4^th International Conference on Green Energy & Expo Nov 06-08, 2017 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Biography:

Benjamin Welle is the Director of Energy Lab at Perkins+Will. His role is to develop innovative design methods for the next generation of architects working towards the goal of zero emission buildings. His work focuses on the integration of web-based parametric design tools with energy, daylighting and thermal comfort simulation tools for use in multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) environments using parallel and distributed computing. He has received his BS in Energy Engineering and MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering-Atmosphere/Energy from Stanford University, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego, and a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering-Design Construction Integration from Stanford’s Center for Integrated Facility Engineering (CIFE). He is a registered professional Mechanical Engineer in the State of California.

Abstract:

The building industry has a love-hate relationship with technology and has been slow to adopt it. This trend is particularly applicable to the use of computer-based analysis in support of high-performance building design with the ultimate goal of zero emission buildings. This lecture will deconstruct the current state of how industry uses technology within this domain, the opportunities that exist for the near future, and the challenges in effectively implementing these opportunities. Current R&D efforts at Perkins+Will for web-based energy and daylighting simulation, optimization, and visualization using cloud computing environments will be highlighted as one possible strategy for rapid, scalable, accurate, and meaningful integration of technology into the architectural design process. A vision of how this strategy’s success will impact and support the green energy industry as a whole, and vice versa, will be presented to and interactively evaluated with the audience.

Biography:

Omid M Rouhani is an Assistant Professor at McGill University, Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics. Prior to this, he was a Post-doctoral Researcher at Cornell University. He finished his PhD studies in Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of California, Davis. His expertise is in the areas of transportation systems analysis, transportation economics and modeling, and energy policy. He has been involved in a range of local, national, and international research projects related to these topics. His research has been published in several academic journals, including Sustainability, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Journal of Transport Geography, Environmental Modeling and Software, Energies, Transportation Research Part B, Part A, and Part D and The European Journal of Operational Research, among others.

Abstract:

Providing travel-related energy and environmental information to transport users is becoming increasingly relevant. However, the impact of providing such information on users’ travel behavior is yet to be determined. This research examines the perceptions and preferences of the fuel consumption costs, GHG social costs, and health-related air pollution costs, and the influence such information have on travel behavior. Examining the case of transport users of Montreal, Canada, with a pilot survey, we found that the respondents are generally unaware of the energy and environmental footprints of their travel. Approximately, 70% of the respondents are not able to estimate GHG social costs and health-related air pollution costs across different modes. The respondents who could provide their perceived costs generally overestimate these costs and interestingly perceive higher environmental costs for public transport (metro) compared to cars. They also prefer to receive such information in monetary units rather than in their own units (e.g., grams of emissions) and they are more comfortable in receiving the information through mobile applications over other tools/means (GPS devices, radio and so on). The research also finds that energy and environmental information can influence respondents’ travel decisions especially their route choices. Finally, the respondents are willing to pay an average of $6/month in exchange for obtaining the information.

Biography:

Pankaj Kumar Jha is a senior researcher in CFD and UQ at Envision Energy, based in Houston. He is the owner of Envision’s CFD and automation software suite for wind resource assessment and wind plant simulations. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in Mathematics and Computing from India’s premier institute, IIT Kharagpur and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. He has worked for GE Aviation in Bangalore, India as a database developer and for CMSoft Inc. in Palo Alto as a CFD software developer in the past. He has been collaborating with the researchers at NREL since his Ph.D. days and has co-authored several publications with them. He also represents Envision Energy at ASME Wind Energy Technical Committee and North American Wind Energy Academy (NAWEA) Board

Abstract:

Although ever improving, wind resource assessment (WRA) continues to be fraught with uncertainties and approximations, with developers and financial institutions continuing to demand more accurate WRA assessments to better qualify the business case certainty of wind projects. To meet these needs, Envision Energy has developed the Greenwich cloud platform to ensure the economic indicators of wind power assets and investments, provide developers with comprehensive technological solutions to wind farm planning, wind resource assessment, micro-siting, layout optimization, assessment of economic viability and post asset evaluation analysis. With its digital model structure, the Greenwich cloud platform controls and lowers risk arising from investment in wind farms, thereby significantly reducing the uncertainties of investing in wind energy. The primary engine of Greenwich is the GWCFD computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, which is a fully automated CFD model leveraging the top super computing resources in the world. As it’s workhorse, GWCFD employs the standard steady state RANS neutral approach to CFD wind modelling. Despite widespread industry acceptance, the neutral approximation can be quite limited, in particular in areas where local site climatology is dominated by strong influences of atmospheric stratification. This work will demonstrate Envision Energy’s implementation of a stratified CFD modelling approach representing the entire atmospheric boundary layer, rather than the more common, but limited, atmospheric surface layer approaches. In addition, we will examine a proposed approach to aggregate neutral and stratified CFD simulations into an effective wind field for AEP estimations, and compare results to operational wind farm data as part of our ongoing internal AEP benchmarking studies. In order to quantify the improvements of various scientific upgrades to the WRA workflow, it is necessary to have an evaluation system in place. To demonstrate this, we will discuss Envision’s algorithm test-bed wrapped within an uncertainty quantification and bench-marking umbrella.

Biography:

José Marques is the CEO of IncBio following a course in Economics, in the Faculty of Economics in the University of Porto, and after working in two different sectors, he created IncBio in 2006. Focusing on sustainability, his work has been mostly on recycled feedstock. To achieve the best results, he concentrated IncBio’s work in new technologies, using solid catalyst, dry wash resins, and mainly Ultrasonic Reactors.

Abstract:

Oil extraction efficiency is the percentage of oil extracted from the total oil available in the total mass, of any feedstock. In the soybean oil industry, efficiency is approximately 95%. In the rapeseed industry, efficiency is approximately 98,5%. In the palm oil industry, efficiency is close to 50%! It is, without a question, the industry with the worst Oil Extraction Efficiency of any oil industry, and it represents an unbelievable waste, which has taken a big toll on the environment. With the increase of demand of palm oil in the last decade, for many different industries, the industry has been focusing on plantations, cutting or burning tropical forests, to produce more palm oil. But efficiencies have only marginally increased. IncBio’s technology has been under development for more than 5 years, and it has been industrially implemented for 2 years. After the first year of learning from issues that were not expected, the plant has been running for a year with and OER (Oil Extraction Rate) above 25%, when the national average for Malaysia is 20,1%. This represents an Oil Extraction Efficiency of 62,5%, or an increase of 25% over the current technology. While there is still a lot of possibilities for growth, this represents a major step in an industry that is known for hurting the environment. This can actually increase palm oil production by 25%, maintaining the same plantations, without cutting or burning any more trees.

Biography:

Andrew Kwon is one of the leading pioneers with energy storage in South Korea since 2009. He has worked in Samsung SDI Co (Leading Lithium Battery Manufacturer) for 28 Years including eight years with Energy Storage Business Development in Samsung. Now he is working at Destin Power (#1 power conversion system manufacturer in Korea) as VP of business development and bringing all-in-one energy storage for various applications from residential to utility scale. He graduated NY State University with MBA.

Abstract:

This paper presents some recent trend and installation of energy storage with renewable energy (RE) such as wind and solar in South Korea and other countries including some energy storage friendly regulations and supportive incentive programs in South Korea, so as to let other countries follow. And this paper will show of its prediction of energy storage technology and market based on the advanced battery price forecast and the future of energy storage as one of the core components for sustainable green emission free world with distributed energy resources (DER) and microgrid. 

Biography:

Gianna J Link is an international Neurologist with subspecialties in Neuropsychiatry from Harvard, neurorehabilitation, Cornell and neuroimmunology from the Karolinska Institute. She has obtained her PhD Degree in Neuroimmunology and was awarded a Scholarship to study Medicine. She’d professional teaching appointments and has worked in academic institutions, as stroke Neuro Hospitalist as well as, in the Neuro Consultant in private sector and performing medical legal work as export witness. She has published multiple research papers and her original thesis was on Multiple Sclerosis. She has been awarded for her outstanding service and was professional of the year representing Neurology in Cambridge Who's Who, “Doctor of Excellence” by The Leading Physicians of the World. She has been voted as Most Compassionate Physician by her patients; has appeared on radio and TV shows and has Chaired in Board Medical Committees.

