Union (EU) end-use emissions but addressing this is problematic, as evident from the performance gap between design intention and on-site energy performance. There is a lack of the expertise needed for low energy construction (LEC) in the UK as the complex work processes involved require ‘energy literacy’ of all construction occupations, high qualification levels, broad occupational profiles, integrated teamworking, and good communication . This research identifies the obstacles to meeting these requirements, the nature of the expertise needed to break down occupational divisions and bridge those interfaces where the main heat losses occur, and the transition pathway implied. Obstacles include a decline in the level, breadth and quality of construction vocational education and training (VET), the lack of a learning infrastructure on sites, and a fragmented employment structure. To overcome these and develop enhanced understanding of LEC requires a transformation of the existing structure of VET provision and construction employment and a new curriculum based on a broader concept of agency and backed by rigorous enforcement of standards. This can be achieved through a radical transition pathway rather than market-based solutions to a low carbon future for the construction sector.

Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking Index 2016: Energy, Water, and Carbon

Several studies have been undertaken or attempted by industry and academe to address the need for lodging industry carbon benchmarking. However, these studies have focused on normalizing resource use with the goal of rating or comparing all properties based on multivariate regression according to an industry-wide set of variables, with the result that data sets for analysis were limited. This approach is backward, because practical hotel industry benchmarking must first be undertaken within a specific location and segment.1 Therefore, the CHSB study’s goal is to build a representative database providing raw benchmarks as a base for industry comparisons.2 These results are presented in the CHSB2016 Index, through which a user can obtain the range of benchmarks for energy consumption, water consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions for hotels within specific segments and geographic locations.

A network approach to overcoming barriers to market engagement for SMEs in energy efficiency initiatives such as the Green Deal

The Green Deal (GD) was launched in 2013 by the UK Government as a market-led scheme to encourage uptake of energy efficiency measures in the UK and create green sector jobs. The scheme closed in July 2015 after 30 months due to government concerns over low uptake and industry standards but additional factors potentially contributed to its failure such as poor scheme design and lack of understanding of the customer and supply chain journey. We explore the role of key delivery agents of GD services, specifically SMEs, and we use the LoCal-Net project as a case study to examine the use of networks to identify and reduce barriers to SME market engagement. We find that SMEs experienced multiple barriers to interaction with the GD such as lack of access to information, training, and confusion over delivery of the scheme but benefited from interaction with the network to access information, improve understanding of the scheme, increasing networking opportunities and forming new business models and partnerships to reduce risk. The importance of SMEs as delivery agents and their role in the design of market-led schemes such as the GD are discussed with recommendations for improving SME engagement in green sector initiatives.

Responses to various protein and energy supplements by steers fed low-quality tropical hay. 1. Comparison of response surfaces for young steers

Response curves were established for different supplements, offered at intakes ranging from 0 to 20 g/kg liveweight (W).day to young Bos indicus crossbred steers fed low-quality Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) hay ad libitum in two pen experiments. Supplements included protein meals of varying rumen-degradability (cottonseed meal (CSM) or fishmeal), as well as ‘energy sources’ comprising grains of high and low ruminal starch degradability (barley and sorghum) and a highly fermentable sugar source (molasses), with all diets adjusted for rumen-degradable nitrogen and mineral content. Unsupplemented steers gained 0.08 and 0.15 kg/day, in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Growth of steers increased linearly with intake of ‘energy source’ supplements in increasing order of molasses, sorghum and barley (all differences P < 0.05). Steer growth rate also increased linearly with fishmeal, albeit over a narrow intake range (0–4.1 g/kg W.day), whereas the response with CSM was asymptotic, showing a steep response at low intake before levelling at ~1.2 kg/day. All supplement types were associated with a linear reduction in hay intake by the steers (energy substitution) where the reduction was greater (P < 0.05) for barley and molasses (not different) than for sorghum (P < 0.05), and for fishmeal compared with CSM (P < 0.05). In concurrent metabolism studies with the same rations, organic matter digestibility of the total ration (561–578 g/kg DM, unsupplemented) was increased linearly by barley and molasses (both P < 0.05) but was unaffected by CSM and sorghum supplements. The efficiency of microbial protein synthesis in steers increased linearly, from 91 g microbial crude protein/kg digestible organic matter (unsupplemented), in both molasses and CSM-supplemented steers, with the trend for a higher response to molasses (P = 0.05), and appeared most closely related to digestible organic matter intake. The response curves from these studies provide the practical framework upon which to formulate rations for cattle grazing low-quality forages.

