Search results for: green jobs
1794 Green Energy, Fiscal Incentives and Conflicting Signals: Analysing the Challenges Faced in Promoting on Farm Waste to Energy Projects
Authors: Hafez Abdo, Rob Ackrill
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Renewable energy (RE) promotion in the UK relies on multiple policy instruments, which are required to overcome the path dependency pressures favouring fossil fuels. These instruments include targeted funding schemes and economy-wide instruments embedded in the tax code. The resulting complexity of incentives raises important questions around the coherence and effectiveness of these instruments for RE generation. This complexity is exacerbated by UK RE policy being nested within EU policy in a multi-level governance (MLG) setting. To gain analytical traction on such complexity, this study will analyse policies promoting the on-farm generation of energy for heat and power, from farm and food waste, via anaerobic digestion. Utilising both primary and secondary data, it seeks to address a particular lacuna in the academic literature. Via a localised, in-depth investigation into the complexity of policy instruments promoting RE, this study will help our theoretical understanding of the challenges that MLG and path dependency pressures present to policymakers of multi-dimensional policies.Keywords: anaerobic digestion, energy, green, policy, renewable, tax, UK
Procedia PDF Downloads 3601793 Characteristics of Different Volumes of Waste Cellular Concrete Powder-Cement Paste for Sustainable Construction
Authors: Mohammed Abed, Rita Nemes
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Cellular concrete powder (CCP) is not used widely as supplementary cementitious material, but in the literature, its efficiency is proved when it used as a replacement of cement in concrete mixtures. In this study, different amounts of raw CCP (CCP as a waste material without any industrial modification) will be used to investigate the characteristics of cement pastes and the effects of CCP on the properties of the cement pastes. It is an attempt to produce green binder paste, which is useful for sustainable construction applications. The fresh and hardened properties of a number of CCP blended cement paste will be tested in different life periods, and the optimized CCP volume will be reported with more significant investigations on durability properties. Different replacing of mass percentage (low and high) of the cement mass will be conducted (0%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, and 90%). The consistency, flexural strength, and compressive strength will be the base indicator for the further properties' investigations. The CCP replacement until 50% have been tested until 7 days, and the initial results showed a linear relationship between strength and the percentage of the replacement; that is an optimistic indicator for further replacement percentages of waste CCP.Keywords: cellular concrete powder, supplementary cementitious material, sustainable construction, green concrete
Procedia PDF Downloads 3151792 The Exploration of Sustainable Landscape in Iran: From Persian Garden to Modern Park
Authors: Honey Fadaie, Vahid Parhoodeh
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This paper concentrates on the result of research based on studies on parameters of sustainability in Persian Garden design as a traditional Iranian landscape and in a contemporary park, Jamshidieh in Iran as a new experience of re-creation of Persian Gardens’ sustainable design. Since, sustainable development has three parts: social, economic and environmental. The complexities of each part are too great to discuss in a paper of this length, thus the authors decided to analyze the design of Persian garden by considering their environmental sustainability. By the analysis of sustainable features and characteristics of traditional gardens, and exploration of parameters of sustainability in Iranian modern landscape, Such as Jamshideh Park, the main objective of this research is to identify the strategies for sustainable landscaping and parameters of creating sustainable green spaces for contemporary cities. The results demonstrate that in Persian Gardens, sustainable parameters such as productive networks and local renewable materials have been used to achieve sustainable development. At the conclusion, guidelines and recommendations for sustainable landscaping are presented.Keywords: Jamshidieh park, Persian garden, sustainable landscape, urban green space
Procedia PDF Downloads 4631791 Effects of Malachite Green Contaminated Water on Production of Pak Choy and Chinese Convolvulus
Authors: N. Piwpuan, J. Tosalee, N. Phonkerd
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Malachite green (MG), a synthetic dye, is used in industries and aquaculture and also disposed in the effluent. Use of wastewater in irrigation increases due to water shortage. However, wastewater containing dyes, MG, are toxic to biological systems. Therefore, effects of MG on growth of vegetables were evaluated in order to utilize dye-contaminated wastewater for irrigation. In this study, Pak choy (Brassica chinensis) and Chinese convolvulus (Ipomoea aquatica) were grown in growing material (mixture of soil, coconut fiber, and compost) for four weeks and afterward kept watering with 200 ml of tap water containing MG at the concentrations of 0 (control), 1, 2, 10, and 20 mg/L. At harvest, number of leaf and shoot and root dry weight of the treated plants were measured and compared with control. For both species, their biomass values were similar among treatments and did not differ from the control plants (dry weight were 0.6-1.0 and 1.1-1.7 g/plant for B. chinensis and I. aquatica, respectively). B. chinensis treated with 2, 10, and 20 mg/L of MG produced lower number of new leaf and had smaller and shorter leaf compared to control and treatment of 1 mg/L. These results indicate the different responses between plant species, which B. chinensis is more sensitive to contaminant compared to I. aquatica. There was no sign of MG and leucomalachite green (LMG) detected in root and shoot tissues of plants treated with MG at 20 mg/L, tested by thin layer chromatography. After plant harvest, toxicity of the growing material from all treatments was tested on mung beans. Percent germination (83-97%), seedling fresh weight (0.3-0.5 g/plant), and shoot length (11-12.5 cm) were similar to the control. These indicated that contaminant in growing material did not pose detrimental effect on mung beans. Based on these results, the water contaminated with low concentration of MG, such as discharge from aquaculture, may serve as ferti-irrigation water to compensate water shortage.Keywords: ferti-irrigation, soil toxicity, triphenylmethane dye, wastewater reuse
Procedia PDF Downloads 1931790 An Efficient Encryption Scheme Using DWT and Arnold Transforms
Authors: Ali Abdrhman M. Ukasha