Abstract:

We either change and evolve as one global consciousness or we perish as a species, as previous civilizations did before us. The earth will heal itself once we are gone. Collective Cosmic Consciousness is the BioEM quantum energy field; a noosphere created by 6.5 billion people interacting with each other and with nature as one global consciousness. This has  been supported by the research by the Noetic Science Institute originated in Princeton University. Quantum physics supports that The entire universe is a projection of consciousness, as documented by  the quantum entanglement particle. In Cern, they discovered the “God particle”  and research with the double split experiment has proven that we change our reality by observing it. Technology advances exponentially creating our new reality. An evolutionary transformation of humanity is inevitable, as it merges with the technological singularity advancing ultimately to a cosmological singularity. The global fallout and shifts occurring in our world require us to either evolve collectively as one global consciousness or perish. Awakening the collective consciousness is imperative for our survival by developing a new planetary ethical code and creating a new reality. Humanity is required to change dramatically and irreversibly, achieving the next human evolution. To ensure our survival we must make a critical choice now, to be the first civilization to survive on a new viable earth.

Biography:

Akihiro Kogure is a President of LTR Japan Partners. LTR Partners provide consulting service mainly to the energy companies and technology industry. He has established first Japanese electricity power retail company which sells electricity mainly generated from renewable energies.

Abstract:

In Japan, Feed-in-Tariff scheme started from July 2012, replacing RPS and revising existing purchasing scheme for PV electricity. Thanks to FIT, Japanese renewable energy was introduced very much. The most of them are PVs. Government make some amendment on FIT from 2017. Their main purpose is to meet energy mix at 2030 and lower the cost of FIT at the same time. There are 4 main factors: Policy and regulation, Power generation Technology (including cost), Finance and power system. Policy and regulation is the main key. But, many company rely on it excessively. Cost reduction and new business model is highly needed. Finance sector also rely on FIT. But it is also needed to invest new business scheme. Power system in Japan is very different from those in other countries. Inter connection is limited not only with other country but also within Japan. To make maximum use of the electricity generated from renewable energies, the technology and operation policy of power system have to be changed dramatically. Technological innovation for smart grid has to be introduced.

Biography:

August Donat Wojtkiewicz graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Hunter College in 2013. He has taken additional classes online at Harvard, MIT and other institutions. He was Vice-Chair of the Academic Senate at Hunter and a member of Hunter Sustainability Project and CUNY Divest. He advocated for the divestment of City University of New York’s endowment from fossil fuels and was instrumental in getting 15 separate student governments at the University to pass resolutions in favor of fossil fuel divestment. He started a renewable energy startup, LeoVera, in 2015, and would like to transition New York, the United States and the World to 100% renewable energy. He is a rising expert on renewable energy technologies and has participated in numerous conferences on the issue, including The Solar Summit in New York, and the Sustainable Energy for All Forums at the United Nations.

Abstract:

Renewable Energy is critical for our future energy needs for multiple reasons. The pressing issue of Climate Change requires that we transition to clean energy sources as rapidly as possible, as well as leave the overwhelming majority of fossil fuel reserves in the ground as a means to slow the rate of temperature increase that we have been observing this over the past century. The benefits are manifold. No emissions from energy generation sources mean cleaner air, water, and land for people and the ecosystem. Free energy sources such as the wind, the sun and the flow of water ultimately mean lower electricity prices for consumers in the long term, and increased economic prosperity for society, as funds spent on energy can be invested elsewhere. The prices for renewable energy technologies are falling year after year, and the spread of implementation is increasing rapidly. It is the fastest growing job sector in the United States. New York and other states have set mandates for renewable energy sources. New York is required to produce 50% of its electricity from renewables by 2030. California has set the mandate for 100% renewable energy by 2045. 100% renewable energy is the goal and objective, for individual states, The United States and The World as a whole. The faster we achieve this, the quicker we will see the effects of climate change slow down and ultimately we will see a return to equilibrium planet temperatures if we cease emissions and the use of fossil fuels for energy. Many see this as an incredible opportunity to transform modern society from using highly polluting sources of energy, to using non-emitting advanced forms of clean energy. This means the evolution of our energy technologies and the evolution and modernization of our civilization.

Biography:

Derek Quinn is the Chief Technology Officer for Why Energy, LLC., an energy consulting and solutions company. His experience includes 28 years as an Engineer and Senior Management for the semiconductor industry in design and development for companies including Texas Instruments, Fairchild, Rockwell, and AMCC. Having transitioned to renewable energy technology in 2009, he has developed strategies and an accurate hardware incorporated a software monitoring, analysis, and control service system for businesses with sophisticated micro-Grid capabilities. 

Abstract:

With apologies to Joni Mitchell, many companies are purchasing energy saving products and are being pursued by companies representing energy components designed be sold on the basis of sustainability and incentives. Businesses that are seeking energy cost reductions rarely know if the strategy they select will financially benefit them or the company that designed and installs their sustainable systems. This article suggests a new strategy to accurately analyze past, existing and future energy costs and develop a control system leading to corporate usage understanding, control and reduction of energy. All businesses understand “you cannot control something you do not understand.” That is particularly true with energy and the related economical management. For example, a relatively efficient hotel may have utility expenses at 6% of their total budget, a food processor probably much higher and a warehouse somewhere in between. An efficient food processor makes 2% to 5% profit on their products. A LED or solar company will target businesses with the goal of selling the product they have on hand as a solution to reducing energy demand and the associated utility cost. LED or solar companies are not in the business of providing accurate long-term studies of energy usage. Their target is to provide products that reduce or offset energy usage. To do more is counter-productive. Similarly, the green sustainable industry cannot survive solely on grants and tax incentives. Addressing 20% of the utility costs through control of energy use can result in a 40% increase in profits with no other change in business operations. There is little benefit for a utility to encourage their customers to reduce usage and degrade their own revenue stream. Unfortunately, cost saving analyses provided by an energy company, is usually spotty, unreliable and often inaccurate.

Biography:

Burton C English has been evaluating renewable energy issues since 1978. His areas of concentration include market evaluation, supply chain feasibility, and economic and environmental impacts of the supply chain. These are critical components to evaluating sustainability of the catalytic systems tailored for the structural features of biomass and its hydrocarbons. Our program evaluates supply chain costs and compares these costs to breakeven analysis of products. In addition, since 2005 we have evaluated the market size for chemical building blocks. Feasibility analysis and tradeoffs analysis between significant environmental and economic variables has been his particular interest. In addition, incorporation of the effects of risk parameters on the supply chain, economic impacts to the communities and techno-economic evaluations of the conversion system have been areas of interest.

Abstract:

In 2015, prior to the climate talks in Paris, the Obama administration wanted to take steps to limit the greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes, after EPA had declared that the aviation emissions contribute to global warming and endanger human health. EPA deferred any ruling until seeing the report of the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The use of renewable jet fuel has the potential to decrease fuel-price uncertainties, thereby decreasing fuel-hedging costs, and decreasing profit volatility. The United States Government is actively supporting the development of renewable jet fuels. As of 2015, the standard setting organization, ASTM International, has approved five renewable jet fuels for use in aviation. This analysis examines the potential for pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) to support a renewable jet fuel industry in the United States. The objective of this study is to examine the economic feasibility of a pennycress to renewable aviation fuel plus evaluate the potential economic impacts this industry could have on the US economy. To conduct the analysis, two models are used – POLYSYS and IMPLAN. The output from POLYSYS is used to develop economic impact input data for IMPLAN. Partial equilibrium simulation results from POLYSYS suggest that pennycress has the potential to supply approximately 800 million gallons nationally to an alternative aviation fuel industry. The economic impact of this industry has the potential to increase national economic activity by almost $19 billion and add 66,000 jobs. Many of these jobs will occur in rural areas; therefore adding value to pennycress seed by converting the oil into biofuel could enhance rural American economies.