Renewable energy scenarios for South Karelia – non-industrial energy demands

Tässä diplomityössä tarkastellaan täysin uusiutuvaa energiajärjestelmää Etelä-Karjalan maakunnan alueella, mikä onkin jo tällä hetkellä Suomen uusiutuvin maakunta. Diplomityössä tarkastellaan julkisen sektorin, liikenteen ja rakennusten energian kulutusta mutta teollisuuden energiankäyttö jätetään tarkastelun ulkopuolelle. Työssä tutustutaan tämän hetken Etelä-Karjalan energiajärjestelmään ja sen perusteella tehdään referenssi-skenaario. Tulevaisuuden skenaariot tehdään vuosille 2030 ja 2050. Tulevaisuuden skenaarioissa muutos keskittyy järjestelmän sähköistymiseen ja uusiutuvien tuotantomuotojen integroimiseen järjestelmään. Sähköistyminen kasvattaa sähkönkulutusta, joka pyritään kattamaan uusiutuvilla tuotantomuodoilla, lähinnä tuuli- ja aurinkovoimalla. Liikennesektori rajataan kumipyöräliikenteeseen ja sen muutos tulee olemaan haastavin ja aikaa vievin. Muutokseen pyritään liikennepolttoaineiden tuotannolla maakunnassa sekä sähköautoilulla. Uusiutuva energiajärjestelmä tarvitsee tuotannon ja kysynnän joustoa sekä älyä järjestelmältä. Työssä tarkastellaan myös järjestelmän kustannuksia sekä työllisyysvaikutuksia.

Analysis of cogeneration in the present energy framework

In this paper, a general vision of cogeneration penetration in the European Union is shown; after this, a case study is included, evaluating as a function of two factors (electricity and emission allowance prices) the suitability of installing, for an industry with a determined thermal demand, two different options. The first one is a gas turbine cogeneration plant generating steam through a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). The second one consists of installing a natural gas boiler for steam production covering the electricity demand from the grid. The CO2 emissions from both options are compared regarding different kinds of generation mixes from the electricity grid in the case of using the industrial boiler; taking into account the advantages of using biomass in relation to emissions, a last comparison has been carried out considering a biomass boiler instead of the natural gas boiler.

Developing strategies to mitigate the energy consumed by network infrastructures

The energy consumption by ICT (Information and Communication Technology) equipment is rapidly increasing which causes a significant economic and environmental problem. At present, the network infrastructure is becoming a large portion of the energy footprint in ICT. Thus the concept of energy efficient or green networking has been introduced. Now one of the main concerns of network industry is to minimize energy consumption of network infrastructure because of the potential economic benefits, ethical responsibility, and its environmental impact. In this paper, the energy management strategies to reduce the energy consumed by network switches in LAN (Local Area Network) have been developed. According to the lifecycle assessment of network switches, during usage phase, the highest amount of energy consumed. The study considers bandwidth, link load and traffic matrixes as input parameters which have the highest contribution in energy footprint of network switches during usage phase and energy consumption as output. Then with the objective of reducing energy usage of network infrastructure, the feasibility of putting Ethernet switches hibernate or sleep mode was investigated. After that, the network topology was reorganized using clustering method based on the spectral approach for putting network switches to hibernate or switched off mode considering the time and communications among them. Experimental results show the interest of this approach in terms of energy consumption

