Search results for: livestock sector

Authors: Adewale Oladapo, Carolyn A. Afolami

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Agricultural production should be the major financial contributor to the Nigerian economy; however, the petroleum sector had taken the importance attached to this sector. The situation tends to be more worsening unless necessary attention is given to adequate credit supply among food crop farmers. This research analyses the effect of credit use on the technical efficiency of cassava farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected from two hundred randomly selected cassava farmers through a multistage sampling procedure in the study area. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). Findings revealed that 95.0% of the farmers were male while 56.0% had no formal education and were married. The SFA showed that cassava farmer’s efficiency increased with farm size, herbicide and planting material at 5%,10% and 1% respectively but decreased with fertilizer application at 1% level while farmers’ age, education, household size, experience and access to credit increased technical inefficiency at 10%. The study concluded that cassava farmers are technically inefficient in the use of farm resources and recommended that adequate and workable agricultural policy measures that will ensure availability and efficient fertilizer distribution should be put in place to increase efficiency. Furthermore, the government should encourage youth participation in cassava production and ensure improvement in farmer’s access to credit to increase farmer’s technical efficiency.

Keywords: agriculture, access to credit, cassava farmers, technical efficiency

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Authors: Saikat Majumdar, D. C. Kalita

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The Agriculture sector plays an important role in the rural economy of India. It is the backbone of our Indian economy and is the dominant sector in terms of employment and livelihood. Agriculture still contributes significantly to export earnings and is an important source of raw materials as well as of demand for many industrial products particularly fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural implements and a variety of consumer goods, etc. The performance of the agricultural sector influences the growth of Indian economy. According to the 2011 Agricultural Census of India, an estimated 61.5 percentage of rural populations are dependent on agriculture. Proper Agricultural infrastructure has the potential to transform the existing traditional agriculture into a most modern, commercial and dynamic farming system in India through its diffusion of technology. The rate of adoption of modern technology reflects the progress of development in agricultural sector. The adoption of any improved agricultural technology is also dependent on the development of road infrastructure or road network. The present study was consisting of 300 sample farmers out which 150 samples was taken from the developed area and rest 150 samples was taken from underdeveloped area. The samples farmers under develop and underdeveloped areas were collected by using Multistage Random Sampling procedure. In the first stage, North 24 Parganas District have been selected purposively. Then from the district, one developed and one underdeveloped block was selected randomly. In the third phase, 10 villages have been selected randomly from each block. Finally, from each village 15 sample farmers was selected randomly. The extents of adoption of technology in different areas were calculated through various parameters. These are percentage area under High Yielding Variety Cereals, percentage area under High Yielding Variety pulses, area under hybrids vegetables, irrigated area, mechanically operated area, amount spent on fertilizer and pesticides, etc. in both developed and underdeveloped areas of North 24 Parganas District, West Bengal. The percentage area under High Yielding Variety Cereals in the developed and underdeveloped areas was 34.86 and 22.59. 42.07 percentages and 31.46 percentages for High Yielding Variety pulses respectively. In the case the area under irrigation it was 57.66 and 35.71 percent while for the mechanically operated area it was 10.60 and 3.13 percent respectively in developed and underdeveloped areas of North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal. It clearly showed that the extent of adoption of technology was significantly higher in the developed area over underdeveloped area. Better road network system helps the farmers in increasing his farm income, farm assets, cropping intensity, marketed surplus and the rate of adoption of new technology. With this background, an attempt is made in this paper to study the impact of Agricultural Infrastructure on the adoption of modern technology in agriculture in North 24 Parganas District, West Bengal.

Keywords: agricultural infrastructure, adoption of technology, farm income, road network

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Authors: Chukiat Chaiboonsri, Satawat Wannapan

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This paper used an asymmetric informative concept to apply in the macroeconomic model estimation of the tourism sector in Thailand. The variables used to statistically analyze are Thailand international and domestic tourism revenues, the expenditures of foreign and domestic tourists, service investments by private sectors, service investments by the government of Thailand, Thailand service imports and exports, and net service income transfers. All of data is a time-series index which was observed between 2002 and 2015. Empirically, the tourism multiplier and accelerator were estimated by two statistical approaches. The first was the result of the Generalized Method of Moments model (GMM) based on the assumption which the tourism market in Thailand had perfect information (Symmetrical data). The second was the result of the Maximum Entropy Bootstrapping approach (MEboot) based on the process that attempted to deal with imperfect information and reduced uncertainty in data observations (Asymmetrical data). In addition, the tourism leakages were investigated by a simple model based on the injections and leakages concept. The empirical findings represented the parameters computed from the MEboot approach which is different from the GMM method. However, both of the MEboot estimation and GMM model suggests that Thailand’s tourism sectors are in a period capable of stimulating the economy.

Keywords: TThailand tourism, Maximum Entropy Bootstrapping approach, macroeconomic model, asymmetric information

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Authors: Ganesh Nivrutti Akhade

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This paper attempts to develop a reliable and valid instrument of measuring Healthcare service quality in India, and also analyses the impact of demographic factor of respondent on healthcare service quality. In this research paper , extant literature survey, discussion with stakeholder of healthcare system such as patients, patients relative, administrators of hospitals, clinics, professionals and expert interviews were used to develop a attributes of healthcare service quality dimensions. A pilot study was conducted with a sample of 31 healthcare patients of private sector, public sector ,trust hospital ,primary health care centers and clinics was surveyed in the Nagpur Metropolitan Area. At the end fifteen dimensions—reliability, assurance, responsiveness, tangibility, empathy, affordability, respect, and caring, Attitude of staff, Technical competence, Appropriateness, Safety, continuity, Effectiveness, Availability, Financial support. This fifteen-dimensional model was validated through a content validity and construct validity. The proposed research model shows acceptable fit indices. Impact of these dimensions on the Overall Healthcare Service Quality and customer satisfaction are analyzed using multiple regression technique. Findings indicate that all dimensions carry significant impact on the Overall Healthcare Service Quality perceptions and customer satisfaction. However, availability and effectiveness dimensions carry the maximum impact on the Overall healthcare Service Quality .