Biography:

Eshagh Yazdanshenas, PhD, PE, LEED AP, CEM is Head of Energy Group at the Global Engineering Solutions. He obtained his PhD from the Technical University of Denmark within the Marie Curie Training Network, Advanced Solar Heating and Cooling for Buildings SOLNET (Solar Thermal Network) project in 2010. SOLNET was the first international PhD education program on Solar Thermal Engineering with partners from nine universities and seven European countries supported by the European Commission. He is an expert in renewable energy, building energy modeling and performance modeling applications such as CFD and daylighting modeling. He is proficient in many modeling and simulation programs and related applications, such as EnergyPlus, DesignBuilder, Google SketchUp, Ecotect, Radiance, Star CCM+, and FLUENT, TRNSYS, Trane Trace among others. As a member of Maryland, MD IBPSA chapter, he helps to organize meetings and speakers. He has also written numerous journal and conference papers and presented at significant industry events, such as Solar World Congress, EUROSUN, SimBuild and ASES Solar Conference.

Abstract:

This talk presents some recommendations for the current challenges, development and implementation of renewable energy technologies in the US. Europe has been for several years forefront of renewable energy technology in the world. Europe has presented great innovations in applying sustainable development and renewable energy practices into Europeans daily life. With the increase in the renewable market in China and the rest of the world, it is essential for US companies to be more involved in the state of the art renewable energy technology in US and around the globe. The challenges for US would be pulling out from Paris agreement, state level not federal level law, inefficient buildings, plants and automobiles, use of fossil fuels, poor renewable energy infrastructure and final renewable energy cost for American family. The opportunities and hope would be DOE’s 20% Wind energy production by 2030 report, renewable energy job creation, 35 states with 70% of the total US net power with the overall target averages 20% of electricity from renewables by 2020 and diversifying risk of energy route by investing in many different states. Last but not least, the author will focus on renewable energy education based on his practical study of solar thermal in Europe and working in US afterwards and will compare the challenges, opportunities and practices of renewable energy and energy efficiency in two sides of Atlantic Ocean and will propose joint European and American renewable energy schools and connection with the European universities counterpart for the joint renewable energy program.

Biography:

Rajesh Karki (S’98–M’00–SM’04) received his BE degree from the National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, India, and an MSc and PhD degrees from the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada. Currently, he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Saskatchewan. He was a Lecturer for Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He was also an Electrical Engineer with Nepal Hydro & Electric, Udayapur Cement Industries, Nepal Tele- communications Corporation, and General Electric Canada, Peterborough, ON.

Abstract:

Fossil fuel is presently the major source for electricity production, and is believed to be a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Enormous effort has therefore been put on the development and application of green energy sources. Wind is a promising alternative, which has the potential to be a major power source in future power systems. Huge investments are being made in this sector, which has led to considerable advancement in wind power technology. It is expected that wind power installations will grow substantially to produce clean energy in electric power systems. Wind penetration, which is defined as the ratio of the installed wind capacity to the total installed capacity of a power system is currently about 5% in the Saskatchewan province of Canada. It is expected to increase to over 20% by the next decade. This trend is seen in many jurisdictions around the world. The characteristics of wind power generation is significantly different from that of other conventional generating plants which dictates a need for wind models and techniques appropriately responsive to these characteristics. An increasing number of wind farms located at different sites with varying geographical terrains are being connected to power systems as the wind power penetration continues to grow. The diversity in the wind speed at the various sites can have significant influence on the variability of the overall system generation. This in turn affects system performance and reliability. The wind generation models required for system reliability assessment should therefore appropriately represent the diversity in wind generation profiles. This becomes more important especially at high penetration levels expected in the near future. Time-synchronized data from all the wind farms are generally required to incorporate this correlation in the analysis and hence to accurately model the combined wind generation characteristics. This paper uses an analytical technique to create wind generation models of diverse wind farms, and quantifies the reliability benefit to the power system in terms of wind capacity credit and the increase in peak load carrying capability of a wind-integrated power system.

Biography:

Ayedh Ahmed Al-Shehai has vast experience in the environmental management and planning. He is well-known, high caliber and experienced environmental professional with more than 20 years in different fields such as green technology, sustainable development recycling, hazardous wastes, clean development mechanism, environmental awareness. He has participated actively in numerous regional and international conferences and events as an effective Speaker and is a member of several environmental committees and societies and has many awards for his environmental achievements. He has worked on many environmental projects and studies conducted by Environmental Safety and Protection Department of Royal Commission Yanbu Saudi Arabia as well as a certified environmental Instructor/Advisor

Abstract:

Contemporary development in the Royal Commission of Yanbu (RCY) relies on the comprehensive set of sustainability indicators which have been developed through forty years of experience and studies. The city was built in 1974, with the concept of sustainable development for the oil and petroleum industries which serves the community with a population of 115,000. Recently, the RC won many international awards in development under the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) which is considered an indicator for positive progress in sustainability. The aim of this paper is to explore twelve sustainability indicators implemented at RCY. The proposed sustainability indicators were contributed by nine divisions. The methodology in selecting indicators in terms of measurable success was crafted through the knowledge of local and international organizations such as UNDP, European Union (EU), and Environment Protection Agency (EPA). The findings show that RCY has predominantly made excellent progress in sustainability by accomplishing the goal of efficiency in resources and materials. There are twelve categories designed for sustainable development at the RCY. It contains a comprehensive set of indicators updated annually. In conclusion, sustainability indicators influence the growth of income and made harmonious between the economies and the community at RCY.

Biography:

Young-Joon Yu has led all of the developments, resulting in battery regeneration equipment, which is known as the restoration of all kinds of lead-acid batteries with high pulse frequency technology, which is a new concept for domestic and global markets. To change the world’s entire regeneration paradigm, the technology manuals has been written by him, and he trains overseas buyers through online. As such, this is the most comprehensive technical capability of him. He is responsible for all overseas marketing and sales, and sells to approximately 50 countries. Through various experiences of 20 years of corporate CEOs, he is striving to gain the worldwide share of the markets.

Abstract:

PRIME battery regeneration system was developed by Repowertek Inc. in Korea as the new revolutionary battery regeneration technology that revivifies sulphation on the grid of used & dismantled lead-acid batteries by unique electronic and high frequency pulse technology and that activates sulfation to restore the sulfated batteries and improve capacity like new battery condition. The PRIME battery regeneration technology is a green energy technology that extends the battery life over twice. It is a breakthrough that contributes to cost saving as well as global warming, energy scarcity and environment pollution. The principle of the PRIME regenerator is similar to that of ultrasonic cleaner that cleans fine pollutants on the glasses, and this technology is a proprietary technology that is far superior to all of the restoration technologies in the world. Battery related companies can do the maintain services for Solar & Wind Power plants - Eco Town and environmental systems there powered by renewable energy, Telecom, UPS, Marine, Electric Forklift, Lift, Scrubber and other traction cars, Train of Mine, Golf Cart, Military, and so on. You will find a huge business potential with PRIME products accordingly. You can reduce much amount of battery costs through PRIME machines from now on. Let us create a new emerging market together. 

Biography:

Ogunsuyi Helen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry, School of Sciences, Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria. She is a Lecturer and Researcher with over 20 years of teaching experience. Her current research specialty is on Fuel Chemistry, which embraces both conventional and non-conventional energy options. She has authored and co-authored many scientific papers published both at local and international referred journals. She had attended several seminars, training workshops, symposia and conferences within and outside Nigeria where she presented many of her scientific findings orally and through poster exhibitions. She is a Member of many professional bodies among which are: Institute of Chartered Chemist of Nigeria Science Association of Nigeria; Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World, Trieste Italy; Royal Society of Chemistry (United Kingdom) Professional Member of African Scientific Institute, Fellow of African Women in Agricultural Research and Development, Member of Chemical Society of Nigeria.