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Data security needed in data transmission, storage, and communication to ensure the security. The color image is decomposed into red, green, and blue channels. The blue and green channels are compressed using 3-levels discrete wavelet transform. The Arnold transform uses to changes the locations of red image channel pixels as image scrambling process. Then all these channels are encrypted separately using a key image that has same original size and is generating using private keys and modulo operations. Performing the X-OR and modulo operations between the encrypted channels images for image pixel values change purpose. The extracted contours of color image recovery can be obtained with accepted level of distortion using Canny edge detector. Experiments have demonstrated that proposed algorithm can fully encrypt 2D color image and completely reconstructed without any distortion. It has shown that the color image can be protected with a higher security level. The presented method has easy hardware implementation and suitable for multimedia protection in real time applications such as wireless networks and mobile phone services.Keywords: color image, wavelet transform, edge detector, Arnold transform, lossy image encryption
Procedia PDF Downloads 4731789 A Study on the Measurement of Spatial Mismatch and the Influencing Factors of “Job-Housing” in Affordable Housing from the Perspective of Commuting
Authors: Daijun Chen
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Affordable housing is subsidized by the government to meet the housing demand of low and middle-income urban residents in the process of urbanization and to alleviate the housing inequality caused by market-based housing reforms. It is a recognized fact that the living conditions of the insured have been improved while constructing the subsidized housing. However, the choice of affordable housing is mostly in the suburbs, where the surrounding urban functions and infrastructure are incomplete, resulting in the spatial mismatch of "jobs-housing" in affordable housing. The main reason for this problem is that the residents of affordable housing are more sensitive to the spatial location of their residence, but their selectivity and controllability to the housing location are relatively weak, which leads to higher commuting costs. Their real cost of living has not been effectively reduced. In this regard, 92 subsidized housing communities in Nanjing, China, are selected as the research sample in this paper. The residents of the affordable housing and their commuting Spatio-temporal behavior characteristics are identified based on the LBS (location-based service) data. Based on the spatial mismatch theory, spatial mismatch indicators such as commuting distance and commuting time are established to measure the spatial mismatch degree of subsidized housing in different districts of Nanjing. Furthermore, the geographically weighted regression model is used to analyze the influencing factors of the spatial mismatch of affordable housing in terms of the provision of employment opportunities, traffic accessibility and supporting service facilities by using spatial, functional and other multi-source Spatio-temporal big data. The results show that the spatial mismatch of affordable housing in Nanjing generally presents a "concentric circle" pattern of decreasing from the central urban area to the periphery. The factors affecting the spatial mismatch of affordable housing in different spatial zones are different. The main reasons are the number of enterprises within 1 km of the affordable housing district and the shortest distance to the subway station. And the low spatial mismatch is due to the diversity of services and facilities. Based on this, a spatial optimization strategy for different levels of spatial mismatch in subsidized housing is proposed. And feasible suggestions for the later site selection of subsidized housing are also provided. It hopes to avoid or mitigate the impact of "spatial mismatch," promote the "spatial adaptation" of "jobs-housing," and truly improve the overall welfare level of affordable housing residents.Keywords: affordable housing, spatial mismatch, commuting characteristics, spatial adaptation, welfare benefits
Procedia PDF Downloads 991788 A Comparative Performance of Polyaspartic Acid and Sodium Polyacrylate on Silicate Scale Inhibition
Authors: Ismail Bin Mohd Saaid, Abubakar Abubakar Umar
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Despite the successes recorded by Alkaline/Surfactant/Polymer (ASP) flooding as an effective chemical EOR technique, the combination CEOR is not unassociated with stern glitches, one of which is the scaling of downhole equipment. One of the major issues inside the oil industry is how to control scale formation, regardless of whether it is in the wellhead equipment, down-hole pipelines or even the actual field formation. The best approach to handle the challenge associated with oilfield scale formation is the application of scale inhibitors to avert the scale formation. Chemical inhibitors have been employed in doing such. But due to environmental regulations, the industry have focused on using green scale inhibitors to mitigate the formation of scales. This paper compares the scale inhibition performance of Polyaspartic acid and sodium polyacrylic acid, both commercial green scale inhibitors, in mitigating silicate scales formed during Alkaline/Surfactant/polymer flooding under static conditions. Both PASP and TH5000 are non-threshold inhibitors, therefore their efficiency was only seeing in delaying the deposition of the silicate scales.Keywords: alkaline/surfactant/polymer flooding (ASP), polyaspartic acid (PASP), sodium polyacrylate (SPA)
Procedia PDF Downloads 3421787 Investigation of Ameliorative Effect of a Polyphenolic Compound of Green Tea Extract against Rotenone Induced Neurotoxicity: A Mechanistic Approach
Authors: Sandeep Goyal, Sandeep Saluja
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Natural antioxidants have major role in maintenance of health. Green tea extract principally contains epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), as its abundant antioxidant constituent. Green tea is consumed daily worldwide as antioxidant to combat CNS diseases and has traditional importance also. EGCG has neuroprotective potential in various animal models of Parkinson disease, Alzheimer’s disease etc. but its exact mechanism has not been ruled out. The present study has been designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and mitochondrial modulating mechanism of neuroprotective effect of epigallocatechin-3-gallate against rodent model of rotenone induced Parkinson’s disease (PD). The behavioural alterations were assessed by using open field test apparatus, Chatilon’s grip strength test apparatus and elevated plus maze for determining the locomotor activity, grip strength and cognition respectively. Biochemically, various parameters to assess oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and neurochemical estimations were performed on rat brain homogenates. A histological examination of rat brain striatum was done to check the neurodegeneration. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) at 10 & 20 mg/kg, were investigated for their neuroprotective potential along with levodopa as a standard agent. Minocycline, a microglial activation inhibitor, was administered alone and in combination with EGCG. EGCG and minocycline produced ameliorative effect against rotenone induced PD like symptoms by significantly reduced behavioral, biochemical and histological alterations. Results of our study reveal the neuroprotective effect of EGCG and minocycline against rotenone induced PD. Results of our study indicate that EGCG exerted neuroprotective effect against rotenone induced PD via its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and mitochondrial modulating mechanisms and substantiate its previously reported and traditional claims for its use in CNS diseases.Keywords: antioxidants, neurotoxicity, rotenone, EGCG