Keywords: healthcare, service quality, factor analysis (CFA), india, service quality dimensions

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Authors: John Battersby, Rhys Ball

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After the 15 March 2019 Mosque attacks in Christchurch, the New Zealand security sector has had to address its training and preparedness levels for dealing with contemporary terrorist threats as well as potential future manifestations of terrorism. From time to time, members of the academic community from Australia and New Zealand have been asked to assist agencies in this endeavour. In the course of 2018, New Zealand security sector professionals working in the counter-terrorism area were interviewed about how they regarded academic contributions to understanding terrorism and counter-terrorism. Responses were mixed, ranging from anti-intellectualism, a belief that the inability to access classified material rendered academic work practically useless - to some genuine interest and desire for broad based academic studies on issues practitioners did not have the time to look at. Twelve months later, researchers have revisited those spoken to prior to the Brenton Tarrant 15 March shooting to establish if there has been a change in the way academic research is perceived, viewed and valued, and what key factors have contributed to this shift in thinking. This paper takes this data, combined with a consideration of the literature on higher education within professional police and intelligence forces, and on the general perception of academics by practitioners, to present a series of findings that will contribute to a more proactive and effective set of engagements, between two distinct but important security sectors, that reflect more closely with international practice.

Keywords: academic, counter terrorism, intelligence, practitioner, research, security

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Authors: Shymaa S. Zaher, Howayda Abd El-Hady, Nehad Khalifa

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Lake Nasser is vital to Egypt as it is the main Nile water reservoir. One of the major challenges in ecological flood is to establish how environmental enrichment in nutrients availability may affect both the biochemical composition of phytoplankton and the species communities. Samples were collected from twenty sites representing different lake sectors along the main channel of the lake during 2017. Generally, phytoplankton distribution during flood season in Lake Nasser indicates the predominance of Cyanophyceae at all lake sectors. Increases in NO₂ (9.31 µg/l) and PO₄ (7.11µg/l) at the Abu-Simble sector are associated with changes in community structure and biochemical composition of phytoplankton, where Cyanophyceae blooming occur associated with retardation in biopolymeric particulate organic carbon. The maximum total biochemical contents (91.29 mg/l) and biopolymeric particulate organic carbon (37.15 mg/l) was found at El-Madiq sector where there was optimum nutrients (NO₂ 0.479 µg/l and PO₄ 5.149µg/l), a highly positive correlation was found between Cyanophyceae and NO₂ in the lake (r = 0.956). A highly positive correlation was detected between carbohydrates and both transparency and pH in the lake (r = 0.974 and 0.787). Also carbohydrates had a positive relation with Bacillariophyceae (r = 0.610). Flood positively alter the water quality of the lake by increasing dissolved oxygen and nutrients enrichment to the aquatic ecosystem, affecting other aquatic organisms of higher trophic levels as economic fishes inhabiting the lake.

Keywords: aquatic microalgae, Aswan high dam lake, biochemical composition, fresh water

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Authors: Ese Urhie, Olabisi Popoola, Obindah Gershon

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Several policies and programs initiated to address the challenge of unemployment in Nigeria seem to be inadequate. The desired structural transformation which is expected to absorb the excess labour in the economy is yet to be achieved. The agricultural sector accounts for almost half of the labour force with very low productivity. This could partly explain why the much anticipated structural transformation has not been achieved. A major reason for the low productivity is the fact that the production process is predominantly based on the use of traditional tools. In view of the underdeveloped nature of the agricultural sector, Nigeria still has huge potentials for productivity enhancement through modern technology. Aside from productivity enhancement, modern agriculture also stimulates both backward and forward linkages that promote investment and thus generate employment. Contrary to the apprehension usually expressed by many stake-holders about the adoption of modern technology by labour-abundant less-developed countries, this study showed that though there will be job loss initially, the reverse will be the case in the long-run. The outcome of this study will enhance the understanding of all stakeholders in the sector and also encourage them to adopt modern techniques of farming. It will also aid policy formulation at both sectoral and national levels. The recursive model and analysis adopted in the study is useful because it exhibits a unilateral cause-and-effect relationship which most simultaneous equation models do not. It enables the structural equations to be ordered in such a way that the first equation includes only predetermined variables on the right-hand side, while the solution for the final endogenous variable is completely determined by all equations of the system. The study examines the transmission channels and effect of modern agriculture on agricultural productivity and employment growth in Nigeria, via its forward and backward linkages. Using time series data spanning 1980 to 2014, the result of the analyses shows that: (i) a significant and positive relationship between agricultural productivity growth and modern agriculture; (ii) a significant and negative relationship between export price index and agricultural productivity growth; (iii) a significant and positive relationship between export and investment; and (iv) a significant and positive relationship between investment and employment growth. The unbalanced growth theory will be a good strategy to adopt by developing countries such as Nigeria.

