Advanced energy consumption system for smart farm based on reactive energy utilization technologies

Over the decades, both agriculture and energy grids have encountered significant challenges, such as the lack of power supply to agricultural farms and the difficulties of renewable energy use in the electricity sector. To overcome and address these issues, this paper presents an idea of merging smart farm and renewable energy, using surplus renewable energy for the agriculture sector using the smart farm for renewable energy supplies. First, demonstrate the framework to connect a smart farm energy system and analyze its feasibility and advantages. In this paper, Reactive Energy Utilization Technology (REUT) has been used as an efficient energy consumption system for the smart farm. It is used to predict the optimum wind power scenario in the smart farm by monitoring continuous control variables, with the lowest voltage reached in each scenario, and minimized actual total power losses. A combined system consisting of smart farming production, as well as renewable energy consumption, has been evaluated in experimental results. Experimental results and discussion shows that the proposed method has better renewable energy consumption, accuracy(96.7%), and efficiency(95.6%) for smart farming.     

Large-scale renewable energy project barriers: Environmental impact assessment streamlining efforts in Japan and the EU

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedures have been identified as a major barrier to renewable energy (RE) development with regards to large-scale projects (LS-RE). However EIA laws have also been neglected by many decision-makers who have been underestimating its impact on RE development and the stifling potential they possess. As a consequence, apart from acknowledging the shortcomings of the systems currently in place, few governments momentarily have concrete plans to reform their EIA laws. By looking at recent EIA streamlining efforts in two industrialized regions that underwent major transformations in their energy sectors, this paper attempts to assess how such reform efforts can act as a means to support the balancing of environmental protection and climate change mitigation with socio-economic challenges. Thereby this paper fills this intellectual void by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the Japanese EIA law by contrasting it with the recently revised EIA Directive of the European Union (EU). This enables the identification of the regulatory provisions that impact RE development the most and the determination of how structured EIA law reforms would affect domestic RE project development. The main focus lies on the evaluation of regulatory streamlining efforts in the Japanese and EU contexts through the application of a mixed-methods approach, consisting of in-depth literary and legal reviews, followed by a comparative analysis and a series of semi-structured interviews. Highlighting several legal inconsistencies in combination with the views of EIA professionals, academics and law- and policymakers, allowed for a more comprehensive assessment of what streamlining elements of the reformed EU EIA Directive and the proposed Japanese EIA framework modifications could either promote or stifle further RE deployment.     

The assessment of aesthetic and perceptual aspects within environmental impact assessment of renewable energy projects in Italy

The main aim of this paper is to explore how perceptual and aesthetic impact analyses are considered in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), with specific reference to Italian renewable energy projects. To investigate this topic, the paper starts by establishing which factors are linked with perceptual and aesthetic impacts and why it is important to analyze these aspects, which are also related to legislative provisions and procedures in Europe and in Italy. In particular the paper refers to renewable energy projects because environmental policies are encouraging more and more investment in this kind of primary resource. The growing interest in this type of energy is leading to the realization of projects which change the governance of territories, with inevitable effects on the landscape from the aesthetic and perceptual points of view. Legislative references to EIA, including the latest directive regarding this topic show the importance of integrating the assessment of environmental and perceptual impacts, thus there is a need to improve EIA methodological approaches to this purpose. This paper proposes a profile of aesthetic and perceptual impact analysis in EIA for renewable energy projects in Italy, and concludes with recommendations as to how this kind of analysis could be improved.     

Including the temporal change in PM2.5 concentration in the assessment of human health impact: Illustration with renewable energy scenarios to 2050

This article proposes a new method to assess the health impact of populations exposed to fine particles (PM_2.5) during their whole lifetime, which is suitable for comparative analysis of energy scenarios. The method takes into account the variation of particle concentrations over time as well as the evolution of population cohorts. Its capabilities are demonstrated for two pathways of European energy system development up to 2050: the Baseline (BL) and the Low Carbon, Maximum Renewable Power (LC-MRP). These pathways were combined with three sets of assumptions about emission control measures: Current Legislation (CLE), Fixed Emission Factors (FEFs), and the Maximum Technically Feasible Reductions (MTFRs). Analysis was carried out for 45 European countries. Average PM_2.5 concentration over Europe in the LC-MRP/CLE scenario is reduced by 58% compared with the BL/FEF case. Health impacts (expressed in days of loss of life expectancy) decrease by 21%. For the LC-MRP/MTFR scenario the average PM_2.5 concentration is reduced by 85% and the health impact by 34%. The methodology was developed within the framework of the EU's FP7 EnerGEO project and was implemented in the Platform of Integrated Assessment (PIA). The Platform enables performing health impact assessments for various energy scenarios.     