Procedia PDF Downloads 3431786 Biosorption of Gold from Chloride Media in a Simultaneous Adsorption-Reduction Process
Authors: Shafiq Alam, Yen Ning Lee
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Conventional hydrometallurgical processing of metals involves the use of large quantities of toxic chemicals. Realizing a need to develop sustainable technologies, extensive research studies are being carried out to recover and recycle base, precious and rare earth metals from their pregnant leach solutions (PLS) using green chemicals/biomaterials prepared from biomass wastes derived from agriculture, marine and forest resources. Our innovative research showed that bio-adsorbents prepared from such biomass wastes can effectively adsorb precious metals, especially gold after conversion of their functional groups in a very simple process. The highly effective ‘Adsorption-coupled-Reduction’ phenomenon witnessed appears promising for the potential use of this gold biosorption process in the mining industry. Proper management and effective use of biomass wastes as value added green chemicals will not only reduce the volume of wastes being generated every day in our society, but will also have a high-end value to the mining and mineral processing industries as those biomaterials would be cheap, but very selective for gold recovery/recycling from low grade ore, leach residue or e-wastes.Keywords: biosorption, hydrometallurgy, gold, adsorption, reduction, biomass, sustainability
Procedia PDF Downloads 3691785 Synthesis of 5-Substituted 1H-Tetrazoles in Deep Eutectic Solvent
Authors: Swapnil A. Padvi, Dipak S. Dalal
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The chemistry of tetrazoles has been grown tremendously in the past few years because tetrazoles are important and useful class of heterocyclic compounds which have a widespread application such as anticancer, antimicrobial, analgesics, antibacterial, antifungal, antihypertensive, and anti-allergic drugs in medicinal chemistry. Furthermore, tetrazoles have application in material sciences as explosives, rocket propellants, and in information recording systems. In addition to this, they have a wide range of application in coordination chemistry as a ligand. Deep eutectic solvents (DES) have emerged over the current decade as a novel class of green reaction media and applied in various fields of sciences because of their unique physical and chemical properties similar to the ionic liquids such as low vapor pressure, non-volatility, high thermal stability and recyclability. In addition, the reactants of DES are cheaply available, low-toxic, and biodegradable, which makes them predominantly required for large-scale applications effectively in industrial production. Herein we report the [2+3] cycloaddition reaction of organic nitriles with sodium azide affords the corresponding 5-substituted 1H-tetrazoles in six different types of choline chloride based deep eutectic solvents under mild reaction condition. Choline chloride: ZnCl2 (1:2) showed the best results for the synthesis of 5-substituted 1 H-tetrazoles. This method reduces the disadvantages such as: the use of toxic metals and expensive reagents, drastic reaction conditions and the presence of dangerous hydrazoic acid. The approach provides environment-friendly, short reaction times, good to excellent yields; safe process and simple workup make this method an attractive and useful contribution to present green organic synthesis of 5-substituted-1H-tetrazoles. All synthesized compounds were characterized by IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and Mass spectroscopy. DES can be recovered and reused three times with very little loss in activity.Keywords: click chemistry, choline chloride, green chemistry, deep eutectic solvent, tetrazoles
Procedia PDF Downloads 2231784 Pollution of Cadmium in Green Space of Rasht City and Environmental Health
Authors: Seyed Armin Hashemi, Somayeh Rahimzadeh
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The urban green space and environment should be considered to be among the most fundamental elements of the sustainability of natural and human life in the new citizenship. The present research is intended to evaluate the impact of irrigation using urban wastewater of Cadmium (Cd) in the soil and leaves of the pine trees of Rasht in the forest territories of Rasht. For this purpose, following the exact specification of the geographical and topographical attributes of under treatment area, 100 sample trees were implemented randomly –systematically in each compound studied. Approaching the end of growth season, five trees were selected randomly in each of the plats and samples of leaves were collected from the parts near to the end of the crown and the part which was adjacent to the light. At the foot of each of the trees selected, a soil profile was dug and samples of soil were extracted from three depths of 0-20, centimeters. The measurements done in the laboratory showed that the density of nutritious elements of the samples of leaf and soil in the compound irrigated with wastewater .The results of the present research suggest that urban can be used as a source of irrigation whereas muck can be employed in forestation and irrigation with precise and particular supervision and control.Keywords: irrigation, forestation, urban waste water, pine, wastewater
Procedia PDF Downloads 4441783 Aryne Mediated, Transition-Metal Free Arylations of Quinolines for Medicinal and Materials Applications
Authors: Rakesh Kumar, Shashi Janeoo, Ankit Dhiman, Siddharth Chopra
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Arynes are versatile reactive intermediates that offer broad opportunities in green organic synthesis. Arynes are potential aryl group surrogates for the transition metal-free environment friendly arylation reactions. Regioselective arylations of quinolines were achieved by the reactions of quinoline N-oxides with aryne intermediates generated in situ from the Kobayashi precursors. Various 2-substituted quinolines provided 3-arylated-2-substituted quinolines under ambient conditions. Acridine N-oxides also reacted well and provided unusual 4-arylacridines. Various fluorine containing 2,3-diarylquinaolines prepared using this approach were evaluated for antibacterial activity and two compounds inhibited the drug-resistant strains of S-aureus with a good selectivity index. Further, the 2,3-diarylquinolines as the potential optoelectronic materials were prepared by the aryne chemistry approach and their optical and electronic properties for such applications are under study. The aryne intermediates provide an effective Green Chemistry tool to achieve versatile arylated heteroarenes for diverse applications.Keywords: arynes, arylation, quinolines, acridines.