Keywords: employment, modern agriculture, productivity, recursive model

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Authors: Shantam Gupta

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The objective of this study is to address the critical need for automation in the domestic food processing sector and study its impact. Food is the one of the most basic physiological needs essential for the survival of a living being. Some of them have the capacity to prepare their own food (like most plants) and henceforth are designated as primary food producers; those who depend on these primary food producers for food form the primary consumers’ class (herbivores). Some of the organisms relying on the primary food are the secondary food consumers (carnivores). There is a third class of consumers called tertiary food consumers/apex food consumers that feed on both the primary and secondary food consumers. Humans form an essential part of the apex predators and are generally at the top of the food chain. But still further disintegration of the food habits of the modern human i.e. Homo sapiens, reveals that humans depend on other individuals for preparing their own food. The old notion of eating raw/brute food is long gone and food processing has become very trenchant in lives of modern human. This has led to an increase in dependence on other individuals for ‘processing’ the food before it can be actually consumed by the modern human. This has led to a further shift of humans in the classification of food chain of consumers. The effects of the shifts shall be systematically investigated in this paper. The processing of food has a direct impact on the economy of the individual (consumer). Also most individuals depend on other processing individuals for the preparation of food. This dependency leads to establishment of a vital link of dependency in the food web which when altered can adversely affect the food web and can have dire consequences on the health of the individual. This study investigates the challenges arising out due to this dependency and the impact of food processing on the economy of the individual. A comparison of Industrial food processing and processing at domestic platforms (households and restaurants) has been made to provide an idea about the present scenario of automation in the food processing sector. A lot of time and energy is also consumed while processing food at home for consumption. The high frequency of consumption of meals (greater than 2 times a day) makes it even more laborious. Through the medium of this study a pressing need for development of an automatic cooking machine is proposed with a mission to reduce the inter-dependency & human effort of individuals required for the preparation of food (by automation of the food preparation process) and make them more self-reliant The impact of development of this product has also further been profoundly discussed. Assumption used: The individuals those who process food also consume the food that they produce. (They are also termed as ‘independent’ or ‘self-reliant’ modern human beings.)

Keywords: automation, food processing, impact on economy, processing individual

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Authors: Ismail Kimuli

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With a steadfast economic development, the Greater Kampala metropolitan area (GKMA) faces increasing pressures to increasetheshare of low-carbon electricity in the energy balance, abate CO2 emissions and also restructure the transportation sector for a sustainable 2050. GKMA, is Uganda’s commercial, political, social, and industrial hub with a population of 4.1 million, contributing 60% tothe nation’s GDP and accounts for 80% of Uganda’s industrial sector.However, with the rampant anthropogenic interference that causes climate change, CO2 emissions in the metropolitan are contributing to global warming. Many economies across the globe are addressing this challengethrough development and analysis of sustainable energy portfolios.A sustainable energy portfolio is a low-carbon scenario. The study reviews the literature to establish the current energy management situation of GKMA and finds it wanting in addressing the immediate challenges associated with energy management of the metropolitan. Then, the study develops and examines a sustainable energy portfolio for GKMA using TIMES-VEDA and then presents it as an investigative low-carbon energy scenario that could propel the metropolitan sustainably towards 2050.Sustainability is plausible by optimizing the total primary energy supply, generating low-carbon electricity from hydropower and PV-solar renewables, improving heating technologies for residential & commercial sectors, and switching 90% of land passengers from road to a Kampala metro for a sustainable mid-century.

Keywords: GKMA, sustainability, TIMES-VEDA, low-carbon scenario

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Authors: Pumela Msweli, Dexter L. Ryneveldt

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This paper seeks to shed light on institutional logics and institutionalization processes that influence the successful implementation of financial sector regulations. We use the neo-institutional theory lens to interrogate how the newly promulgated Financial Sector Regulations Act (FSRA) provides for the institutionalisation of the Twin Peaks Model. With the enactment of FSRA, previous financial regulatory institutions were dismantled, and new financial regulators established. In point, the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) replaced the Financial Services Board (FSB), and accordingly, the Prudential Authority (PA) was established. FSRA is layered with complexities that make it mandatory to co-exist, cooperate, and collaborate with other institutions to fulfill FSRA’s overall financial stability objective. We use content analysis of the financial regulations that established the Twin Peaks Models (TPM) in South Africa and in the Netherlands, to map out the three-stage institutionalization processes: (1) habitualisation, (2) objectification and (3) sedimentation. This allowed for a comparison of how South Africa, as a developing country and Netherlands as a developed country, have institutionalized the Twin Peak model. We provide valuable insights into how differences in the institutional and societal logics of the developing and developed contexts shape the institutionalization of financial regulations.

Keywords: financial industry, financial regulation, financial stability, institutionalisation, habitualization, objectification, sedimentation, twin peaks model

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Authors: Khaled Abkar Alkodimi

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This paper attempts to explore Bishop’s eco-poetics and environmental consciousness from an ecocritical perspective. It focuses on her representations of animals, environments, and natural phenomena and the connection between a broad range of human activities and flora, fauna habitats. Indeed, Bishop shows a sense of human responsibility towards the earth in her peculiar treatment of place and livestock, which appears to be more than a static growth process. Her poetry is totally contrary to egoism and egotism, and this can be easily noticed in her subjective understanding of nature and creatures. The findings show Bishop as an eco-poet who committed herself and her poetry to highlight the significance of nature and world life at large. This is obvious through her representation of natural phenomena such as seasonal cycles, weather, and physical and ecological elements, including air, earth, and water, which essentially constitute and inform the poet’s environmental thoughts. Examining Bishop’s conception of a human relationship with ‘external nature through the examination of her poetic language, this study shows how the environmental imagination can suggest social responsibility to readers.

Keywords: elizabeth bishop, eco-criticism, eco-poetry, environmental consciousness, man-nature relationship

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Authors: Seba Mohanty, Jitendra Mahakud