Abstract:

In view of the emerging research trend in bio-energy, to circumvent the effects of the impending decline in world’s petroleum reserves and environmental challenges associated with the resource, there is need for African countries to exploit their huge biomass resources towards integrated biorefinery. Nigeria is an agrarian nation with enormous biomass resources that are grossly unexploited for energy generation. Therefore, this present research is investigating the viability of the agricultural residues such as plantain biomass, rice husk, peanut skin and coconut coir from Nigeria for biorefinery operation. These residues were preliminarily analyzed for their monomeric sugar, however, in-depth investigation was focused on plantain biomass due to the enormous yields of wastes from this crop (9,455,000 ton per annual)) compared with other residues under investigation. Our preliminary work demonstrated that the various parts of the plantain biomass namely; flower (inflorescence), leaf and trunk (stem) can be excellent sources of C5 sugars – both in terms of C5 selectivity and yield. The morphology and structural composition of the biomass before and after hydrolysis were studied using SEM and FTIR analysis. The remnant fiber of the biomass was subjected to torrefaction and carbonization processes to produce value-added carbon products such as biochar, carbons for water treatment, etc. BET analysis on the produced carbons showed that surface areas up to 900 m²/g can be achieved. Our work showed that developing a plantain–based biorefinery in Nigeria will impact positively on the economy of the nation with significant agriculture based opportunities in the rural areas. 

Biography:

Gupta M is currently working as Indo-US Postdoctoral fellow in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute under the mentorship of Professor Mattheos Koffas, a renowned Scientist in the field of Metabolic Engineering. she is having expertise in microbiology, cell biology and microbial metabolic engineering. Her previous research work focused on exploration of microbial diversity for sustainable environmental solutions. She has published eight research papers in journals of international repute.

Abstract:

Methane, as natural gas or biogas, is the least expensive source of biofuel. The main problem with the use of methane is its non-compressing nature. The biological upgrading of this single carbon source to biofuels as well as high value chemicals can bring new sustainable solutions to a number of industries with large environmental footprints. Today, biological engineering has provided new opportunities for metabolic system modulation and give new optimism to the concept of a methane-based bio-industry. The proposed approach is to simultaneously use methanol (MeOH) and CO₂ to produce isobutanol (Fig. 1) with a future goal of going all the way back to the conversion of methane to biofuels. We have engineered E. coli cells to utilize MeOH as a carbon and energy source by expressing methanol dehydrogenase (MDH) and two enzymes from the methylotrophic HuMP pathway. The isobutanol pathway has been integrated into E. coli genome using CRISPR technology. The proposed technology is unique and innovative and has a high probability for commercial success. As global energy requirements change and grow, it is crucial that energy infrastructures need to be adapted and changed to fulfill the promises of increasing population for power generation. Hydrocarbon liquid fuel production from natural gas/methane or methanol will help to replace a significant amount of petroleum-based liquid fuel usage while at the same time will also harvest value from a wasted resource and help to mitigate climate change issues.

Biography:

Seongkon Lee, Principal Researcher, has his expertise in the implementation of national energy policy since 2005. He was the former Chief of R&D strategy center, Korea Institute of Energy Research from 2013 to 2015. He is the Board Member of Directors related to The Korea Contents Association (KOCON.a), Korean Society of New and Renewable Energy (KSNRE), Korea Technology Innovation Society, and Korea Entrepreneurship Society. He is the Scientific Panel Member of International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM), England. He was the Visiting Research Fellow of Technology Management for Innovation, The University of Tokyo, from 2010 to 2013. He was the Visiting Scholar of Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, from Aug., 2015 to Aug., 2016. He obtained PhD in Technology Management for Innovation, The University of Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract:

Change in energy environment has been rapid in global energy markets. Advanced economies have been trying to build strategic energy technology development copying with environmental changes, their sustainable development, and climate change. The strategic energy technology development is crucial factor for leading global green energy markets and disseminating them in time. In this research, first stage applied scenario planning for making a framework of various scenarios with the upcoming uncertain future of energy environments. We implemented a systematic procedure composed of scenario planning and integrated two multi-criteria decision making approaches, which were the analytic hierarchy process and TOPSIS methods, to assess 15 energy technologies and prioritize them when decision makers implemented a strategic energy technology development plan as a national level for enhancing national energy security, coping with rapid environmental changes, and sustainable development. We made a short-list of 15 energy technologies, including energy efficiency technologies, new and renewables, and nuclear technology. In this research, we focus on case of low oil price changes and present nuclear power plant status. This research suggests how to find and generate a strategic energy technology development plan considering the selected two key uncertainty variables, including oil price changes and nuclear power plant construction, with STEEP and TOPSIS approaches in the first phase. And then, we build scenario framework considering two key criteria. We assess the case of low oil prices and present nuclear power plant by integrated two multi-criteria decision making approaches for prioritizing short-listed energy technologies. We focus on the strategic energy technology development plan. The results of this research provide decision makers for implementing the uncertain future efficiently with the strategic energy technology development with a scientific systemic procedure.

Biography:

Liguo Wang has received his PhD degree in September 2017 from Department of Engineering Sciences, Uppsala University, and currently is a researcher at the same university. He has seven years of research experience on Renewable Energy, with specialization in Ocean Wave Energy. Research covers key areas relevant to wave energy converters, e.g. fluid-structure interaction, power take-off systems, energy storage, and control strategies. These activities are conducted through analytical analysis, numerical simulation, water tank test of prototypes, and sea test of full-scale devices, under supervision of internationally recognized experts in wave energy.

Abstract:

Ocean wave energy is a promising renewable source to contribute to supplying the world’s energy demand. The Division of Electricity at Uppsala University is developing a technology to capture energy from ocean waves with a wave energy converter (WEC) consisting of a linear permanent magnetic generator and a point absorber. The linear generator is placed on sea bed and is driven directly by the floating absorber. Since March 2006, multiple wave energy converters have been deployed on the Swedish west coast outside the town of Lysekil. The technology is verified by long-term operation during at sea and satisfactory reliability of the electricity generation. This thesis focuses on developing advanced control strategies for fully coupled wave energy converters subject to constraints. A nonlinear control strategy is studied in detail for a WEC subject to constraints under regular and irregular waves. Besides, two coordinated control strategies are developed to investigate the performance of a wave energy farm subject to constraints. The performance of the WECs using these control strategies are investigated in case studies, and optimal PTO damping coefficients are found to maximize the output power. The results show that these control strategies can significantly improve the performance of the WECs, in terms of mean power, compared to a conventional control. Besides these control strategies, a wave-to-wire simulation platform is built to study the power generation control of the WEC subject to constraints. The wave-to-wire simulation platform allows both nonlinear and linear control force. The results show that there is a good agreement between the desired value and the actual value after advanced control.

Biography:

Kamil Dydek received graduation from FPAE WUT in 2015 and has started his PhD at Warsaw University of Technology in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Poland.

Abstract:

From the environmental point of view there is a great interest in a recycling of packaging foils. Most of them are based on glycol modified poly (terepthalate ethylene)-PETG- printed with colorful inks. Therefore, there is necessary to rinse out inks from the foils first to make them processable. In the first step, the waste foils coming from different producers were characterized in terms of their structure and composition. It was found that they are similar to each other and that is possible to wash away all of the colorful inks in one shot with the appropriately selected medium. The comparison of properties of the foils before and after washing showed that there is no effect of the solvent used. In the next step the transparent foils after washing were dried and processed directly by the twin screw extruder machine in laboratory scale. Based on the results from thermal analysis (TGA, DSC) and rheological behavior (MFI index, shear modulus, complex viscosity) the processing conditions have been optimized. Finally, the effect of different processing temperature and number of cycles on properties of regrind material was investigated. The aim of the study was to analyze the possibility to use regrind PETG foil as a raw material. It would be add to pure PETG to decrease the costs of production or to mix with e.g., nanoparticles to provide new properties.

Biography:

Jae Hun Choi transferred from a community college to a Changwon National University and changed the major to Mechanical Engineering. He has studied about the Lithium-ion battery for a graduation thesis. So far, he has participated in several conferences with his Professor Park, and he was awarded a prize at the conference held at his university. Currently, he is studying lithium-ion battery and BLDC motor in Nano Thermofluidic Energy Transfer Laboratory with Professor Heesung Park.