Procedia PDF Downloads 861782 Magnesium Foliar Application and Phosphorien Soil Inoculation Positively Affect Pisum sativum L. Plants Grown on Sandy Calcareous Soil
Authors: Saad M. Howladar, Ashraf Sh. Osman, Mostafa M. Rady, Hassan S. Al-Zahrani
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The effects of soil inoculation with phosphorien-containing Phosphate-Dissolving Bacteria (PDB) and/or magnesium (Mg) foliar application at the rates of 0, 0.5 and 1mM on growth, green pod and seed yields, and chemical constituents of Pisum sativum L. grown on a sandy calcareous soil were investigated. Results indicated that PDB and/or Mg significantly increased shoot length, number of branches plant–1, total leaf area plant–1 and canopy dry weight plant–1, leaf contents of pigments, soluble sugars, free proline, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, and Ca/Na ratio, while leaf Na content was reduced. PDB and/or Mg also increased green pod and seed yields. We concluded that PDB and Mg have pronounced positive effects on Pisum sativum L. plants grown on sandy calcareous soil. PDB and Mg, therefore, have the potential to be applied for various crops to overcome the adverse effects of the newly-reclaimed sandy calcareous soils.Keywords: bio-p-fertilizer, mg foliar application, newly-reclaimed soils, Pisum sativum L.
Procedia PDF Downloads 3531781 Hierarchical Scheme for Detection of Rotating Mimo Visible Light Communication Systems Using Mobile Phone Camera
Authors: Shih-Hao Chen, Chi-Wai Chow
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Multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) scheme can extend the transmission capacity for the light-emitting-diode (LED) visible light communication (VLC) system. The MIMO VLC system using the popular mobile-phone camera as the optical receiver (Rx) to receive MIMO signal from n x n Red-Green-Blue (RGB) LED array is desirable. The key step of decoding the received RGB LED array signals is detecting the direction of received array signals. If the LED transmitter (Tx) is rotated, the signal may not be received correctly and cause an error in the received signal. In this work, we propose and demonstrate a novel hierarchical transmission scheme which can reduce the computation complexity of rotation detection in LED array VLC system. We use the n x n RGB LED array as the MIMO Tx. A novel two dimension Hadamard coding scheme is proposed and demonstrated. The detection correction rate is above 95% in the indoor usage distance. Experimental results confirm the feasibility of the proposed scheme.Keywords: Visible Light Communication (VLC), Multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO), Red-Green-Blue (RGB), Hadamard coding scheme
Procedia PDF Downloads 4101780 Monitoring Spatial Distribution of Blue-Green Algae Blooms with Underwater Drones
Authors: R. L. P. De Lima, F. C. B. Boogaard, R. E. De Graaf-Van Dinther
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Blue-green algae blooms (cyanobacteria) is currently a relevant ecological problem that is being addressed by most water authorities in the Netherlands. These can affect recreation areas by originating unpleasant smells and toxins that can poison humans and animals (e.g. fish, ducks, dogs). Contamination events usually take place during summer months, and their frequency is increasing with climate change. Traditional monitoring of this bacteria is expensive, labor-intensive and provides only limited (point sampling) information about the spatial distribution of algae concentrations. Recently, a novel handheld sensor allowed water authorities to quicken their algae surveying and alarm systems. This study converted the mentioned algae sensor into a mobile platform, by combining it with an underwater remotely operated vehicle (also equipped with other sensors and cameras). This provides a spatial visualization (mapping) of algae concentrations variations within the area covered with the drone, and also in depth. Measurements took place in different locations in the Netherlands: i) lake with thick silt layers at the bottom, very eutrophic former bottom of the sea and frequent / intense mowing regime; ii) outlet of waste water into large reservoir; iii) urban canal system. Results allowed to identify probable dominant causes of blooms (i), provide recommendations for the placement of an outlet, day-night differences in algae behavior (ii), or the highlight / pinpoint higher algae concentration areas (iii). Although further research is still needed to fully characterize these processes and to optimize the measuring tool (underwater drone developments / improvements), the method here presented can already provide valuable information about algae behavior and spatial / temporal variability and shows potential as an efficient monitoring system.Keywords: blue-green algae, cyanobacteria, underwater drones / ROV / AUV, water quality monitoring
Procedia PDF Downloads 1971779 Training 'Green Ambassadors' in the Community-Action Learning Course
Authors: Friman Hen, Banner Ifaa, Shalom-Tuchin Bosmat, Einav Yulia
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The action learning course is an academic course which involves academic learning and social activities. The courses deal with processes and social challenges, reveal different ideologies, and develop critical thinking and pragmatic ideas. Students receive course credits and a grade for being part of such courses. Participating students enroll in courses that involve action and activities to engage in the experiential learning process, thereby creating a dialogue and cross-fertilization between being taught in the classroom and experiencing the reality in the real world. A learning experience includes meeting with social organizations, institutions, and state authorities and carrying out practical work with diverse populations. Through experience, students strengthen their academic skills, formulate ethical attitudes toward reality, develop professional and civilian perspectives, and realize how they can influence their surrounding in the present and the hereafter. Under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Hen Friman, H.I.T. has built an innovative course that combines action and activities to increase the awareness and accessibility of the community in an experiential way. The end goal is to create Green Ambassadors—children with a high level of environmental awareness. This course is divided into two parts. The first part, focused on frontal teaching, delivers knowledge from extensive environmental fields to students. These areas include introduction to ecology, the process of electricity generation, air pollution, renewable energy, water economy, waste and recycling, and energy efficiency (first stage). In addition to the professional content in the environment field, students learn the method of effective and experiential teaching to younger learners (4 to 8 years old). With the attainment of knowledge, students are divided into operating groups. The second part of the course shows how the theory becomes practical and concrete. At this stage, students are asked to introduce to the first- and second-graders of ‘Revivim’ School in Holon a lesson of 90 minutes focused on presenting the issues and their importance during the course (second stage). This course is the beginning of a paradigm shift regarding energy usage in the modern society in Israel. The objective of the course is to expand worldwide and train the first and second-graders, and even pre-schoolers, in a wide scope to increase population awareness rate, both in Israel and all over the world, for a green future.Keywords: air pollution, green ambassador, recycling, renewable energy