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Capital ratio is one of the major indicators of the stability of the commercial banks. Pertinent to its pervasive importance, over the years the regulators, policy makers focus on the maintenance of the particular level of capital ratio to minimize the solvency and liquidation risk. In this context, it is very much important to identify the relationship between capital and risk and find out the factors which determine the capital ratios of commercial banks. The study examines the relationship between capital and risk of the commercial banks operating in India. Other bank specific variables like bank size, deposit, profitability, non-performing assets, bank liquidity, net interest margin, loan loss reserves, deposits variability and regulatory pressure are also considered for the analysis. The period of study is 1997-2015 i.e. the period of post liberalization. To identify the impact of financial crisis and implementation of Basel II on capital ratio, we have divided the whole period into two sub-periods i.e. 1997-2008 and 2008-2015. This study considers all the three types of commercial banks, i.e. public sector, the private sector and foreign banks, which have continuous data for the whole period. The main sources of data are Prowess data base maintained by centre for monitoring Indian economy (CMIE) and Reserve Bank of India publications. We use simultaneous equation model and more specifically Two Stage Least Square method to find out the relationship between capital and risk. From the econometric analysis, we find that capital and risk affect each other simultaneously, and this is consistent across the time period and across the type of banks. Moreover, regulation has a positive significant impact on the ratio of capital to risk-weighted assets, but no significant impact on the banks risk taking behaviour. Our empirical findings also suggest that size has a negative impact on capital and risk, indicating that larger banks increase their capital less than the other banks supported by the too-big-to-fail hypothesis. This study contributes to the existing body of literature by predicting a strong relationship between capital and risk in an emerging economy, where banking sector plays a majority role for financial development. Further this study may be considered as a primary study to find out the macro economic factors which affecting risk and capital in India.

Keywords: capital, commercial bank, risk, simultaneous equation model

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Authors: Vibol San, Vin Spoann

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Manufacturing plays an important role in job creation around the world. In 2013, it is estimated that there were more than half a billion jobs in manufacturing. In Cambodia in 2015, the primary industry occupies 26.18% of the total economy, while agriculture is contributing 29% and the service sector 39.43%. The number of industrial factories, which are dominated by garment and textiles, has increased since 1994, mainly in Phnom Penh city. Approximately 56% out of total 1302 firms are operated in the Capital city in Cambodia. Industrialization to achieve the economic growth and social development is directly responsible for environmental degradation, threatening the ecosystem and human health issues. About 96% of total firms in Phnom Penh city are the most and moderately polluting firms, which have contributed to environmental concerns. Despite an increasing array of laws, strategies and action plans in Cambodia, the Ministry of Environment has encountered some constraints in conducting the monitoring work, including lack of human and financial resources, lack of research documents, the limited analytical knowledge, and lack of technical references. Therefore, the necessary information on industrial pollution to set strategies, priorities and action plans on environmental protection issues is absent in Cambodia. In the absence of this data, effective environmental protection cannot be implemented. The objective of this study is to estimate industrial pollution load by employing the Industrial Pollution Projection System (IPPS), a rapid environmental management tool for assessment of pollution load, to produce a scientific rational basis for preparing future policy direction to reduce industrial pollution in Phnom Penh city. Due to lack of industrial pollution data in Phnom Penh, industrial emissions to the air, water and land as well as the sum of emissions to all mediums (air, water, land) are estimated using employment economic variable in IPPS. Due to the high number of employees, the total environmental load generated in Phnom Penh city is estimated to be 476.980.93 tons in 2014, which is the highest industrial pollution compared to other locations in Cambodia. The result clearly indicates that Phnom Penh city is the highest emitter of all pollutants in comparison with environmental pollutants released by other provinces. The total emission of industrial pollutants in Phnom Penh shares 55.79% of total industrial pollution load in Cambodia. Phnom Penh city generates 189,121.68 ton of VOC, 165,410.58 ton of toxic chemicals to air, 38,523.33 ton of toxic chemicals to land and 28,967.86 ton of SO2 in 2014. The results of the estimation show that Textile and Apparel sector is the highest generators of toxic chemicals into land and air, and toxic metals into land, air and water, while Basic Metal sector is the highest contributor of toxic chemicals to water. Textile and Apparel sector alone emits 436,015.84 ton of total industrial pollution loads. The results suggest that reduction in industrial pollution could be achieved by focusing on the most polluting sectors.

Keywords: most polluting area, polluting industry, pollution load, pollution intensity

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Authors: Ekta Pandey

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The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry is ranked third largest by volume and fourteenth by value. It thus accounts for 10% of world’s production by volume and 1.5% by value according to Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India. The industry has shown phenomenal growth over past few years, moving from US $ 1 billion turnover in 1990 to a turnover of around US $30 billion in 2015. The Indian pharmaceutical sector is ranked seventeenth in terms of export value of active pharmaceutical ingredients and dosage forms to more than 200 countries around the globe. It has shown tremendous changes especially after Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement. Recognizing the immense potential for growth and its direct impact on Indian economy, it is important to look up the industrial policies adopted since Indian independence which turnaround the Indian pharmaceutical industry. A systematic review of changes in market structure of Indian pharmaceutical industry due to shift in policy regimes is done from 1850 to 2015 using secondary peer reviewed published research work. The aim is to understand the impact of anti-trust laws, intellectual property rights, industry competition acts and regulations are quite crucial in determining effective economic policy and have overall lasting effects on international trade and ties. The proposed paper examines the position of Indian domestic firms relative to multinational pharmaceutical firms tries to throw some light on the growth curve of Indian pharmaceutical sector.

Keywords: active pharmaceutical ingredients, competition act, pharmaceutical industry, TRIPS

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Authors: Tuti Haryati Jasimin, Hishamuddin Mohd Ali

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Malaysia’s green building development is gaining momentum and green buildings have become a key focus area especially within the commercial sector with the encouragement of government legislation and policy. Due to the emerging awareness among the market players’ views of the benefits associated with the ownership of green buildings in Malaysia, there is a need for valuers to incorporate consideration of sustainability into their assessments of property market value to ensure the green buildings continue to increase in the market. This paper analyses the valuers’ current perception on the valuation practices with regard to the green issues in Malaysia. The study was based on a survey of registered real estate valuers and the experts whose work related to valuation in the Klang Valley area to rate their view regarding the perception on valuation of green building. The findings present evidence that even though Malaysian valuers have limited knowledge of green buildings, they recognize the importance of incorporating the green features in the valuation process. The inclusion of incorporating the green features in valuations in practice was hindered by the inadequacy of sufficient transactional data in the market. Furthermore, valuers experienced difficulty in identifying what are the various input parameters of green building and how to adjust it in order to reflect the benefit of sustainability features correctly in the valuation process. This paper focuses on the present challenges confronted by Malaysian valuers with regards to incorporating the green features in their valuation.