IoT driven framework based efficient green energy management in smart cities using multi-objective distributed dispatching algorithm

Nowadays, the concept of smart cities evolves from conceptual models to various stages of development. The smart services of cities like smart buildings, smart hospitals, smart traffic, smart factories, and smart transportation are vital to energizing resilient, reliable, seamless energy and electrical flow. One of these smart services' critical challenges is anticipated to run without disruptions using smart energy and smart electrical grids. Hence, in this research, the Internet of Things (IoT) role in green energy resources incorporation into smart electrical grids has been introduced using the Multi-Objective Distributed Dispatching algorithm (MODDA). Efficient energy management includes a tradeoff between the cost linked with utility function and energy consumption. The utility function can be the living comfort of the consumers or the utility firm's gross income. The interchanges between utility and energy consumption must, therefore, be recognized. The algorithm is intended to transmit the renewable green energy available to the battery, thermal, and load storing while preserving a thermal and battery storage limit. The experimental results at the lab-scale show the proposed dispatching algorithm minimizing the system cost and energy consumption. It is shown that substantial energy waste can be reduced by equipping a smart building with the proposed IoT system for effective green energy management.     

Reliability of differing densities of sample grids used for the monitoring of forest condition in Europe

Concern about the possible deterioration of forest health led to the establishment in the 1980s of inventories of forest condition throughout Europe. International standardisation of the programmes was sought and a number of recommendations were made concerning sampling and assessment procedures. One of the most important rulings was that the assessment should be made on a systematic grid, the minimum density of which was 16×16 km. However, many countries adopted denser sampling grids, with 4×4 km being used in several countries and 1×1 km being used in the Netherlands. With five or more years of monitoring completed, there is a growing belief that a rapid and irreversible decline in forest health is not occurring. Consequently, some countries/regions are seeking to reduce their annual investment in forest health monitoring.The precision of national/regional estimates of forest health can be directly related to the sample size. As the sample size decreases, so also does the precision of the estimates. This is illustrated using data collected in Switzerland in 1992 and using grid densities of 4×4 km, 8×8 km, 12×12 km and 16×16 km. The value of the data is dependent on the sample size and the degree to which it is broken down (by region or species). The loss of precision associated with most subdivisions at the 8×8 km grid level remains acceptable, but a sharp deterioration in the precision occurs at the 12×12 km and 16×16 km grid levels. This has considerable implications for the interpretation of the inventories from those countries using a 16×16 km grid. In Switzerland, a reduction from the current 4×4 km grid to an 8×8 km grid (i.e. 75% reduction in sample size) would have relatively little impact on the overall results from the annual inventories of forest health.     

The need for local adaptation of smart infrastructure for sustainable economic management

At present, there are several growing problems for sustainable urban growth, and the typical policy strategies to tackle them are inadequate. In recent years, several governments have initiated numerous smart city and smart infrastructure programs aimed at enhancing the quality life of the people and helping town managers improve the public infrastructure activity and management. The usage of the Internet of Things (IoT) for infrastructure system enables the gathering, storing, incorporation, and analysis of large quantities and varieties of information relating to the status and output of infrastructure systems together with public activity through Cloud-based asset management systems, mobile apps, and Big Data analytics. In this paper, a master data management (MDM) approach has been proposed to unlock the importance of comprehensive network data for efficient, safe, and robust community development. In the market field, MDM is implemented for the organization of big data organizational and research applications. The proposed method includes an effective MDM solution for safe, efficient, and functional community design, commercial and open source MDM platforms, city development principles, smart city concept models, adaptive shared network backgrounds, semantic cloud technology, and specialists responsible for designing development, scalable platform technology for evaluating the input.     

