A study of the integration of semi-transparent phtovoltaics with sunscreen structures in a major transportation infrastructure tunnel

This thesis presents a study of the energy consumption of a major underwater road tunnel in Québec and the possible integration of photovoltaics, as well as other energy efficiency measures. A novel application of semi-transparent photovoltaics (STPV) integrated with sunscreen structures (SS) installed at the portals of the tunnel is presented as a retrofit primarily for the tunnel lighting system, but with auxiliary benefits to other major systems and road safety conditions. A study on the operational power and energy use of the heating, lighting, and ventilation systems was performed to estimate the potential energy and monetary savings of this application. Lighting subsystems account for up to 50% of the energy consumption of a typical tunnel. Day-time lighting levels account for over two-thirds of the total system lighting power; their periodic nature creates daily peaks in the tunnel’s energy load profile. The 1.3 km long Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine underwater road tunnel, located in Montréal, Québec is presented as a representative case study for cold climates. A model of the lightingsystem was developed using recorded data from a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system and calibrated using metered data provided by the electric utility. This model was used to evaluate the energy and power demands of the lighting system, in comparison to estimates of other major systems that consume electricity in the tunnel. Additionally, a daylighting model was created with the DIVA-for-Rhino daylighting plugin for the Rhinoceros and Grasshopper software using detailed construction plans. This was used to evaluate the function of the semi-transparent photovoltaic sunscreen (STPV-SS) structure as a shading device to gradually reduce the contrast between the outdoor and indoor environments. Its primary goal is to reduce the lighting requirements necessary for the safe adaptation of the human visual system (HVS) of motorists entering the tunnel and reduce the black hole effect and glare from the sun during critical glare hours (CGH). Different STPV options with varying transparencies and visible light transmittances (VLT) were considered to determine the option most suitable for tunnels. Matrix-based STPVs achieve their degree of transparency by alternating between opaque PV material and transparent glass. Intrinsically STPVs are process-induced materials such as thin-film or organic PVs whose transparency is an innate characteristic. Energy saving and energy production potential from the STPV system is greatest with matrix-based STPV options, however, safety conditions suffer greatly from poor visibility, resulting from poor uniformity of the transmitted daylight. The most balanced option was low VLT intrinsically STPV technology, which resulted in better daylight uniformity, and lower artificial lighting demands. Low VLT intrinsically STPV options also have higher PV efficiencies than their high VLT counterparts. It also resulted in the highest reduction in equivalent veiling luminance (disability glare) for drivers during CGH. Reductions in lighting system requirements over the tunnel length, including the threshold, transition and interior lighting zones of the tunnel were considered. Results showed that the application of STPV-SS structures at entrances of the LHLF tunnel could reduce annual energy demands of the lighting system by between 10% to 18%, depending on the VLT of the structure

Differential Gene Expression in a Louisiana Strain of Microalgae

Considerable interest in alternative energy has stimulated research in biofuels, particularly microalgal biofuels. In particular, strains of algae that accumulate lipids to be used for biofuels must be adapted to outdoor growth and resistant to invasive species. Differential gene expression in a Louisiana algae/cyanobacteria co-culture consisting of approximately 97% Chlorella vulgaris and 3% Leptolyngbya sp. possessing these traits was examined. Possible reasons for the enhanced growth of the co-culture relative to a Chlorella monoculture were reviewed, including cyanobacterial symbiosis and chemicals produced by cyanobacteria or bacteria that could influence the growth of Chlorella. The co-culture and Chlorella monoculture were cultivated at scalar irradiance levels of 180 and 400 µmol/m2-sec and nitrate levels corresponding to 50% and 100% of the nitrate levels of Bold’s Basal Medium. Dry biomass and cell counts were measured for the cultures initially, in the early exponential phase, in the late exponential phase, and at the end of the growth period. Lipid content was measured in the late exponential phase and at the end of the growth period. Total RNA was extracted and suppression subtractive hybridization was performed. Expressed sequence tags corresponding to putatively differentially expressed genes were sequenced, yielding one-hundred and five putatively differentially expressed genes. Quantitative PCR was performed on nine genes to compare gene expression in Chlorella in the co-culture and monoculture. All nine genes showed statistically significant expression level differences between the Chlorella vulgaris in the co-culture and in the monoculture for cultures grown at the same irradiance and nitrate levels. Evidence from the gene expression experiments, combined with observations in the literature, suggest the possible effect of a cyanobacteria-produced substance such as microcystins by the Leptolyngbya sp. Second, two Photosystem II genes were upregulated in the Chlorella monocultures, and one Photosystem I gene was upregulated in the co-cultures. Finally, the upregulation of a gene for an oil globule associated protein was found in the co-culture Chlorella. A homologous protein has been found in similar green algae, and further study of it in Chlorella is expected