Keywords: green commercial office building, Malaysia, valuers’ perception, valuation, commercial sector

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Authors: Loubna Hamami, Bouchaib Nassereddine

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Due to the evolution of technologies, the need to observe and manage hostile environments, and reduction in size, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are becoming essential and implicated in the most fields of life. WSNs enable us to change the style of living, working and interacting with the physical environment. The agricultural sector is one of such sectors where WSNs are successfully used to get various benefits. For successful agricultural production, the irrigation system is one of the most important factors, and it plays a tactical role in the process of agriculture domain. However, it is considered as the largest consumer of freshwater. Besides, the scarcity of water, the drought, the waste of the limited available water resources are among the critical issues that touch the almost sectors, notably agricultural services. These facts are leading all governments around the world to rethink about saving water and reducing the volume of water used; this requires the development of irrigation practices in order to have a complete and independent system that is more efficient in the management of irrigation. Consequently, the selection of WSNs in irrigation system has been a benefit for developing the agriculture sector. In this work, we propose a prototype for a complete and intelligent irrigation system based on wireless sensor networks and we present and discuss the design of this prototype. This latter aims at saving water, energy and time. The proposed prototype controls water system for irrigation by monitoring the soil temperature, soil moisture and weather conditions for estimation of water requirements of each plant.

Keywords: precision irrigation, sensor, wireless sensor networks, water resources

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Authors: Intan Purnama Sari, Fitri Damayanti, Nabiila Yumna Ghina

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Kliwonan, Sragen is a famous central batik industry village. In the process of the industry, women are placed into the central role but marginalized in economic mode. Women have the double burden on domestic sector and public sector (work as craftsmen batik). The existence of the batik industry bring on issues related to the pollution of water resources as a result of waste water with the marginalized of women. This research aims to examine the relevance of the pollution of the water from the well in Kliwonan with women as the biggest role holders through ecofeminism perspective. To examine these aspects then made observations, documentation, and interview against women batik craftsmen. The results of the study showed that the wells as sources of water to the inhabitants of contaminated because the liquid waste water batik industry. The impact of women must buy clean water each month to meet the needs of the household water with the reward that is obtained from the result of labor as much as Rp 12,000 per day. It proves the marginalized women on economic mode. Based on the results of research done, it can be concluded that the required environmental planning to promote how women do the rescue environment. The implementation requires kelor (Moringa oleifera seeds) as such as natural coagulants of sources of water-saving and easy to use.

Keywords: well water pollution, ecofeminism, environmental planning, Moringa oleifera

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Authors: Goodman Conrad Kazoroa

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Among the most remarkable socioeconomic phenomena of the post-World War II era has been the expansion of the global tourism industry. Intensifying tourism activity is continuing to affect more and more places and there can no longer be any doubt as to the potential of this sector to affect fundamental economic, social-cultural and environmental change. A phenomenon with far reaching effects like this needs to be carefully controlled and planned so as not to compromise the chances for the future generations to enjoy this resource, therefore the issue of tourism sustainability, as a result, is unveiled. The concept of sustainable tourism remains vague in Uganda as the country has seen an increase in resorts, hotels and lodges especially in most of Uganda’s ecologically vulnerable areas National Parks. To many, sustainable tourism it is merely the application of the sustainable development idea to the sector of tourism. To others, it is the conservation of the environment and its natural resources, realising and appropriately using them to achieve sustainable built environments that promote tourism. Architecture and the built environment can be the first means to link the global dimension of this phenomenon of sustainable tourism to its local implications. The aim of this paper was to critically analyse the extent to which sustainability related considerations have been pursued in the built environments for Uganda’s national parks as means to achieving sustainable tourism. This was achieved by use of a sustainable architecture rating tool that was modified to fit Uganda’s context. The results of this are presented as the final results of the study. There are many examples of sustainable tourism resorts, or what tourism managers and developers claim are sustainable tourism resorts throughout the country. This paper reveals the truth, that is, true sustainable tourism resorts are very few and far between.

Keywords: sustainable tourism, tourism architecture, sustainable architecture, sustainable tourism resorts

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Authors: Nwobu Obiamaka, Owolabi Akintola

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This study examined the extent of statistical significant difference between the economic, environmental, governance and social aspects of sustainability reporting as a result of board committee on sustainability and time (year) of reporting for business organizations in the Nigerian banking sector. The years of reporting under consideration were 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Content analysis methodology was employed through a reporting index used to score the amount of economic, environmental, governance and social indicators of sustainability reporting. The results of this study indicated that business organizations with board committee on sustainability had more indicators of sustainability reporting than those without board committees on sustainability issues. Also, sustainability reporting in 2013 was higher than that of prior years (2012, 2011 and 2010) for the economic, environmental and social indicators. The governance indicators of 2012 was highest compared to the other years (2013, 2011 and 2010) under consideration in this study. The implication of this finding is that business organizations that have board committees on sustainability are monitored by such boards to report more to their stakeholders. On the other hand, business organizations are appreciating the need to engage in sustainability reporting with each passing year. This could be due to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sustainability Reporting framework that business organizations in the banking sector have to adhere to. When sustainability issues are monitored from the board of directors, business organizations are likely to increase and improve on their sustainability reporting.