Modeling trihalomethane formation for Jabal Amman water supply in Jordan

A mathematical model that expresses Total trihalomethane (TTHM) concentration in terms of initial chlorine concentration, total organic carbon, bromide ion concentration, contact time, and pH is developed for Zai water treatment plant which supplies water to Jabal Amman. The developed mathematical model is for constant temperature of 20°C. To adjust model calculated TTHM concentrations for temperatures other than 20°C, another mathematical model that expresses TTHM growth rate as function of temperature is also developed. To test the ability of the two developed models in predicting TTHM concentrations throughout water supplies, a sampling program that aimed at measuring TTHM concentrations in addition to the predictors in the two developed mathematical models namely; chlorine concentration, bromide ion concentration, total organic carbon, temperature and pH throughout Jabal Amman water supply was conducted. The two developed mathematical models and WaterCad, which was used to determine water age, were used to predict TTHM concentrations throughout Jabal Amman water supply. Predicted TTHM concentrations were compared to actual TTHM concentrations measured during the sampling program. Results showed that there is good agreement between measured and, calculated TTHM concentrations, which means that the method presented in this paper, can be used to obtain good estimates of TTHM concentrations throughout networks.     

Subsurface activities and decision support systems: An analysis of the requirements for a social acceptance-motivated decision support system

In this paper, we present a novel perspective on evaluating subsurface activities by increasing the role of social acceptance in the decision-making process. We use the triangle of social acceptance to structure and analyze the decision-making problem in three classes: social–political, market, and community acceptance. This allows the inclusion of strategic and social concerns, beside economical and environmental aspects in the evaluation of subsurface activities. We analyze the requirements of a decision support system for each class according to three aspects: the requirements originating from the context, the requirements derived from the decision-making process, and the extent to which the decision support system can fulfill these requirements. Furthermore, we identify the mechanisms that shape and govern the interactions between the requirements and limitations that result from the context and decision-making process of subsurface activities. We conclude that the requirements of a decision support system for subsurface activities are very different for each class of social acceptance. In addition, we find that several aspects need to be included in an earlier phase of the decision-making process for subsurface activities.     

Shrewd vehicle framework model with a streamlined informed approach for green transportation in smart cities

Infrastructure is essential for the activity of a smart city in lighting framework, water conveyance system, smart monitoring infrastructure, and so on. Presently the transport framework is set at the task of such smart city by making smooth portability of the individuals and products, particularly with the probability of managing traffic clog, giving up-dated information and in time data from the open transportation client, creating green methods for transportation (bicycle and vehicle sharing for example), and so on. This paper is highly engaged in keeping up the shrewd vehicle framework model with a streamlined informed approach, which has been planned and created depending on the Smart City segment. This smart model vehicle framework has added to the structure and planning for a smart city by making it increasingly important with a superior utilization of offices, less noisy, free of accidents, progressively conscious of condition with web organized analysis for utilizing data from the clients for adjusting the transportation administrations. Further, the ability to serve the client by giving it to them with open transportation and increasingly interconnected stations moves towards urban areas inside the city.     

Decision support methods for the environmental assessment of contamination at mining sites

Polluting mine accidents and widespread environmental contamination associated with historic mining in Europe and elsewhere has triggered the improvement of related environmental legislation and of the environmental assessment and management methods for the mining industry. Mining has some unique features such as natural background pollution associated with natural mineral deposits, industrial activities and contamination located in the three-dimensional sub-surface space, the problem of long-term remediation after mine closure, problem of secondary contaminated areas around mine sites and abandoned mines in historic regions like Europe. These mining-specific problems require special tools to address the complexity of the environmental problems of mining-related contamination. The objective of this paper is to review and evaluate some of the decision support methods that have been developed and applied to mining contamination. In this paper, only those methods that are both efficient decision support tools and provide a ‘holistic’ approach to the complex problem as well are considered. These tools are (1) landscape ecology, (2) industrial ecology, (3) landscape geochemistry, (4) geo-environmental models, (5) environmental impact assessment, (6) environmental risk assessment, (7) material flow analysis and (8) life cycle assessment. This unique inter-disciplinary study should enable both the researcher and the practitioner to obtain broad view on the state-of-the-art of decision support methods for the environmental assessment of contamination at mine sites. Documented examples and abundant references are also provided.     