Abstract:

The growing demand for high efficient energy utilization of vehicles replaces hydraulic systems with electro-hydraulic actuators. The benefits of the electro-hydraulic system are energy recovery/storage, variable speed, power on demand, and reduced emission. In era of electric vehicle, the electronic components (motor, power electronics, and battery) for the electro-hydraulic system requires effective, reliable, and long-life time technologies. The authors present a recent research on the cooling technology applied for the development of an effective brushless direct current (BLDC) motor which electronically performs rectification without brushes. In general, BLDC motor is well-known to low noise, high durability and reliability. Nonetheless, unavoidable temperature increase during operation reduces the efficiency of the motor due to increased losses. The critical loss is resolved into iron and copper losses in accordance with the mechanisms. In this regard, a numerical model has been developed to simulate the losses induced by temperature increase. The numerical model is validated by conducting experimentation which presents excellent agreement with the simulation results. During the operation of the motor for 20 minutes, the temperatures increase up to 62.3°C and 32.2°C for stator and magnet, respectively. The authors also demonstrate air cooling structure to reduce the temperatures resulting in reduced losses, increased motor efficiency and durability. 

Biography:

Mayank Saraswat, is a second-year Master's student in Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Delaware. With a background in Chemical Engineering from one of the most prestigious institutes in India, IIT BHU, he worked with Reliance Industries for over 2 years on biofuel extraction technologies. After moving to Delaware in August 2016, he has been continuously involved in Energy Efficiency projects at the university. In 2017, he was selected as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at CA technologies. He helped advance CA's sustainability goals and presently is working on affordable sustainable solutions for underprivileged sections of the economy, through innovative financing mechanisms. He remains highly motivated to advance sustainability in those parts of the community which are under-represented.

Abstract:

Street lighting is one of most critical elements of urban infrastructure. It is a key service that public authorities need to provide for ensuring adequate lighting on roads, which leads to enhanced safety and security in the city, as well as improving visibility during evenings and night. The use of energy efficient technologies like LEDs has the potential to save costs because of reduction in electricity consumption. In India, the Urban local bodies or ULBs (also called municipalities) are responsible for deploying, maintaining and replacing the street lights. The primary financing options available to finance the lighting upgrades are via internal funding through capital budgets, debt financing or via energy performance contracts with Energy Service Companies (ESCOs). This study takes an innovative approach in conjunction with existing financing mechanisms, by partially utilizing a crowd funding framework to pay for the street lighting upgrades. The three pillars of this proposed model will be: ESCO, Municipality and the Citizens. The success of a Public- Public partnership model can prove to be the cornerstone of other such models in the energy sector. The municipalities can upgrade the infrastructure at no additional costs, and simultaneously cut down on their expensive operation and maintenance. After proposing a program structure, this paper will discuss the legal, economic, social and technical factors affecting the feasibility of the proposed structure in the Indian context. This work focuses specifically on tier 2 cities in India, which are defined broadly on the parameters of population (demographics), finance (living costs) and infrastructure (transport systems). This will be followed by a summary of the potential risks and challenges that are inherent in the model and how to address them.

Biography:

Joyshree Barman has completed her BTech in the year 2013 from the Dibrugarh University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Assam, India and MTech from Department of Petroleum Technology, Dibrugarh University, Assam in the year 2016. Recently, she has published two papers and one book chapter. She is presently working as a Junior Research Fellow (JRF) of the University Grants Commission sponsored by Indo-US 21^st Century Knowledge Initiative Programme Project No. 194-1/2009., entitled, “Foam –assisted CO₂ flooding for the depleted reservoir of Upper Assam Basin and candidate reservoirs in Louisiana”, Department of Petroleum Technology, Dibrugarh University.

Abstract:

In alkaline surfactant enhanced oil recovery (ASEOR) an alkali and surfactant/surfactants are used to recover the residual oil that remains after secondary brine flooding. The alkali, which is Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) in this case, reacts with acidic components in the crude oil to form surface-active substances. A GC-MS spectrum of Upper Assam crude oil reveals the presence of carboxylic acid groups leading to in-situ formation of surfactants, which in turn decreases the interfacial tension (IFT) between the oleic and aqueous phases for better oil recovery. While the anionic surfactants used were Black Liquor (BL) and Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate (SDS). The Critical Micellar concentration (CMC) of BL and SDS one at a time was added to NaOH to enhance the effectiveness of NaOH in further decreasing the IFT of the Alkali-Surfactant (AS) slugs. The paper also make an attempt to study the adsorptive nature of the AS slugs. The best fit adsorption isotherm was derived by using SciDAVis scaled Levenberg - Marquaradt algorithm regression co-efficient.

Biography:

Nima Moazami achieved his MEng degree with First Class Honors (Highest Academic Achievement in UK) and received his PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering at University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. He has been focusing on three major research projects i.e. Biomass-To-Liquid production via Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis, on-broad catalytic fuel reforming of gas and liquid fuels for hydrogen production and Organic Rankine Cycles for waste heat recovery. He is so determined to excel in these fields and generally, in alternative fuels and renewable energies, and to continue his work to advance the fields. His goal was always to make and will be making original scientific contributions vital and beneficial to the world as a whole. He has his expertise in mathematical modelling and simulation analysis and passion in production of ultra-clean transportation fuels and reducing emissions of particulate matter, CO and hydrocarbons, SOx and NOx as well as solving the world's current energy problems.

Abstract:

Liquid fuels produced from biomass via Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis have great potential to produce high-performance, environmentally friendly clean and high-quality transportation fuels; mainly due to the absence of aromatic compounds, SO_x and NO_x. Currently, there are three main aspects for consideration regarding the FT synthesis processes. Firstly, there exists the FT synthesis reaction mechanism, the details of which are still not fully understood. Furthermore, from the outlook of chemical engineering, there is the design and scale-up of the commercial FT synthesis plant in which studies of the comprehensive mathematical modelling of the reactor hydrodynamics, reaction kinetics mechanisms as well as optimization study play significant roles. In fact, to reach the ideal performance of the FT synthesis process, a precise comprehensive mathematical modelling along with chemical reaction kinetics mechanisms that can describe the product distribution of FT synthesis is essential. This research has been focused on production of biodiesel (ultra-clean transportation fuels) from biomass via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis process at the presence of supported cobalt catalyst (37%Co/SiO₂). The aim was to develop a comprehensive mathematical model of a catalytic fixed-bed reactor along with comprehensive chemical kinetics model of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction mechanism in order to investigate the conversion, as well as productivity and selectivity of gasoline, diesel and wax based on required application as this process can play a major role in solving the world's current energy problems and is crucial to industrial practice, being a prerequisite for industrial process design, optimization and simulation. Therefore, a novel kinetic mechanism along with comprehensive novel mathematical model of the fixed-bed catalytic FT synthesis reactor was established. The results indicated that the novel developed kinetic model based on a combination of alkyl/alkenyl mechanism for FT reactions (for production of n-paraffins and α-olefins compounds) along with formate mechanism for WGS reaction can provide the most accurate predictions. In order to enhance the performance of the FT synthesis process, first the parametric studies were performed to numerically investigate the effects of operating conditions on the catalytic performance of the fixed bed FT synthesis reactor over 37%Co/SiO₂. The reaction temperature, total pressure, space velocity and H₂/CO molar ratio were tested to see how effective they are. Those parameters that have the most significant effects were then included in the multi-objective optimization process in MATLAB programming software using advance Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA–II) to optimize the productivities and conversion. My advance codes and optimization process gave rise to a set of trade-off optimal solutions, known as Pareto-optimal solutions. As a result, the Pareto-front solutions were established in order to be used as a dynamic database for the specific requirement. Different operating conditions from the obtained database were selected which privileged the optimization of a particular output for example increasing the production of bio-diesel fuel, increasing the conversion rate of bio-syngas species (CO and H₂), decreasing of CO₂ emissions, and decreasing the production of undesired CH₄ and lighter hydrocarbon compounds.