Procedia PDF Downloads 2361778 Pb and NI Removal from Aqueous Environment by Green Synthesized Iron Nanoparticles Using Fruit Cucumis Melo and Leaves of Ficus Virens
Authors: Amandeep Kaur, Sangeeta Sharma
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Keeping in view the serious entanglement of heavy metals ( Pb+2 and Ni+2) ions in an aqueous environment, a rapid search for efficient adsorbents for the adsorption of heavy metals has become highly desirable. In this quest, green synthesized Fe np’s have gathered attention because of their excellent adsorption capability of heavy metals from aqueous solution. This research report aims at the fabrication of Fe np’s using the fruit Cucumis melo and leaves of Ficus virens via a biogenic synthesis route. Further, synthesized CM-Fe-np’s and FV-Fe-np’s have been tested as potential bio-adsorbents for the removal of Pb+2 and Ni+2 by carrying out adsorption batch experiments. The influence of myriad parameters like initial concentration of Pb/Ni (5,10,15,20,25 mg/L), contact time (10 to 200 min.), adsorbent dosage (0.5, 0.10, 0.15 mg/L), shaking speed (120 to 350 rpm) and pH value (6,7,8,9) has been investigated. The maximum removal with CM-Fe-np’s and FV-Fe-np’s has been achieved at pH 7, metal conc. 5 mg/L, dosage 0.9 g/L, shaking speed 200 rpm and reaction contact time 200 min during the adsorption experiment. The results obtained are found to be in accordance with Freundlich and Langmuir's adsorption models; consequently, they could be highly applicable to the wastewater treatment plant.Keywords: adsorption, biogenic synthesis, nanoparticles, nickel, lead
Procedia PDF Downloads 791777 Closing the Loop between Building Sustainability and Stakeholder Engagement: Case Study of an Australian University
Authors: Karishma Kashyap, Subha D. Parida
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Rapid population growth and urbanization is creating pressure throughout the world. This has a dramatic effect on a lot of elements which include water, food, transportation, energy, infrastructure etc. as few of the key services. Built environment sector is growing concurrently to meet the needs of urbanization. Due to such large scale development of buildings, there is a need for them to be monitored and managed efficiently. Along with appropriate management, climate adaptation is highly crucial as well because buildings are one of the major sources of greenhouse gas emission in their operation phase. Buildings to be adaptive need to provide a triple bottom approach to sustainability i.e., being socially, environmentally and economically sustainable. Hence, in order to deliver these sustainability outcomes, there is a growing understanding and thrive towards switching to green buildings or renovating new ones as per green standards wherever possible. Academic institutions in particular have been following this trend globally. This is highly significant as universities usually have high occupancy rates because they manage a large building portfolio. Also, as universities accommodate the future generation of architects, policy makers etc., they have the potential of setting themselves as a best industry practice model for research and innovation for the rest to follow. Hence their climate adaptation, sustainable growth and performance management becomes highly crucial in order to provide the best services to users. With the objective of evaluating appropriate management mechanisms within academic institutions, a feasibility study was carried out in a recent 5-Star Green Star rated university building (housing the School of Construction) in Victoria (south-eastern state of Australia). The key aim was to understand the behavioral and social aspect of the building users, management and the impact of their relationship on overall building sustainability. A survey was used to understand the building occupant’s response and reactions in terms of their work environment and management. A report was generated based on the survey results complemented with utility and performance data which were then used to evaluate the management structure of the university. Followed by the report, interviews were scheduled with the facility and asset managers in order to understand the approach they use to manage the different buildings in their university campuses (old, new, refurbished), respective building and parameters incorporated in maintaining the Green Star performance. The results aimed at closing the communication and feedback loop within the respective institutions and assist the facility managers to deliver appropriate stakeholder engagement. For the wider design community, analysis of the data highlights the applicability and significance of prioritizing key stakeholders, integrating desired engagement policies within an institution’s management structures and frameworks and their effect on building performanceKeywords: building optimization, green building, post occupancy evaluation, stakeholder engagement
Procedia PDF Downloads 3451776 A Platform for Managing Residents' Carbon Trajectories Based on the City Intelligent Model (CIM) 4.0
Authors: Chen Xi, Liu Xuebing, Lao Xuerui, Kuan Sinman, Jiang Yike, Wang Hanwei, Yang Xiaolang, Zhou Junjie, Xie Jinpeng
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Climate change is a global problem facing humanity and this is now the consensus of the mainstream scientific community. In accordance with the carbon peak and carbon neutral targets and visions set out in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, this project uses the City Intelligent Model (CIM) and Artificial Intelligence Machine Vision (ICR) as the core technologies to accurately quantify low carbon behaviour into green corn, which is a means of guiding ecologically sustainable living patterns. Using individual communities as management units and blockchain as a guarantee of fairness in the whole cycle of green currency circulation, the project will form a modern resident carbon track management system based on the principle of enhancing the ecological resilience of communities and the cohesiveness of community residents, ultimately forming an ecologically sustainable smart village that can be self-organised and managed.Keywords: urban planning, urban governance, CIM, artificial Intelligence, sustainable development