Flicking light design for stage lighting with HPS lamp

International audienc

Power from the people: the empowerment of distributed generation of solar electricity for rural communities in Malaysia

This paper describes the decreasing energy security in Malaysia and the likely impact on maintaining power supplies to low income groups. The most vulnerable group is the low-income people in the rural areas, who have limited access to generate their own power supplies. The paper reviews the potential of distributed generation (DG) using photovoltaics as a means of mitigating this problem. Examples from other countries are reviewed and alternative methods of funding PV installations are discussed. Strategies such as community-based approach and innovative financing scheme will be introduced and discussed. The main objective is to utilize solar energy as the main energy resources for generating electricity and places rural people as the main stakeholder to deploy the strategic model. This model is also ideal to be integrated with the distributed generation (DG) system as one of the key components in developing a suitable energy policy that can helps to sustain the energy development of rural community in the future. The paper concludes that distributed generation (DG) is feasible and that innovative funding schemes are required based on local knowledge

Sustainability through subsistence: the case for de-urbanization in Malaysia

Industrialization was the catalyst for the growth of cities in Southeast Asia, in particular Malaysia. However, in many cities industrialization has peaked and is now declining. This raises the issue of increased urban poverty as a significant problem facing these cities in the 21st century. Evidence from other developing countries is that faced with the choice of urban poverty or rural subsistence, there appears to be a trend towards de-urbanization. As Malaysia is unique in imposing laws that protect rural land ownership, this study investigates the capacity of the available land to absorb migrants from the city and seeks to identify whether the returning migrants have the capabilities required to maintain a subsistence lifestyle. This paper presents a case study analyzing the trends of urban to rural migration in Malaysia. An audit of land capacity was carried out in a typical kampong and an investigation of the capability of migrants has been done in both urban and rural areas. In conclusion, this study has found that the land abandoned by the rural-urban migration of the 1970s is available and remains accessible for future use. The findings also identified several examples of returnees who have shown that they have adapted well to a rural lifestyle. The results indicate that there is evidence that de-urbanization can result in a sustainable lifestyle through subsistence living in Malaysia

A critical analysis of the teaching of fundamental physical concepts and principles, with particular reference to South African schools

From introduction: The main purpose of the present study is to give a detailed critical survey of possible teaching approaches to fundamental physical ooncepts and principles which could reasonably be taught at sohool, and to consider the implications of this survey for the teaching of physical science in South Afric

Configuring Corporeality: Performing bodies, vibrations and new musical instruments.

How to define the relationship of human bodies, sound and technological instruments in musical performance? This enquiry investigates the issue through an iterative mode of research. Aesthetic and technical insights on sound and body art performance with new musical instruments combine with analytical views on technological embodiment in philosophy and cultural studies. The focus is on corporeality: the physiological, phenomenological and cultural basis of embodied practices. The thesis proposes configuration as an analytical device and a blueprint for artistic creation. Configuration defines the relationship of the human being and technology as one where they affect each other's properties through a continuous, situated negotiation. In musical performance, this involves a performer's intuition, cognition, and sensorimotor skills, an instrument's material, musical and computational properties, and sound's vibrational and auditive qualities. Two particular kinds of configuration feature in this enquiry. One arises from an experiment on the effect of vibration on the sensorimotor system and is fully developed through a subsequent installation for one visitor at a time. The other emerges from a scientific study of gesture expressivity through muscle physiological sensing and is consolidated into an ensuing body art performance for sound and light. Both artworks rely upon intensely intimate sensorial and physical experiences, uses and abuses of the performer's body and bioacoustic sound feedback as a material force. This work contends that particular configurations in musical performance reinforce, alter or disrupt societal criteria against which human bodies and technologies are assessed. Its contributions are: the notion of configuration, which affords an understanding of human-machine co-dependence and its politics; two sound-based artworks, joining and expanding musical performance and body art; two experiments, and their hardware and software tools, providing insights on physiological computing methods for corporeal human-computer interaction