Biography:

Faraz Farhidi is currently a PhD candidate in Economics at the Andrew Young School of policy studies at Georgia State University. He has graduated with a BS in Marine Engineering, following by MA in Economics back in my home country, Iran. His broader research interests include Environmental and Energy Economics, Growth Theory, Labor Economics, as well as Urban Economics. His work focuses on Energy Consumption and its impacts on the Environmental and Societal Degradation.

Abstract:

Mainstream economists have used various growth models to predict the interaction between sustainable economic growth and the endless accumulation of capital while environmental concerns and their negative externalities are left out, in most cases. In this paper, I will present a structural economic model that explicitly allows for the interaction between an economy and an ecosystem. The proposed model indicates that given a wide range of development and socio-economic infrastructure while population growth might be a reason for the constant growth trajectory, it has an adverse effect due to the constraints of resources and the environment. This is because economic activities and population growth increase ecological disordering as they downgrade the environment, while the later element has a negative impact on living standards. Considering different scenarios of utilizing renewable energy for economic growth, a feasible endurance factor for sustainable development might promote the methods of using the substituted energy and recycling methods. This, however, cannot be accomplished given the current speed and direction of technological progress and energy utilization and waste management.

Biography:

Belqasem Aljafari has completed his MS from Northern Illinois University School of Engineering. He is pursuing his PhD degree from School of Engineering.

Abstract:

Throughout the whole world, there are isolated areas where access to an electricity grid is too expensive. Diesel generators have been widely used for a long time because of the low initial cost, but at the same time, they have high running and maintenance cost. As a matter of fact, the diesel generator has many impact factors towards the environment such as producing of CO2 gas. Therefore, to avoid environmental pollution, global warming and ozone layer damage renewable energy sources are the appropriate alternative sources. With all renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal, solar photovoltaic energy is primarily used because of its clean, pollution-free and inexhaustible nature. In the Middle East, especially in Saudi Arabia, the hot outdoor climate induces a necessity for cooling inside the buildings. Particularly, the solar radiations are significant throughout the whole year. Using air conditioning is very common in Saudi Arabia, and sometimes overused, leading to high peak loads for the electricity grid. Hence, the idea is to use the energy from the solar radiations to run the appliances and air conditioning system to reduce the peak demand on the electrical grid. In addition, when using solar panels, it is preferable to immediately use the solar energy than to keep it for later. Therefore, as to avoid using much electricity from the grid at night to run the chillers, the idea is to produce and store during the day by having the battery backup system.

Biography:

Sri Shalini Sathyanarayanan has her expertise and interests in the field of Environmental Science with a keen focus on nitrogen management, solid waste and waste water treatment, environmental biotechnology and microbial fuel cells. She has received her Doctoral and Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry. She is a recipient of many scholarships and fellowships for her research work in India and abroad. She has experience in working on interdisciplinary projects funded by national and international organizations. She has hands on experience in teaching practical and part-time theory classes. Her Post-doctoral experience in real-scale field studies also taught her to handle several challenging issues in environmental field. Her in-depth work on biological treatment and nitrogen management studies creates new ways for protecting environment sustainably. The current project on microbial fuel cells with soil and waste materials is very important in tackling many issues in energy demand, waste management and greenhouse gas emissions.

Abstract:

The global energy prospective is quiet fluctuating. The energy markets are moving towards technological growth and environmental concern. In this aspect, Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for conversion of organic matter into electricity for recovering green energy are becoming significant. Soil has been used to generate electricity in MFCs and shown several potential applications in today’s world. Whereas, usage of dried leaves having a high source of organic content with soil types in an MFC is not studied before and it is novel. The main aim of this study is to address the effect of soil types on the electricity production, nitrogen cycling and greenhouse gas emissions from MFCs loaded with dried leaves.

Methodology: Experiments were carried out in single chambered MFCs equipped with air cathode and carbon felt anode operated for 109 days at room temperature. Two different soil types such as sand and clay were used. Dried leaves were collected from Morgan Arboretum forest reserve, McGill University, Canada. Voltage readings with 500 to 1150 Ω external resistances were measured continuously for study period. MFCs were monitored regularly for gas emissions and changes in nitrogen compounds.

Findings: Sandy soil used in the study had 100% sand and clay soil had 40% clay, 38.5% silt and 21.50% sand. Dried leaves had 72% of organic matter with 42% of carbon content. Both MFCs with sand and clay soil with dried leaves gave continuous electricity production throughout the study period with maximum power density of 29.2 mW/m³ (1.9 mW/m²) and 23.8 mW/m³ (1.6 mW/m²), respectively. Clay soil MFC had higher methane emissions (27%) than sandy soil. Nitrogen profiles showed nitrogen uptake by soils and its possible nitrogen pathways.

Conclusion & Significance: The study demonstrated that the soil types with dried leaves have significant impact on electricity generation and nutrient cycling in MFCs. It has potential for production of renewable energy and climate change mitigation.

Biography:

Farzaneh Soflaei is an Adjunct Faculty in Morgan State University in Maryland- United States since September 2015. She earned her PhD in Architecture (Sustainable Urban Design and Theory), from Tsinghua University in Beijing-China, in 2013. She also obtained a PhD in Architecture (Sustainable Building Design) from Azad University in Tehran- Iran, in 2006, where taught as a Lecturer and Assistant Professor from 2001 to 2009. Sustainability has always her key research interest; she has published 20 conference proceedings, 10 peer-reviewed journal papers, and 2 books, which were cited 97 times based on Google Scholar. In addition, she has served as reviewer for several Elsevier peer-reviewed journals including Building and Environment, Energy and Buildings, International Habitat Journal, etc., and is also very eager to write and submit grant proposals (particularly to the NSF and DOE, but also, if possible to the NIH), in collaboration with other scholars, universities, institutions, and organizations. 

Abstract:

The environmental issues such as global warming, climate change, and environmental pollutions, are defining challenges for the 21^st century. Studies show that the reduction of the energy demand for heating and cooling, as the most energy consumers in building sector, is the key factor in the low energy houses. This paper focuses on the courtyard housing typologies, which were traditionally known for their distinctive passive cooling performance and can contribute meaningfully towards achieving a sustainable building design with high energy efficiency in all regions, particularly in hot-arid climates. The goal is to propose an optimized low-energy design model for courtyards regarding orientation, geometrical properties, and the materials, to provide the maximum thermal comfort for residents. After a comprehensive literature review, the Design Builder software package was employed to develop a three dimensional numerical building model to simulate a courtyard house in BW climate of Phoenix in Arizona, as a research case. The model was verified using data from previous research including indoor and outdoor temperature, and residents’ thermal comfort, and close agreement was achieved. The effects of three main design variables were studied, including orientation, geometrical properties (dimensions and proportions), and materials, on residents’ thermal comfort in the courtyard to achieve most efficient design. Interactive correlations between the design variables were quantified and an optimization was conducted, using Rhinoceros plug-in Grasshopper, in order to maximize thermal comfort for residents and minimize energy consumption related to building heating and cooling. A nonlinear equation were derived based on the optimization investigation to be used in designing courtyard houses in hot-arid climate, which can aid designers to design most-efficient low-energy courtyard houses in this region.

Biography:

Bedoshruti Sadhukhan has a Master’s degree in Environmental Management, and more than 12 years of experience in project management, training and capacity building in the field of environment management, environmental justice, environmental impact assessment, public participation in decision making, water, waste and climate resilience. She has also worked on Human Rights Issues such as housing rights and tribal rights. She is a Key Member of the ICLEI South Asia sustainability team and manages long term international projects on environmental management systems for local governments, climate resilience, water, sanitation and solid waste management in South Asian countries.