Keywords: governance, organizations, reporting, sustainability

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Authors: Azade Sedigh, Mehrdad Modaresi, Akbar Pirestani

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Appropriate nutrition is necessary today for desire reproduction and profitable livestock industry. Minerals including zinc element are from nutritional factors. Studies show that zinc plays an important role in reproduction process and secretion of reproductive hormones. This study was carried out to determine the effects of organic zinc on some reproductive hormones, fertility of male mice. The study was done as completely randomized design with one control and six treatment groups. Seventy male mature mice were kept for 35 days to adapt to environment and then divided in seven groups with ten replications. Samples received zinc (organic) daily in 50,100, and 150 ppm doses of each type for 35 days. At the end, blood samples were taken to measure LH, FSH, and testosterone hormones. Meanwhile, fertility rates were measured. Results were analyzed using one way ANOVA and means were compared using Duncan multiple ranges test at 5% probability level. According to results, LH concentration of all groups except 50 ppm was increased significantly (p<0.05). FSH amount was increased significantly (p<0.05) in 100 ppm mineral group and reduced in 50 ppm mineral but was not changed in other groups.

Keywords: organic supplements, zinc, reproductive hormones, fertility

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Authors: Sukrita Mukherjee, Anindita Chaudhuri

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Soft skills are a crucial aspect for employees, and these skills are not confined to any particular field rather, it guarantees further career growth and job opportunities for employees who are seeking growth. Soft skills are also regarded as personality-specific skills that are observable and are qualitative in nature, which determines an employee’s strengths as a leader. When an employee intends to hold his job, then the person must make effective use of his personal resources, that, in turn, impacts his employability in a positive manner. An employee at his workplace is expected to make effective use of his personal resources. The resources that are to be used by the employee are generally of two types. First type of resources are occupation related, which is related with the educational background of the employee, and the second type of resources are the psychological resources of the employee, such as self-knowledge, career orientation awareness, sense of purpose and emotional literacy, that are considered crucial for an employee in his workplace. The present study is a qualitative study which includes 10 individuals working in IT Sector and Service Industry, respectively. For IT sector, graduate people are considered, and for the Service Industry, individuals who have done a Professional course in order to get into the industry are considered. The emerging themes from the findings after thematic analysis reveal that different aspect of Soft skills such as communication, decision making, constant learning, keeping oneself updated with the latest technological advancement, emotional intelligence are some of the important factors that helps an employee not only to sustain his job, but also grow in his workplace.

Keywords: employabiliy, soft skils, employees, resources, workplace

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Authors: Keith Diamond, Tracy Collier, Ciara Sterling, Ben Kraal

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The increased frequency and intensity of disaster events in the Asia-Pacific region is likely to require organisations to better understand how their initiatives, and the support they provide to their customers, intersect with other organisations aiming to support communities in achieving disaster resilience. While there is a growing awareness that disaster response and recovery rebuild programmes need to adapt to more integrated, community-led approaches, there is often a discrepancy between how programmes intend to work and how they are collectively experienced in the community, creating undesired effects on community resilience. Following Australia’s North Queensland Monsoon Disaster of 2019, this research set out to understand and evaluate how the service and support ecosystem impacted on the local community’s experience and influenced their ability to respond and recover. The purpose of this initiative was to identify actionable, cross-sector, people-centered improvements that support communities to recover and thrive when faced with disaster. The challenge arose as a group of organisations, including utility providers, banks, insurers, and community organisations, acknowledged that improving their own services would have limited impact on community wellbeing unless the other services people need are also improved and aligned. The research applied human-centred service design methods, typically applied to single products or services, to design a new way to understand a whole-of-community journey. Phase 1 of the research conducted deep contextual interviews with residents and small business owners impacted by the North Queensland Monsoon and qualitative data was analysed to produce community journey maps that detailed how individuals navigated essential services, such as accommodation, finance, health, and community. Phase 2 conducted interviews and focus groups with frontline workers who represented industries that provided essential services to assist the community. Data from Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the research was analysed and combined to generate a systems map that visualised the positive and negative impacts that occurred across the disaster response and recovery service ecosystem. Insights gained from the research has catalysed collective action to address future Australian disaster events. The case study outlines a transformative way for sectors and industries to rethink their corporate social responsibility activities towards a cross-sector partnership model that shares responsibility and approaches disaster response and recovery as a single service that can be designed to meet the needs of communities.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, cross sector partnerships, disaster resilience, human-centred design, service design, systems change

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Authors: Som Pal Baliyan

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Dairy enterprise has been a major source of employment and income generation in most of the economies worldwide. Botswana government has also identified dairy as one of the agricultural sectors towards diversification of the mineral dependent economy of the country. The huge gap between local demand and supply of milk and milk products indicated that there are not only constraints but also; opportunities exist in this sub sector of agriculture. Therefore, this study was an attempt to identify constraints and opportunities in dairy production industry in Botswana. The possible ways to mitigate the constraints were also identified. The findings should assist the stakeholders especially, policy makers in the formulation of effective policies for the growth of dairy sector in the country. This quantitative study adopted a survey research design. A final survey followed by a pilot survey was conducted for data collection. The purpose of the pilot survey was to collect basic information on the nature and extent of the constraints, opportunities and ways to mitigate the constraints in dairy production. Based on the information from pilot survey, a four point Likert’s scale type questionnaire was constructed, validated and tested for its reliability. The data for the final survey were collected from purposively selected twenty five dairy farms. The descriptive statistical tools were employed to analyze data. Among the twelve constraints identified; high feed costs, feed shortage and availability, lack of technical support, lack of skilled manpower, high prevalence of pests and diseases and, lack of dairy related technologies were the six major constraints in dairy production. Grain feed production, roughage feed production, manufacturing of dairy feed, establishment of milk processing industry and, development of transportation systems were the five major opportunities among the eight opportunities identified. Increasing production of animal feed locally, increasing roughage feed production locally, provision of subsidy on animal feed, easy access to sufficient financial support, training of the farmers and, effective control of pests and diseases were identified as the six major ways to mitigate the constraints. It was recommended that the identified constraints and opportunities as well as the ways to mitigate the constraints need to be carefully considered by the stakeholders especially, policy makers during the formulation and implementation of the policies for the development of dairy sector in Botswana.