ESSAYS IN ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE

This dissertation studies technological change in the context of energy and environmental economics. Technology plays a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. Chapter 1 estimates a structural model of the car industry that allows for endogenous product characteristics to investigate how gasoline taxes, R&D subsidies and competition affect fuel efficiency and vehicle prices in the medium-run, both through car-makers' decisions to adopt technologies and through their investments in knowledge capital. I use technology adoption and automotive patents data for 1986-2006 to estimate this model. I show that 92% of fuel efficiency improvements between 1986 and 2006 were driven by technology adoption, while the role of knowledge capital is largely to reduce the marginal production costs of fuel-efficient cars. A counterfactual predicts that an additional $1/gallon gasoline tax in 2006 would have increased the technology adoption rate, and raised average fuel efficiency by 0.47 miles/gallon, twice the annual fuel efficiency improvement in 2003-2006. An R&D subsidy that would reduce the marginal cost of knowledge capital by 25% in 2006 would have raised investment in knowledge capital. This subsidy would have raised fuel efficiency only by 0.06 miles/gallon in 2006, but would have increased variable profits by $2.3 billion over all firms that year. Passenger vehicle fuel economy standards in the United States will require substantial improvements in new vehicle fuel economy over the next decade. Economic theory suggests that vehicle manufacturers adopt greater fuel-saving technologies for vehicles with larger market size. Chapter 2 documents a strong connection between market size, measured by sales, and technology adoption. Using variation consumer demographics and purchasing pattern to account for the endogeneity of market size, we find that a 10 percent increase in market size raises vehicle fuel efficiency by 0.3 percent, as compared to a mean improvement of 1.4 percent per year over 1997-2013. Historically, fuel price and demographic-driven market size changes have had large effects on technology adoption. Furthermore, fuel taxes would induce firms to adopt fuel-saving technologies on their most efficient cars, thereby polarizing the fuel efficiency distribution of the new vehicle fleet.

Energy Audit for an Old Industrial Building in Gävle

(English)The Swedish industrial sector has overcome the oil crisis and has maintained the energy use constant even though the production has grown. This has been achieved thanks to the development of several energy policies, by the Swedish government, towards the 2020 goals. This thesis carries on this path and performs an energy audit for an old industrial building in Gävle (Sweden) in order to propose different energy efficiency measures to use less energy while maintaining the thermal comfort. The building is in quite a bad shape and some of the areas are unused making them a waste of money. By means of the invoices provided by different companies, the information from the staff and some measures that have been carried out in-situ, the energy balance has been calculated from where conclusions have been drawn. Although it is an industrial building, the study is not going to be focused in the industrial process but in the building’s envelope and support processes, since the unit combines both production and office areas. Therefore, the energy balance is divided in energy supplies (district heating, free heating and sun irradiation) and energy losses (transmission, ventilation hot tap water and infiltrations). The results show that the most important supply is that of the DH whereas the most important losses are the transmission and infiltration. Thus, the measures proposed are focused on the reduction of this relevant parameters. The most important measures are the renovation of the windows, heating systems valves and the ventilation. The glazing of the dwelling is old and some of it is broken accounting for quite a large amount of the losses. The radiator valves are not properly working and there does not exist any temperature control. Therefore the installation of thermostatic valves turns out to be a must. Moreover, some part of the building has no mechanical ventilation but conserves the ducts. These could be utilized if they are connected to the workshop’s ventilation which is capable of generating sufficient flow for the entire building. Finally, although other measures could also be carried out, the ones proposed appear to be the essential ones. A further analysis should be carried out in order to analyze the payback time or investment capability of the company so as to decide between one measure or another. A market study for possible new tenants for the unused parts of the building is also advisable.

Digging Deeper than Platinum: South Africa's Participation in an Emergent Fuel Cell Industry

Thesis (Master, Environmental Studies) -- Queen's University, 2016-09-09 11:52:31.446

An empirical investigation of the impact of global energy transition on Nigerian oil and gas exports

18 months embargo on the thesis and check appendix for copy right materials