Abstract:

With increasing population, economic development and a growing consumerism, South Asian cities are facing a significant change in waste generation and its characteristics. Managing waste has always been the responsibility of local authorities (LAs), but the age-old practice of dumping waste is no longer sustainable. It is an inefficient way to use limited land resources, causes environmental pollution of soil and ground-water, social impacts through health issues of nearby communities and is an overall unsustainable practice leading to loss of valuable material resources. Obviously, LAs need to look for sustainable options of reducing, reusing and recycling waste. Integrating the existing system of informal waste-pickers in South Asia, who dominate recycling even before the waste enters the formal management system, can lead to significant environmental (material recovery), social (health) and economic (livelihood options) benefits. ICLEI South Asia conducted a project in 7 South Asian LAs, encouraging them to promote waste segregation and recycling, particularly through informal sector, to move towards a zero-waste community. Successful pilot projects in the cities, demonstrated how recycling helped to reduce waste going to landfills, produced resource materials including compost, and generated livelihood for waste-pickers in the city. Continuous engagement with local communities and waste pickers ensured the continuity of the pilots even beyond the life of the project. Critical to successful recycling is simultaneous segregation of waste at source, which relies heavily on the awareness levels of community, as well as well-established linkages with recycling units which will take up the segregated recyclables. Moving towards zero waste in cities needs collaboration with state and national government agencies so as to incorporate all types of waste, since LAs are only responsible for municipal waste, which technically excludes medical waste and hazardous waste, but which are major components of the waste coming out of cities.

Biography:

Ruwani Kalpana Jayawardana has experience in using silicon sources both chemical and natural for enhanced growth and disease tolerance in plants. She has a passion in improving plant growth performances by environmental friendly sources and utilizing agricultural waste for improving soil physical, chemical and biological properties. She has contributed to develop a cost effective hydroponic nutrient solution with silicon. In her MPhil research study, she has found that a low cost simplified hydroponic system with paddy husk in the media as effective way of Si nutrition to enhance anthracnose disease resistance in capsicum.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Paddy husk (PH) is an agricultural waste which has not been utilized properly worldwide. Mostly it is left unused as waste or simply burned in the field creating significant environmental problems. It is expected to have about 700,000 tons of paddy husk production in Sri Lanka in year 2020. PH is an organic nutrient source particularly rich in silicon.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of incorporation of PH in the growing substrate to improve plant growth, yield and disease tolerance. A simplified hydroponics system (SHS) with PH and sand (3:2 v:v) media was tested on capsicum plants. In addition, the effect of amendment of soil media with different ratios of PH was investigated on Capsicum annuum L. The effect of amendment of potting media of rubber nursery plants with 20% of PH charcoal or PH ash was also studied.

Findings: More than 50% of soluble Si was detected in the nutrient solution of SHS as measured by colorimetric method. SHS was effective for increasing fruit length, fruit weight, shoot length, root length with 83% of reduction of anthracnose disease. In the pot experiment, it was revealed that incorporation of 60% of PH in to soil would be effective for reducing anthracnose disease of capsicum. Significant improvement of plant diameter was reported in rubber nursery plants when potting media was amended with either PH charcoal or PH ash.

Conclusion & Significance: In case of anthracnose disease of capsicum, use of PH would be an environmental friendly control measure. The findings open path for future investigations on the effect of different forms of PH for enhancing performance of different plants. Further investigations should be conducted to find the vital nutritional potentials of PH and prevent it disposing as waste.

Biography:

Stephen W Brooks is the Chief of the Assets and Logistics Management Division (ALM) of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) Glynco campus. As Chief of ALM, he is responsible for all the personal property located at four FLETC sites. This includes 32,691 assets valued at $96,190,410.39 dollars located in Charleston South Carolina, Cheltenham, Maryland, and Artesia, New Mexico. He oversees the business lines of inventory management, fleet management, mail management, property disposal, and the recycling program. In 2015, he was named the 2015 sustainability hero for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for his innovations in recycling solid waste generated by law enforcement firearms training. He has published in recycling and has been a Noted Speaker at the 2015 Southeastern Recycling Conference in San Destin, Florida and the 2015 Georgia Recycling Coalition Conference on St. Simons Island, Georgia.

Abstract:

A common reason given for not recycling is that it is not cost effective and too costly to do. To be successful is easy but one should shift paradigms to make it work. Whether you are an educational campus, training facility or community, it can be done effectively and efficiently. It will take a shift in culture and thinking in the beginning. That first shift is to stop thinking of all solid waste as “trash”, but rather a commodity that has monetary value in today’s market place of shrinking resources. Recyclable commodities such as old corrugated cardboard (OCC), standard office paper (SOP), aluminum drink cans are no different that gold, orange juice, or pork bellies, they are sold to those companies that need the recyclables as raw material to keep their mills operating, personnel employed, and their products flowing into the stream of commerce around the globe. These recyclable commodities are crucial to saving natural resources when they are processed back into their natural states to begin the manufacturing process all over again. Aluminum can be recycled indefinitely and results in a 95% energy savings and reduces pollution by 95% over tradition saves 4 lbs. of bauxite from being smelting for pound of aluminum recycled. Recycling not only generates positive revenue streams but also, saves natural resources, but also allows for cost avoidance associated with traditional waste collection and disposal.

Biography:

Jean Jacques Fanina is a Young Researcher in the field of Environmental Science. He has worked in various tour companies as a Tour Leader specializing in birds of Madagascar during 12 years while focusing on sustainable tourism, performing national, regional, and local analysis of Tourism and its potential as a sustainable economic development tool. Previous to this, he used to work as a Translator-Interpreter in International companies. Besides, he has also been teaching English in high schools and universities during the last decade. He is highly motivated, hard-working person, experienced individual, with good interpersonal skills and crosscultural skills. He got many Honor and Awards like in 2016 he was Awarded Second Winner in Indonesian Speech Contest in International Level and 2015 First Winner of Video Competition (Promoting Indonesian Tourism, Culture and Language entitled “Tiga lidah Tida cerita”). He is having certificates like 2017 Certificate as a Climate Reality Leader (Denver, Colorado, USA), 2016 Certificate as a Master of Ceremony in International Conference on Climate Change (University of Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia), 2016 Certificate as a Moderator on International Conference on Climate Change (University of Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia), 2015 Certificates as a Participant in various International Conferences on Economics, Laws, Tourism, Biology, etc.

Abstract:

Climate change is affecting birds worldwide. Such impacts have always been prevailing due to rising temperature or unpredictable rainfall that might be too abundant or little and which in turn bring about dire consequences upon the lives of the endemic bird known as Bali Myna (leucopsar rothschildi). In this paper we propose a framework analysis describing the possible patterns of change in the distribution of Bali Myna (leucopsar rothschildi) population based on climate parameters such as temperature, rainfall and humidity in hope to better have an improved quantitative methodology meant to identify and describe these patterns. This study uses a descriptive qualitative method recoursing to focus upon sites observation and a deep interviews to be carried out while using SPSS 16 in order to know the variables correlation in hope to determine the plausible significance between them that allow us to analyse the effects of environmental variables on bird species in this study. We tested the proposed methodology using data from the West Bali National Park and the existing data of climate variables over the last decade where climate variables are considered to be significant factors influencing the lives of Bali Myna (leucopsar rothschildi). This study discovers that increases in temperature and precipitation each year have adversely affected the number of Bali Myna (leucopsar rothschildi) population indicating that the bird’s survival capacity depends largely much on temperature. Besides, it has been perceived that Bali Myna is very reproductive in rainy season but its fluctuations whether high or low impacts them as well. The distribution mapping show a decline of population in 2006 while an increase was perceived during the last five year period of 2011-2015. Besides, over the same period, a slight increase of 0.4 °C in mean temperature was noticed, precisely in Cekik our research site where Bali Myna (leucopsar rothschildi)

Biography:

Byeong-Kyu Lee is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Ulsan (UOU), Ulsan, Korea. He is the Director of Brain Korea 21 Project and Environmental Industry and Education Center at UOU. He received a Service Merit Medal of Korea from Korean Government and an outstanding Professor Award from AWMA. He also received a Professor Award of the Year and a distinguished Professor in Research Award at UOU. His current research interests include visible light driven photocatalytic treatments of organics and VOCs, photocatalytic CO₂ conversion into solar fuels, photo-electrochemical H₂ production, CO₂ sequestration using nano zeolites and nanocomposites, adsorption removal of organics and heavy metals, carbon aerogel and bead, and biochar application. He also has great interest in air pollution and particle control as well as self-cleaning fiber and selective plastic separation from ASR and ESR with surface treatments.