Keywords: dairy enterprise, milk production, opportunities, production constraints

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Authors: Rahmi Yetri Kasri, Paulus Wirutomo

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Citizen engagement approach has become increasingly important in the rural water sector. However, the question remains as to what exactly is meant by citizen engagement and how this approach can lead to sustainable service delivery. To understand citizen engagement, this paper argues that we need to understand basic elements of social life that consist of social structure, process, and culture within the realm of community’s living environment. Extracting from empirical data from Pamsimas villages in rural West Java, Indonesia, this paper will identify basic elements of social life and environment that influence and form the engagement of citizen and government in delivering and sustaining rural water supply services in Indonesia. Pamsimas or the Water Supply and Sanitation for Low Income Communities project is the biggest rural water program in Indonesia, implemented since 1993 in more than 27,000 villages. The sustainability of this sector is explored through a rural water supply service delivery life-cycle, starts with capital investment, operational and maintenance, asset expansion or renewal, strategic planning for future services and matching cost with financing. Using mixed-method data collection in case study research, this paper argues that increased citizen engagement contributes to a more sustainable rural water service delivery.

Keywords: citizen engagement, rural water supply, sustainability, Indonesia

Procedia PDF Downloads 269

Authors: A. González-Caro, A. M. Merino-Lechuga, D. Suescum-Morales, E. Fernández-Ledesma, J. R. Jiménez, J. M. Fernández-Rodríguez

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Climate change is one of the most significant issues today. Since the 19th century, the rise in temperature has not only been due to natural change, but also to human activities, which have been the main cause of climate change, mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. The boom in the construction sector in recent years is also one of the main contributors to CO₂ emissions into the atmosphere; for example, for every tonne of cement produced, 1 tonne of CO₂ is emitted into the atmosphere. Most of the research being carried out in this sector is focused on reducing the large environmental impact generated during the manufacturing process of building materials. In detail, this research focuses on the recovery of waste from olive oil mills. Spain is the world's largest producer of olive oil, and this sector generates a large amount of waste and by-products such as olive pits, “alpechín” or “alpeorujo”. This olive stone by means of a pyrosilisis process gives rise to the production of active carbon. The process causes the carbon to develop many internal spaces. This study is based on the manufacture of porous mortars with Portland cement and natural limestone sand, with an addition of 5% and 10% of activated carbon. Two curing environments were used: i) dry chamber, with a humidity of 65 ± 10% and temperature of 21 ± 2 ºC and an atmospheric CO₂ concentration (approximately 0.04%); ii) accelerated carbonation chamber, with a humidity of 65 ± 10% and temperature of 21 ± 2 ºC and an atmospheric CO₂ concentration of 5%. In addition to eliminating waste from an industry, the aim of this study is to reduce atmospheric CO₂. For this purpose, first, a physicochemical and mineralogical characterisation of all raw materials was carried out, using techniques such as fluorescence and X-ray diffraction. The particle size and specific surface area of the activated carbon were determined. Subsequently, tests were carried out on the hardened mortar, such as thermogravimetric analysis (to determine the percentage of CO₂ capture), as well as mechanical properties, density, porosity, and water absorption. It was concluded that the activated carbon acts as a sink for CO₂, causing it to be trapped inside the voids. This increases CO₂ capture by 300% with the addition of 10% activated carbon at 7 days of curing. There was an increase in compressive strength of 17.5% with the CO₂ chamber after 7 days of curing using 10% activated carbon compared to the dry chamber.

Keywords: olive stone, activated carbon, porous mortar, CO₂ capture, economy circular

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Authors: José M. Brotons, Manuel E. Sansalvador

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The relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and financial performance (FP) is a subject of great interest that has not yet been resolved. In this work, we have developed a new and original tool to measure this relation. The tool quantifies the value contributed to companies that are committed to CSR. The theoretical model used is the fuzzy discounted cash flow method. Two assumptions have been considered, the first, the company has implemented the IQNet SR10 certification, and the second, the company has not implemented that certification. For the first one, the growth rate used for the time horizon is the rate maintained by the company after obtaining the IQNet SR10 certificate. For the second one, both, the growth rates company prior to the implementation of the certification, and the evolution of the sector will be taken into account. By using triangular fuzzy numbers, it is possible to deal adequately with each company’s forecasts as well as the information corresponding to the sector. Once the annual growth rate of the sales is obtained, the profit and loss accounts are generated from the annual estimate sales. For the remaining elements of this account, their regression with the nets sales has been considered. The difference between these two valuations, made in a fuzzy environment, allows obtaining the value of the IQNet SR10 certification. Although this study presents an innovative methodology to quantify the relation between CSR and FP, the authors are aware that only one company has been analyzed. This is precisely the main limitation of this study which in turn opens up an interesting line for future research: to broaden the sample of companies.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, case study, financial performance, company valuation

Procedia PDF Downloads 187

Authors: Panwad Wongthong, Thanan Apivantanaporn, Sutthiwan Amattayakul

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Nature-based tourism is one of the fastest growing industries that can bring in economic benefits, improve quality of life and promote conservation of biodiversity and habitats. As tourism develops, substantial socio-economic and environmental costs become more explicit. Particularly in island destinations, the dynamic system and geographical limitations makes the intensity of tourism development and severity of the negative environmental impacts greater. The current contribution of the tourism sector to global climate change is established at approximately 5% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions. In all scenarios, tourism is anticipated to grow substantially and to account for an increasingly large share of global greenhouse gas emissions. This has prompted an urgent call for more sustainable alternatives. This study selected a small island of Koh Mak in Thailand as a case study because of its reputation of being laid back, family oriented and rich in biodiversity. Importantly, it is a test platform for low carbon tourism development project supported by the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA) in collaboration with the Institute for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (ISMED). The study explores strategies for low carbon tourism management and assesses challenges and opportunities for Koh Mak to become a low carbon tourism destination. The goal is to identify suitable management approaches applicable for Koh Mak which may then be adapted to other small islands in Thailand and the region. Interventions/initiatives to increase energy efficiency in hotels and resorts; cut carbon emissions; reduce impacts on the environment; and promote conservation will be analyzed. Ways toward long-term sustainability of climate-friendly tourism will be recommended. Recognizing the importance of multi-stakeholder involvement in the tourism sector, findings from this study can reward Koh Mak tourism industry with a triple-win: cost savings and compliance with higher standards/markets; less waste, air emissions and effluents; and better capabilities of change, motivation of business owners, staff, tourists as well as residents. The consideration of climate change issues in the planning and implementation of tourism development is of great significance to protect the tourism sector from negative impacts.

