9,183 research outputs found
A community-scale hybrid energy system integrating biomass for localised solid waste and renewable energy solution: Evaluations in UK and Bulgaria
The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Growing pace of urban living is expected to simultaneously aggravate both the waste and the energy crises. This study presents feasibility assessment of a community scale hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) utilising biomass to serve the local energy needs while reducing the household solid waste volume. A modelling framework is presented and evaluated for a biomass HRES, comprising of a Wind turbine-PV Array-Biogas generator-Battery system, applied to two European cities - Gateshead (UK) and Sofia (Bulgaria) - accounting for their distinct domestic biowaste profiles, renewable resources and energy practices. Biogas generator is found to make the most substantial share of electricity generation (up to 60–65% of total), hence offering a stable community-scale basal electricity generation potential, alongside reduction in disposal costs of local solid waste. Net present cost for the biomass-integrated HRESs is found within 5% of each other, despite significant differences in the availability of solar and wind resources at the two sites. Based on a survey questionnaire targeting construction companies and energy solution developers, project costs and planning regulatory red tapes were identified as the two common implementation challenges in both the countries, with lack of awareness of HRES as a further limitation in Bulgaria, impeding wider uptake of this initiative
Enterprise and Entrepreneurship for Postgraduate Research Students : Report 3 : Training Needs Analysis
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Issues of quality assurance in the management of plagiarism in blended learning environments
Increasing access to and availability of electronic resources presents students with a rich
library of opportunities for independent study. But students also find themselves in the
confusing territory of how they should best use these resources within their assessment
activities. Likewise, teaching institutions are faced with the problems of plagiarism and
collusion, and the challenges of educating, deterring, detecting, and dealing with breaches of
policy in a fair and consistent way across all disciplines.
This paper examines issues of quality assurance in the management of plagiarism by
discussing the following questions:
– How can effective automated plagiarism detection services be introduced and managed
across the institution?
– What teaching and assessment practices can be adopted to deter plagiarism?
– What part should collusion and plagiarism detection tools play in educating and deterring
students?
– What are appropriate penalties for plagiarism and collusion and how can these be
applied consistently across disciplines?
Drawing together three distinct strands of research, in both distance and campus based
institutions, the authors discuss how practice and policy have evolved in recent years in an
attempt to reduce the incidence of plagiarism and collusion. The paper will illustrate this
evolution by reporting on recent developments in assessment strategy, detection tools, and
policy within two UK HE Institutions: The UK Open University and Manchester Metropolitan
University
Data-Intensive Computing in the 21st Century
The deluge of data that future applications must process—in domains ranging from science to business informatics—creates a compelling argument for substantially increased R&D targeted at discovering scalable hardware and software solutions for data-intensive problems
Environmental (waste) compliance control systems for UK SMEs
While the ‘environment’ is often perceived as a heavily regulated area of business, in reality, directly-regulated businesses represent a small proportion of the business community. This study aimed to evaluate and outline potential improvements to compliance controls for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly those involved in the waste sector. Forty-four SMEs from England were interviewed/audited between April-September 2008. Using a UK-based system as a case-in-point, the Environment Agency’s (EA) Operational Risk Appraisal (‘Opra’)/Compliance Assessment Report (CAR) system was analysed. Environmental compliance performance indicators and an initial assessment methodology for SMEs were developed. The study showed:• Compliance with permitting legislation was poor in many areas.• Regulatory authorities are either unable/failing to implement their enforcement policies or unable/failing to identify non-compliances due to the infrequency or limited nature of their inspections.• Improvements are needed to the EA Opra/CAR system – control measures are not fully taken into account when calculating risk.Recommendations to improve SME compliance controls include using internationally applicable general and specific compliance and non-compliance performance indicators, re-designing the Opra system and using an initial assessment methodology based on understanding the hazardousness of SME categories, compliance levels and operator competency.<br/
Developing a Prerogative Theory for the Authority of the Chancery: The French Connection
This chapter demonstrates that an important influence on theoretical understanding of the equity jurisdiction and the need for the Chancery around 1600. It identifies a significant influence from the writings of Jean Bodin. This begins in the work of William Lambarde c.1580, but can also be identified in several other contributions to debates about the Chancery in the decades around 1600
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