Abstract:

A large portion of municipal plastic wastes consists of significant amount of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products containing hazardous chlorine element. During their disposal activities, such as incineration, a lot of toxic chemicals including hydrogen chloride, chlorine gas, dioxins, and furans can be released into environment. Therefore, proper development of selective separation methods of PVC containing chlorine is necessary before applying disposal or material recycling processes. However, it has been difficult to separate selectively PVC from mixtures of plastics having similar appearance density, i.e. PVC and PET mixture (PET 1.38 g/cm³ and PVC 1.42 g/cm³). This study presents a one-step selective separation technique of PVC using H₂O₂ solution, to promote hydrophilicity development on PVC surface, under ultrasonic irrigation. The ultrasonic treatment helped to decrease air bubbles attachment on PVC surface, which can make settling down of treated PVC to the bottom of the flotation reactor. However, the PET treated under the ultrasonic environment was easily floated over because it was still kept hydrophobicity. The combined treatment of low concentration of H₂O₂ and ultrasonic irrigation for 30 min showed 100% purity and recovery of the PVC separated from PET, which could be a suitable and inexpensive way to improve plastic recycling quality through selective separation of PVC with selective building of hydrophilicity on PVC surface.

Biography:

Indira Parajuli has completed her PhD from Incheon National University, South Korea. She worked as Assistant Professor in Sapta Gandaki Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Nepal from 2005 to 2006 and served as an Assistant Professor in Nepal Poly-technique Institute, Nepal from 2009 to 2011. She has over 15 years of professional experiences with various agencies including UNDP, European Union, ILO, Helvetas, etc. She has more than 35 publications including text book, international journal papers, conference papers, domestic publications. She is a Member of Asian Institute for Environmental Research and Energy (A.NERGY) and Korean Society of Atmospheric Environment since 2012. 

Abstract:

The integrated management of media based (both water and air) pollutants is the vital at current as the management and legalization of individual pollutant is very difficult. Integration of various environmental aspects associated with activities of production processes is one of the challenges in industrial sectors. It is of vital concern to find the scientific way of integration of media based pollutants for today. Based on amount and kind of media based pollutants, Integrated Environmental Performance Score (IEPS) is calculated applying Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and other Environmental Impacts (TRACI). The potential impacts of individual pollutants have been modeled for water-based pollutants viz., Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Phosphorous (TP), and Total Nitrogen (TN) and air pollutants viz., Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx), Oxides of Sulphur (SOx) and Particles Matter (PM10). A kilogram of individual pollutants is taken in modeling to compute the individual impact categories of unit pollutants. The EPS penalty of TN is obtained as highest score of 189.70 i.e. 90.82% shares among six pollutants. The total penalty score for TP, PM10, TN, NOx and SOx, is derived as 13.53 (6.48%), 2.59 (1.24%), 1.30 (0.62%), 1.30 (0.62%) and 0.44 (0.21%), respectively. Hence, it is necessary to integrate effects of pollutants as per the scientific and justified impact caused by individual pollutants derived from the industrial facilities. Therefore, this study recommends for the compliance of EPS penalty of the pollutants based on a result of TRACI. This helps to enforce a scientific and justified polluters’ pay principle.

Biography:

Manish Mudgal is presently working as Principal Scientist at CSIR-AMPRI Bhopal India. His research is concentrated on development of value added materials for Civil Engineering applications utilizing Industrial Wastes and has developed Fly Ash based (Cement Free) Green Concrete for Road construction and demonstrated the technology at semi pilot plant level. He has also developed Red Mud based synthetic radiation shielding aggregates using these aggregates developed radiation shielding concrete for medical installations and strategic sector. He has two US patents granted in his credit and has 24 publications in international and national journals, 59 publications in international and national conference proceedings. He is the recipient of nine Awards in different categories at CSIR-AMPRI, Bhopal India, guided 15 MTech students and two students perusing PhD under his guidance.

Abstract:

Geopolymer is a new technology towards greener environment as it utilizes industrial waste like fly ash, metakaolin, blast furnace slag, etc in bulk quantity. The geopolymer technology was first introduced by Professor Joseph Davidovits of France in 1978. His work shows that the adoption of the geopolymers could reduce the CO₂ emission caused due to cement industries. The development of geopolymer system is an important step towards the production of environment friendly materials. Geopolymerization involves a chemical reaction between various alumino silicate precursors with alkali metal silicates under strong alkaline conditions yielding polymeric –Si-O-Al-O- bonds, which lead to geopolymers by polycondensation. In present research work an attempt has been made to develop high strength geopolymer mortar using industrial waste fly ash from Satpura thermal power plant Sarni (M.P) India and Rice husk from agro industries. Sodium hydroxide and Sodium meta silicate were used as conventional alkaline activator. Rice husk was used for the synthesis of in-situ silicates for development of inorganic organic hybrid alkaline activator. For the first time this inorganic organic hybrid alkaline activator was developed by CSIR-AMPRI Bhopal India for multifunctional applications. Patent filed in India and USA and its application number is 0088NF/2016/201611019506 Dated 30, March 2016. The developed inorganic organic hybrid alkaline activator was used with conventional alkaline activator in different percentages by weight of fly ash. The percentage range chosen were 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, and 2.5%. Fly ash based geopolymer mortar cubes samples were thermal cured in hot air oven for 48 hours at 60 ℃ and then the cubes samples were left at ambient temperature. Five batches of inorganic organic hybrid alkaline activator and one batch of reference conventional geopolymer mortar were mix design and three cube samples for each batch were tested at 3, 7 and 14 days respectively for compressive strength. The conventional geopolymer mortar prepared with alkaline activator of optimized 12.5 molar solution. The compressive strength of conventional geopolymer mortar was found to be 35.9 MPa at 14 days which was compared with the geopolymer mortar developed using inorganic organic hybrid alkaline activator and it was found that maximum compressive strength of 55 MPa at 14 days was achieved after adding 2% of inorganic organic hybrid alkaline activator. The developed high strength geopolymer mortar can be used for production of prefabricated building components.

Biography:

Akihiro Yamasaki is Professor at the Department of Materials and Life Sciences of Seikei University, Tokyo, Japan. He has his education in Chemical Engineering at the University of Tokyo, and awarded PhD in Chemical Engineering for his work on membrane separation. After that, he joined the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) until he moved to Seikei University. In the meantime, he joined Institute for Environmental Chemistry at the National Research Council, Canada as a Guest Researcher and the Department of Chemical System Engineering at University of Tokyo as a Guest Professor. His research field covers wide range of environmental issues including recycling, CO₂ mitigation, water treatment, and air pollution.

Abstract:

A new type of material, PAdeCS^®, derived from concrete sludge has been developed, and its removal performances for heavy metals, and toxic anions such as arsenate, boron were examined. Concrete sludge is waste of fresh concrete, which is rich in calcium and strong alkaline. Concrete sludge is generated when unused concrete is returned from construction sites or excess concrete in the concrete-using industries. In Japan, the annual emission rate of concrete sludge is as large as several millions metric tons, and it requires an acid treatment to neutralize the alkaline components before disposal. We have developed a method for manipulating concrete sludge to prepare a solid material through partial removal of calcium contents to avoid hardening of concrete. After solid-liquid separation, the solid residue was obtained, which is still rich in calcium and alkaline. PAdeCS^®, so prepared have versatile usage including heavy metal removal and toxic anion removal from waste water. In addition, calcium and alkaline in PAdeCS^® would form hydroxyapatite (HAP) when mixed with dissolved phosphorus ions. Thus, PAdeCS^® can be used for phosphorous recovery process from sewage stream. We first tested the removal performance of boron and fluorine in water. Since PAdeCS^® is derived from hydrated cement, it would contain a certain amount of ettringite, a crystalline material with the chemical formula, Ca₆Al₂ (SO₄)₃(OH)₁₂·26H₂O`,  of which sulfate ions have anion exchange capacity with ambient anions. The experimental results showed that boron as well as fluorine in water can be removed efficiently. In addition, removal of heavy metals and arsenate in water was examined, and showed excellent removal performances. Thus PAdeCS^® is a versatile solid material for environmental-related applications.