Keywords: climate change, CO2 emissions, low carbon tourism, sustainable tourism management

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Authors: S. Zenia, L. Bitta, O. Bouhamam, H. Brines, M. Boudriaa, F. Haddadj, F. Marniche, A. Milla, H. Saadi, A. Smai

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The bee Apis mellifera intermissa is a major social insect, in addition to its honey production, it is a pillar of our biodiversity. Several living organisms can come into contact with it: bacteria, viruses, protozoa, fungi, mites, and insects. In Algeria, many beekeepers have reported unusual mortality of local bees, loss of foragers and significant losses of their livestock. Despite the presence of a varied honey-bearing flora and a favourable Mediterranean climate, honey production remains low. This phenomenon can be attributed to the excess winter mortality, but also to the increasing difficulties that beekeepers face in maintaining healthy bee colonies, particularly bee diseases and their transmission facilitated by trade and beekeeping practices. Our survey is based on a questionnaire composed of several parts. The results obtained show that the disease that most affects bees according to beekeepers is varroa mite with 93% followed by fungi with 26%. The most replied enemy of bees is the false ringworm with 73%, followed by the bee-eater with 63%. Our goal is to determine the causes of this low production in two areas: Bejaia and Tizi-Ouzou.

Keywords: diseases, Apis mellifera L., varroa, European foulbrood

Procedia PDF Downloads 161

Authors: Susana Silva, Dora Martins

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The recent political, economic, social technological and employment changes significantly affect the tourism organizations and consequently the changing nature of the employment experience of the tourism workforce. Such scene leads several researchers and labor analysts to reflect about what kinds of jobs, knowledge and competences are need to ensure the success to teach, to learning and to work on this sector. In recent years the competency-based approach in high education level has become of significant interest. On the one hand, this approach could leads to the forming of the key students’ competences which contribute their better preparation to the professional future and on the other hand could answer better to practical demands from tourism job market. The goals of this paper are (1) to understand the expectations of university tourism students in relation to the present and future tourism competences demands, (2) to identify the importance put on the soft skills, (3) to know the importance of high qualification to their future professional activity and (4) to explore the students perception about present and future tourist sector specificities. To this proposal, a questionnaire was designed and distributed to every students who participate on classes of Hospitality Management under degree and master from one public Portuguese university. All participants were invited, during December 2014 and September 2015, to answer the questionnaire at the moment and on presence of one researcher of this study. Fulfilled the questionnaire 202 students (72, 35,6% male and 130, 64.4% female), the mean age was 21,64 (SD=5,27), 91% (n=86) were undergraduate and 18 (9%) were master students. 80% (n=162) of our participants refers as a possibility to look for a job outside the country.42% (n=85) prefers to work in a medium-sized tourism units (with 50-249 employees). According to our participants the most valued skills in tourism are the domain of foreign languages (87.6%, n=177), the ability to work as a team (85%), the personal persistence (83%, n=168), the knowledge of the product/services provided (73.8%, n=149), and assertiveness (66.3%, n=134). 65% (n=131) refers the availability to look for a job in a home distance of 1000 kilometers and 59% (n=119) do not consider the possibility to work in another area than tourism. From the results of this study we are in the position of confirming the need for universities to maintain a better link with the professional tourism companies and to rethink some competences into their learning course model. Based on our results students, universities and companies could understand more deeply the motivations, expectations and competences need to build the future career who study and work on the tourism sector.

Keywords: human capital, employability, students’ competencies perceptions, soft skills, tourism

Procedia PDF Downloads 271

Authors: Rishabh Pandey, Umang Kumar Yadav

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In today’s era of technological advancement, we come across incalculable innovations, almost every day. No doubt that the society has developed a lot in learning and technology, but we should also take into account the problems and inflictions that are occurring. Focusing on the petroleum sector a trending global concern is toward lowering fuel consumption and emissions. It is well known that gasoline is non-renewable source of energy and its burning produces harmful emissions which are adversely affecting the environment, such issues are motivating us to seek alternative solutions that would not require much modification in engine design and help us come out with an outcome. Keeping in mind the importance of environment and human race, we present a factious idea of use of oxyhydrogen gas or HHO gas in place of gasoline in the vehicles and petroleum industry. This technology is prospering, highly efficient, could be used economically and safe, and it will be responsible for changing the future of oil and gas sector in accordance with protection to the environment. In the coming future, we will check the compatibility of HHO generator with fuel engine for production of oxyhydrogen gas with use of water and effect of introducing HHO gas to the combustion on both thermal efficiency and specific fuel consumption. We will also work on the comparison of HHO gas and commercially available gasoline fuel in support of their chemical structures; ignition rate; octane rating; knocking properties; storage; transportation and cost effectiveness and it is trusted that use of HHO gas will be ecofriendly as no harmful emissions are produced, rather the only emission is water. Additionally, this paper will include the use of HHO cell in fuel engines and challenges faced in installing it in the current period and provide effective solutions for the same.

Keywords: fuel, gas, generator, water

Procedia PDF Downloads 327