Impressions of Montserrat : a partial account of contesting realities on a British dependent territory

This thesis portrays a diversity of impressions of Montserrat, a British Dependent Territory (BDT) in the Eastern Caribbean. The thesis is a postmodern rejection of Grand Theory in the Social Sciences. First I interrogate the nature of social anthropology, both its theoretical and methodological assumptions. I then establish my own anthropology which is postmodern - partial, relative, uncomfortable and uncertain, and above all, impressionistic. The substantial chapters in the thesis support this postmodern impressionistic anthropology by referring to an ethnographic encounter with the competing and highly contested realities expressed by myself, some Montserratian poets, some calypsonians, some development workers, some local Montserratians, some tourists and the Montserratian Government and Tourist Board, and some travel writers. More precisely, the Preface reviews social anthropology as an uncomfortable and uncertain discipline. It also establishes and justifies my postmodern impressionistic anthropology which is thereafter illustrated by ethnographic vignettes in the following chapters. Via the anthropologist's impressions. Chapter One introduces the reader to the place and people of Montserrat. In Chapter Two, Montserrat is filtered through poets' impressions of the island and islanders, namely through the poets of the Maroons Creative Writing Group which is led by Dr. Howard Fergus. Chapter Three goes on to show that impressions of Montserrat, despite their highly contested nature, can be held not just singularly - as in the case of individual poets, but also plurally - as constellations such as the contrasting world-views of Montserratians and development workers on Montserrat. Chapters Four and Five continue my ethnographic impressions of Montserrat by presenting, respectively, the labours of several calypsonians on Montserrat who seek public recognition for their work, and, union leader, Chedmond Browne's struggle to maintain the trade union workers' employment at Plymouth Port. The final two chapters - Chapter Six and Chapter Seven - recede (ethnographically) from Montserrat: the first by considering the competing impressions and controversial histories of St. Patrick's Day, an annual celebration and commemoration on Montserrat; and the second by presenting a diverse selection of travel writers' impressions of Montserrat. The contentious content of both chapters affirms and reinforces the need for my postmodern and impressionistic approach to an anthropological investigation on Montserrat. Finally, the Conclusion to the thesis sums up the aforementioned chapters and makes general comments towards establishing a reflexive and sustainable postmodern impressionistic anthropology

Maritime expressions:a corpus based exploration of maritime metaphors

This study uses a purpose-built corpus to explore the linguistic legacy of Britain’s maritime history found in the form of hundreds of specialised ‘Maritime Expressions’ (MEs), such as TAKEN ABACK, ANCHOR and ALOOF, that permeate modern English. Selecting just those expressions commencing with ’A’, it analyses 61 MEs in detail and describes the processes by which these technical expressions, from a highly specialised occupational discourse community, have made their way into modern English. The Maritime Text Corpus (MTC) comprises 8.8 million words, encompassing a range of text types and registers, selected to provide a cross-section of ‘maritime’ writing. It is analysed using WordSmith analytical software (Scott, 2010), with the 100 million-word British National Corpus (BNC) as a reference corpus. Using the MTC, a list of keywords of specific salience within the maritime discourse has been compiled and, using frequency data, concordances and collocations, these MEs are described in detail and their use and form in the MTC and the BNC is compared. The study examines the transformation from ME to figurative use in the general discourse, in terms of form and metaphoricity. MEs are classified according to their metaphorical strength and their transference from maritime usage into new registers and domains such as those of business, politics, sports and reportage etc. A revised model of metaphoricity is developed and a new category of figurative expression, the ‘resonator’, is proposed. Additionally, developing the work of Lakov and Johnson, Kovesces and others on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), a number of Maritime Conceptual Metaphors are identified and their cultural significance is discussed