Procedia PDF Downloads 761775 Dye Retention by a Photochemicaly Crosslinked Poly(2-Hydroxy-Ethyl-Meth-Acrylic) Network in Water
Authors: Yasmina Houda Bendahma, Tewfik Bouchaour, Meriem Merad, Ulrich Maschke
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The purpose of this work is to study retention of dye dissolved in distilled water, by an hydrophilic acrylic polymer network. The polymer network considered is Poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA): it is prepared by photo-polymerization under UV irradiation in the presence of a monomer (HEMA), initiator and an agent cross-linker. PHEMA polymer network obtained can be used in the retention of dye molecules present in the wastewater. The results obtained are interesting in the study of the kinetics of swelling and de-swelling of cross linked polymer networks PHEMA in colored aqueous solutions. The dyes used for retention by the PHEMA networks are eosin Y and Malachite Green, dissolved in distilled water. Theoretical conformational study by a simplified molecular model of system cross linked PHEMA / dye (eosin Y and Malachite Green), is used to simulate the retention phenomenon (or Docking) dye molecules in cavities in nano-domains included in the PHEMA polymer network.Keywords: dye retention, molecular modeling, photochemically crosslinked polymer network, swelling deswelling, PHEMA, HEMA
Procedia PDF Downloads 3561774 Luffa cylindrica as Alternative for Treatment of Waste in the Classroom
Authors: Obradith Caicedo, Paola Devia
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Methylene blue (MB) and malachite green (MG) are substances commonly used in classrooms for academic purposes. Nevertheless, in most cases, there is no adequate disposal of this type of waste, their presence in the environment affects ecosystems due to the presence of color and the reduction of photosynthetic processes. In this work, we evaluated properties of fibers of Luffa cylindrica in removal from dyes of aqueous solutions through an adsorption process. The point of zero charge, acid and basic sites was also investigated. The best conditions of the adsorption process were determined under a discontinuous system, evaluating an interval of the variables 2 3 : pH value, particle size of the adsorbent and contact time. The temperature (18ºC), agitation (220 rpm) and adsorbent dosage (10g/L) were constant. Measurements were made using UV- Visible spectrophotometry. The point of zero charge for Luffa cylindrica was 4,3. The number of acidic and basic sites was 2.441 meq/g and 1,009 meq/g respectively. These indicate a prevalence of acid groups. The maximum dye sorption was found to be at a pH of 5,5 (97,1 % for MB) and 5,0 (97,7% for MG) and particle size of the adsorbent 850 µm. The equilibrium uptake was attained within 60 min. With this study, it has been shown that Luffa cylindrica can be used as efficient adsorbent for the removal of methylene blue, and malachite green from aqueous solution in classrooms.Keywords: adsorption, dye removal, low-cost adsorbents, Luffa cylindrical
Procedia PDF Downloads 1851773 Trophic Ecology of Sarotherodon Melanotheron Heudelotii and Tilapia Guineensis from the Banc D'Arguin National Park, Mauritania
Authors: Néné Gallé Kide, Mamadou Dia, Lemhaba Ould Yarba, Youssouf Kone, Fatimetou Mint Khalil, Hajar Bouksir, Ghislane Salhi, Younès Saoud
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The diet of Sarotherodon melanotheron and Tilapia guineensis were investigated in the National Park of Banc d'Arguin (PNBA) from September 2012 to October 2013. A total of 499 individuals ranging in size between 219 and 400 mm total length of S. melanotheron (253 males and 246 females), and 280 individuals of T.guineensis (229 males and 51 females) ranged between 180 and 424mm total length. We used for studying the feeding habits of both two species the frequency of occurrence method. The coefficient of emptiness was 40.88% for S. melanotheron and 38.57% for T. guineensis. Both two species were herbivorous and very close feedings. Their diet consists of Seagrass, green, red, blue, and brown algae, diatoms, gastropods, bivalves, Crustaceans, and mud. The Seagrass and green algae were prey preference of these two species. The diet feeding showed that the composition varies slightly depending on the season and size of individuals.Keywords: Cichlidae, trophic ecology, National park, Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania
Procedia PDF Downloads 7851772 Volatile Compounds and Sensory Characteristics of Herbal Teas and Bush Tea Blends with Selected Herbal Teas South Africa
Authors: Florence Malongane, Lyndy J. McGaw, Legesse K. Debusho, Fhatuwani N. Mudau
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Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis (Burm.f.) R.Dahlgren), honeybush (Cyclopia Vent. species), bush tea (Athrixia phylicoides DC.) and special tea (Monsonia burkeana) are traditionally consumed herbal teas in South Africa. The volatile and sensory qualities of rooibos and honeybush tea have previously been described although there is a dearth of information regarding the sensory attributes and volatile compounds analysis of special tea and bush tea. The objective of this study was to describe the sensory properties, compare the differences in descriptive sensory analysis (DSA) and volatile compounds of bush tea, special, rooibos, honeybush and the blend of bush tea with special, honeybush and rooibos in a 1:1 ratio and subsequently to determine the influence of blending bush tea with other herbal teas. DSA was used to assess the sensory attributes of the teas while gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to quantitatively determine the volatile components of the teas. Rooibos tea and honeybush tea had an overall sweet-caramel, honey-sweet, perfume floral and woody aroma with slight astringency, consistent with the taste and aftertaste attributes. In contrast, bush tea and special tea depicted green-cut grass, dry green herbal, cooked spinach aroma as well as taste and aftertaste characteristics. GC-MS analyses revealed that the seven tea samples had similar major volatiles, including 2-furanmethanol, 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, acetic acid, D-limonene terpene and phytol. Cluster analysis revealed that the sweet and woody flavour of honeybush and rooibos were ascribed to the presence of á-myrcene, phenylethyl alcohol, phytol and vanillin. The bitter, medicinal flavour attributes of special tea were attributed to (-)-carvone. Blending of bush tea with rooibos and honeybush tea toned down its aversive flavour components, typically the bitter, green-cut grass and herbal properties, thus minimising the possibility of consumer aversion.Keywords: bush tea, rooibos tea, honeybush tea, sensory, volatile compounds