The terrain signatures of administrative units: a tool for environmental assessment

The quantification of knowledge related to the terrain and the landuse/landcover of administrative units in Southern Greece (Peloponnesus) is performed from the CGIAR-CSI SRTM digital elevation model and the CORINE landuse/landcover database. Each administrative unit is parametrically represented by a set of attributes related to its relief. Administrative units are classified on the basis of K-means cluster analysis in an attempt to see how they are organized into groups and cluster derived geometric signatures are defined. Finally each cluster is parametrically represented on the basis of the occurrence of the Corine landuse/landcover classes included and thus, landcover signatures are derived. The geometric and the landuse/landcover signatures revealed a terrain dependent landuse/landcover organization that was used in the assessment of the forest fires impact at moderate resolution scale.     

Investigation of the bacterial load and antibiotic susceptibility of dental units

The aim of this study was to evaluate the bacterial contamination level and to determine the antibiotic susceptibility of the isolated bacteria from dental unit waterlines (DUWLs) in Istanbul. Bacterial quality of DUWLs is very important, as patients and dental staff are regularly exposed to water and aerosols generated by the unit. If opportunistic pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Legionella pneumophila are present in DUWLs, patient and dental staff can be infected. One hundred water samples were collected from high-speed drills and input waters from 50 dental units. Aerobic heterotrophic bacteria counts and the presence of Legionella, Pseudomonas, oral streptococci, and Staphylococcus were investigated in dental unit waters and aerosol samples. In addition, the antibiotic susceptibility of the isolated and identified bacteria from DUWLs was examined. This research found that 37 out of 50 dental unit water samples exceeded the American Dental Association’s limit of 200 colony-forming units (CFU)/mL^?1. Legionella, oral streptococci, and S. aureus were not detected in any water or aerosol samples, but P. aeruginosa was isolated in three DUWLs. Also, Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus were found in water and aerosol samples. Cefoperazone, ofloxacin, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, and piperacillin were the most effective antibiotics against the isolated bacteria from DUWLs.     

Implementation of water safety plan for a large-piped water supply system

A water safety plan for the city of Nagpur was developed by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). Possible hazards were identified through field visits. Based on this, an improvement plan was drawn up to suggest corrective actions and a time frame for implementation. The findings of this study are being used to modify or repair components of the water supply system and upgrade management procedures. This paper highlights the lessons learnt during implementation of the WSP and the key challenges faced.     

Monitoring water quality in reservoirs for human supply through multi-biomarker evaluation in tropical fish

Paraíba do Sul River is located at a very densely inhabited region of Brazil crossing the three most industrialized states of the country (S?o Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro states). As a result, industrial and farming residues as well as urban sewage are frequently disposed without appropriate treatment. The current study aimed at investigating the water quality in three reservoirs along the Paraíba do Sul River (Ilha dos Pombos, Santa Cecília and Santa Branca), through physiological, morphological, biochemical, and genetic biomarkers. The bioindicator chosen was the catfish Pimelodus maculatus, sampled during the dry (June 2008) and rainy (February 2009) seasons. Also, some water physicochemical parameters were analyzed from the sampling sites, but displayed no alterations according to the Brazilian Agency for Water Quality Legislation. Branchial carbonic anhydrase activity was inhibited in the dry season, while renal carbonic anhydrase activity was inhibited in the rainy season in the Santa Branca reservoir, indicating disturbance of osmoregulatory and acid-base regulation processes. Histopathological alterations were observed in the gills (neoplasic and tissue hyperplasia processes) and liver (necrosis), indicating serious damage to the functional integrity of these organs. A high incidence of melanomacrophage centers was observed in the liver, suggesting an intense immune response in all reservoirs. Acetylcholinesterase and catalase activity showed also differences corroborating some morphological results. Likewise, the induction of the micronucleus and DNA damage indicate genotoxicity, but mainly in the Santa Branca reservoir. Thus, the health status of P. maculatus warrants caution in the use of the water from the 3 reservoirs for direct human consumption, particularly after the accidental spill of endosulfan in November 2008, three months before the rainy season sampling.     