Procedia PDF Downloads 1751771 Colorful Textiles with Antimicrobial Property Using Natural Dyes as Effective Green Finishing Agents
Authors: Shahid-ul-Islam, Faqeer Mohammad
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The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of annatto, teak and flame of the forest natural dyes on color, fastness, and antimicrobial property of protein based textile substrate. The color strength (K/S) of wool samples at various concentrations of dyes were analysed using a Reflective Spectrophotometer. The antimicrobial activity of natural dyes before and after application on wool was tested against common human pathogens Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans, by using micro-broth dilution method, disc diffusion assay and growth curve studies. The structural morphology of natural protein fibre (wool) was investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Annatto and teak natural dyes proved very effective in inhibiting the microbial growth in solution phase and after application on wool and resulted in a broad beautiful spectrum of colors with exceptional fastness properties. The results encourage the search and exploitation of new plant species as source of dyes to replace toxic synthetic antimicrobial agents currently used in textile industry.Keywords: annatto, antimicrobial agents, natural dyes, green textiles
Procedia PDF Downloads 3131770 Planning Sustainable Urban Communities through Nature-Based Solutions: Perspectives from the Global South
Authors: Nike Jacobs, Elizelle Juanee Cilliers
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In recent decades there has been an increasing strive towards broader sustainable planning practices. A wide range of literature suggests that nature-based solutions (including Green Infrastructure planning) may lead towards socio-economically and environmentally sustainable urban communities. Such research is however mainly based on practices from the Global North with very little reference to the Global South. This study argues that there is a need for Global North knowledge to be translated to Global South context, and interpreted within this unique environment, acknowledging historical and cultural differences between Global North and Global South, and ultimately providing unique solutions for the unique urban reality. This research primarily focuses on nature-based solutions for sustainable urban communities and considers a broad literature review on Global North knowledge regarding such, substantiated by an analysis of purposefully selected case studies. The investigation identifies best practices which could be translated and place such in the context of current Global South perspectives.Keywords: global south, green infrastructure planning, nature-based solutions, sustainable urbanism, urban sustainability
Procedia PDF Downloads 2471769 Female Labor Force Participation in Iranian Rural Areas: An Inter-provincial Study
Authors: Zahra Mila Elmi, Mahsa Khanekheshi
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Almost half of the population and potential manpower in the country and rural areas are women. Manpower especially educated people, plays an important role in the production and economic growth. Also, the potential of rural areas to create employment should not be overlooked. In this research, the effects of socio-economic and demographic factors on women's economic participation in rural areas of Iran's provinces will be studied. Therefore, this study was performed by using the results of the rural households income and expenditure surveys -has been taken in 2016- in the framework of pseudo panel data. This study used the logit model and the maximum likelihood method to study the rural women's participation, with 28,265 observations. Results show the inverted U-shaped relationship between age and the probability of female participation; In other words, young women are more likely to participate in labor markets more than the other groups. Divorced and single woman has more chance of participation in comparison with who was being married. With increasing the divorce rate and singleness in Iran, economic policymakers must provide appropriate solutions for this challenge in the coming years. On the base of the results, being a student and the presence of an infant under the age of 6 in the household has a negative effect on the possibility of women's participation in the labor market. The women's education level has a U-shaped relationship with their participation rate. Illiteracy and high education have a strong positive effect on the economic participation of rural women. This shows the dual labor market for women in Iran. Illiterate women are attracted to service jobs, and educated woman are more attracted to education and health jobs. Increasing household income has a small but positive and significant effect on the probability of rural female participation. In the overlook, due to the frequency of the women population in the age group of 25 to 35 years, and more willingness of women in the age 35 to 44 years to participate in the labor market, and studying ofa significant portion of the rural women, the increase of rural female participation is expected in the years ahead. Thus, it is expected policy maker to create new job opportunities for the employment of educated women and take the necessary plan to improve the current situation for women.Keywords: female participation rate, rural area, provincial data, pseudo-panel data method
Procedia PDF Downloads 851768 Heavy Metal Removal by Green Microalgae Biofilms from Industrial Wastewater
Authors: B. N. Makhanya, S. F. Ndulini, M. S. Mthembu