A method for evaluating transport energy consumption in suburban areas

Urban sprawl is a major issue for sustainable development. It represents a significant contribution to energy consumption of a territory especially due to transportation requirements. However, transport energy consumption is rarely taken into account when the sustainability of suburban structures is studied. In this context, the paper presents a method to estimate transport energy consumption in residential suburban areas. The study aimed, on this basis, at highlighting the most efficient strategies needed to promote awareness and to give practical hints on how to reduce transport energy consumption linked to urban sprawl in existing and future suburban neighborhoods. The method uses data collected by using empirical surveys and GIS. An application of this method is presented concerning the comparison of four suburban districts located in Belgium to demonstrate the advantages of the approach. The influence of several parameters, such as distance to work places and services, use of public transport and performance of the vehicles, are then discussed to allow a range of different development situations to be explored. The results of the case studies highlight that traveled distances, and thus a good mix between activities at the living area scale, are of primordial importance for the energy performance, whereas means of transport used is only of little impact. Improving the performance of the vehicles and favoring home-work give also significant energy savings. The method can be used when planning new areas or retrofitting existing ones, as well as promoting more sustainable lifestyles regarding transport habits.     

Towards a control model for the Murray Mouth

The River Murray in Australia drains an area of one million square kilometres, but in 1981 the mouth closed for some weeks. It is important that this be prevented, as the environmental consequences of permanent closure are severe. The size of the mouth is influenced by wind and wave activity at the mouth, and by the river flow, which is controlled by a system of weirs and barrages. We have been able to demonstrate using recursive estimation techniques that river flow is the most important explanatory variable for mouth size, so that the proper management of flow alone has the potential to prevent future closures.     

Drinking water quality monitoring and surveillance for safe water supply in Gangtok, India

To ascertain the quality of drinking water being supplied, water quality monitoring and surveillance was conducted in Gangtok city at various treatment stages, service reservoirs, distribution network, public standposts, and households. No significant change in raw water quality was observed on day-to-day basis. Residual chlorine was found in the range of nil to 0.2 mg/l in the sump water/finished water. Throughout the year (i.e., during summer, winter, and monsoon seasons), the total coliform and fecal coliform counts were ranged from nil to 7 CFU/100 ml and nil to 3 CFU/100 ml, respectively, in sump water of Selep and VIP complex water treatment plant; however, at consumer end, those were observed as nil to 210 CFU/100 ml and nil to 90 CFU/100 ml, respectively. These variations in bacterial counts among the different service reservoirs and consumer ends may be attributed to the general management practices for maintenance of service reservoirs and the possibility of enroute contamination. Evaluation of the raw water quality indicates that the water is suitable for drinking after conventional treatment followed by disinfection. The finished water quality meets the level of standards described as per Bureau of Indian Standard specifications (BIS:10500 1991) for potability in terms of its physicochemical characteristics.     

Implications of the disintegration of the former Soviet Union for desertification control

Following the removal of censorship on environmental information in 1986 the magnitude of the Aral Sea disaster has been publicly acknowledged while the situation has continually worsened. Major efforts by the USSR Academy of Sciences as well as republic scientists since the 1970s have been supplemented by international expertise. The Soviet government adopted a special resolution on the Aral Sea in September 1988, but adequate financing was not available to solve this problem. With the disintegration of the USSR, the new independent states took full responsibility for their desertification control. In a corresponding tide of nationalism, Russia was solely accused of being responsible for the problem, and, not surprisingly, the controversial project of Siberian river diversion has been recently revived. There has been a transition from Russian to state language in all institutions, thus squeezing out the speaking of Russian. The Central Asian states have started to explore their own ways to deal with the catastrophe. But political, cultural, and ethnic rivalries between countries; growing nationalism and economic difficulties; and competition for water have not created the conditions to successfully solve desertification problems. Without change, the future of the Aral Sea appears to be bleak.     

Assessing the feasibility of wastewater recycling and treatment efficiency of wastewater treatment units

Wastewater reuse can significantly reduce environmental pollution and save the water sources. The study selected Cheng-Ching Lake water treatment plant in southern Taiwan to discuss the feasibility of wastewater recycling and treatment efficiency of wastewater treatment units. The treatment units of this plant include wastewater basin, sedimentation basin, sludge thickener and sludge dewatering facility. In this study, the treatment efficiency of SS and turbidity were 48.35–99.68% and 24.15–99.36%, respectively, showing the significant removal efficiency of the wastewater process. However, the removal efficiencies of NH₃–N, total organic carbon (TOC) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) are limited by wastewater treatment processes. Because NH₃–N, TOC and COD of the mixing supernatant and raw water are regulated raw water quality standards, supernatant reuse is feasible and workable during wastewater processes at this plant. Overall, analytical results indicated that supernatant reuse is feasible.