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Heavy metals are hazardous pollutants present in both industrial and domestic wastewater. They are usually disposed directly into natural streams, and when left untreated, they are a major cause of natural degradation and diseases. This study aimed to determine the ability of microalgae to remove heavy metals from coal mine wastewater. The green algae were grown and used for heavy metal removal in a laboratory bench. The physicochemical parameters and heavy metal removal were determined at 24 hours intervals for 5 days. The highest removal efficiencies were found to be 85%, 95%, and 99%, for Fe, Zn, and Cd, respectively. Copper and aluminium both had 100%. The results also indicated that the correlation between physicochemical parameters and all heavy metals were ranging from (0.50 ≤ r ≤ 0.85) for temperature, which indicated moderate positive to a strong positive correlation, pH had a very weak negative to a very weak positive correlation (-0.27 ≤ r ≤ 0.11), and chemical oxygen demand had a fair positive to a very strong positive correlation (0.69 ≤ r ≤ 0.98). The paired t-test indicated the removal of heavy metals to be statistically significant (0.007 ≥ p ≥ 0.000). Therefore, results showed that the microalgae used in the study were capable of removing heavy metals from industrial wastewater using possible mechanisms such as binding and absorption. Compared to the currently used technology for wastewater treatment, the microalgae may be the alternative to industrial wastewater treatment.Keywords: heavy metals, industrial wastewater, microalgae, physiochemical parameters
Procedia PDF Downloads 1291767 Performance Evaluation of Vermiculite as Adsorbent Material for Solar-Assisted Air-Conditioning in Tropical Climate
Authors: Norhayati Mat Wajid, Abdul Murad Zainal Abidin, Hasila Jarimi, Kamaruzaman Sopian, Adnan Ibrahim, Ahmad Fazlizan, Afif Safwan
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Solar-adsorption air-conditioning system (SADCS) is an alternative to the conventional vapor compression system (VCS). SADCS have advantages over VCS system, such as 1) a green cooling technology which utilizes solar energy to drive the adsorption/desorption cycle, 2) can be operated using green refrigerant HFC free pure water, 3) mechanically simpler, and 4) lower operating noise level since it has no moving parts other than the magnetic valves. Several advancements have been achieved in these fields in the last decade, but further research is still needed to escalate this technology to a practical level. Hence, this paper presents a literature survey and a review that add insights into the current state-of-the-art of SADCS technologies with emphasis on the practical researches that were conducted at the laboratory scale and commercial level. In this paper, the performance evaluation of vermiculite as adsorbent material for SADCS in tropical climate discussed in comparison to other adsorbent material such as silica gel.Keywords: adsorption cooling, solar-assisted cooling, HVAC, tropical climate, solar thermal
Procedia PDF Downloads 1441766 Chiral Diphosphine Ligands and Their Transition Metal Diphosphine Complexes in Asymmetric Catalysis
Authors: Shannen Lorraine, Paul Maragh, Tara Dasgupta, Kamaluddin Abdur-Rashid
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(R)-(4,4',6,6'-tetramethoxybiphenyl-2,2'-diyl)bis(diphenylphosphine) (R-Ph-Garphos), and (S)-(4,4',6,6'-tetramethoxybiphenyl-2,2'-diyl)bis(diphenylphosphine) (S-Ph-Garphos) are novel, nucleophilic, chiral atropisomeric ligands. The research explored the synthesis of chiral transition metal complexes containing these ligands and their applications in various asymmetric catalytic transformations. Herein, the transition metal complexes having ruthenium(II), rhodium(I) and iridium(I) metal centres will be discussed. These are air stable complexes and were characterized by CHN analysis, 1H, 13C, and 31P NMR spectroscopy, and polarimetry. Currently, there is an emphasis on 'greener' catalysts and the need for 'green' solvents in asymmetric catalysis. As such, the Ph-Garphos ligands were demethylated thereby introducing hydroxyl moieties unto the ligand scaffold. The facile tunability of the biaryl diphosphines led to the preparation of the (R)-(4,4',6,6'-tetrahydroxybiphenyl-2,2'-diyl)bis(diphenylphosphine) (R-Ph-Garphos-OH), and (S)-(4,4',6,6'-tetrahydroxybiphenyl-2,2'-diyl)bis(diphenylphosphine) (S-Ph-Garphos-OH) ligands. These were successfully characterized by CHN analysis, 1H, 13C, and 31P NMR spectroscopy, and polarimetry. The use of the Ph-Garphos and Ph-Garphos-OH ligands and their transition metal complexes in asymmetric hydrogenations will be reported. Additionally, the scope of the research will highlight the applicability of the Ph-Garphos-OH ligand and its transitional metal complexes as 'green' catalysts.Keywords: catalysis, asymmetric hydrogenation, diphosphine transition metal complexes, Ph-Garphos ligands
Procedia PDF Downloads 2981765 Comparative Efficacy of Gas Phase Sanitizers for Inactivating Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes on Intact Lettuce Heads
Authors: Kayla Murray, Andrew Green, Gopi Paliyath, Keith Warriner
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Introduction: It is now acknowledged that control of human pathogens associated with fresh produce requires an integrated approach of several interventions as opposed to relying on post-harvest washes to remove field acquired contamination. To this end, current research is directed towards identifying such interventions that can be applied at different points in leafy green processing. Purpose: In the following the efficacy of different gas phase treatments to decontaminate whole lettuce heads during pre-processing storage were evaluated. Methods: Whole Cos lettuce heads were spot inoculated with L. monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7 or Salmonella spp. The inoculated lettuce heads were then placed in a treatment chamber and exposed to ozone, chlorine dioxide or hydroxyl radicals at different time periods under a range of relative humidity. Survivors of the treatments were enumerated along with sensory analysis performed on the treated lettuce. Results: Ozone gas reduced L. monocytogenes by 2-log10 after ten-minutes of exposure with Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 being decreased by 0.66 and 0.56-log cfu respectively. Chlorine dioxide gas treatment reduced L. monocytogenes and Salmonella on lettuce heads by 4 log cfu but only supported a 0.8 log cfu reduction in E. coli O157:H7 numbers. In comparison, hydroxyl radicals supported a 2.9 – 4.8 log cfu reduction of model human pathogens inoculated onto lettuce heads but required extended exposure times and relative humidity < 0.8. Significance: From the gas phase sanitizers tested, chlorine dioxide and hydroxyl radicals are the most effective. The latter process holds most promise based on the ease of delivery, worker safety and preservation of lettuce sensory characteristics. Although expose times for hydroxyl radicles was relatively long (24h) this should not be considered a limitation given the intervention is applied in store rooms or in transport containers during transit.Keywords: gas phase sanitizers, iceberg lettuce heads, leafy green processing
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