Agricultural Efficiency and the End of the Oil Age; Building a Future of Longevity

This thesis uses an efficiency analysis of agricultural systems to assert that, in lieu of rising prices of fossil fuel, people need to come into more direct contact with their food systems. With a switch to smaller, more efficient farms that rely less on fossil fuel and are connected with the communities they supply for, we can avoid an energy crisis turning into a famine. These smaller-scale systems can help create self-contained, carbon-neutral communities

The duration of economic expansions and recessions : More than duration dependence

One widespread idea in the business cycles literature is that the older is an expansion or contraction, the more likely it is to end. This paper tries to provide further empirical support for this idea of positive duration dependence and, at the same time, control for the effects of other factors like leading indicators, the duration of the previous phase, investment, price of oil and external influences on the duration of expansions and contractions. This study employs for the first time a discrete-time duration model to analyse the impact of those variables on the likelihood of an expansion and contraction ending for a group of industrial countries over the last fifty years. The evidence provided in this paper suggests that the duration of expansions and contractions is not only dependent on their actual age: the duration of expansions is also positively dependent on the behaviour of the variables in the OECD composite leading indicator and on private investment, and negatively affected by the price of oil and by the occurrence of a peak in the US business cycle ; the duration of a contraction is negatively affected by its actual age and by the duration of the previous expansion.Business cycles ; Expansions ; Contractions ; Duration dependence ; Duration models

LONG-TERM STUDY OF CHANGES OF PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PARAMETERS OF TRANSFORMER OILS

The average age of transformers in service is increasing and approaching the end of design life. Hence there is an increasing need to assess the condition of transformers. The utilities currently use a number of diagnostic techniques to assess the insulation condition of aged transformers. Among them physic-chemical analysis of transformer oil are frequently used. The article presents the results of many years of routine laboratory testing of oil transformers operated in the EnergiaPro energy company. Oil testing included measurements of total acidity, water content, breakdown voltage, resistivity, tgδ

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Noted author will discuss end of the “oil age” in Feb. 21 lectureStudent Advisory Board is ‘Keeping it C.L.A.S.S.Y’ for study abroadSport psychologists and graduate students help prospects prepare for NFL Combin

Organic geochemistry of the Boltysh impact crater, Ukraine

The Boltysh crater has been know for several decades and was originally drilled in the 1960s - 1980s in a study of economic oil shale deposits. Unfortunately, the cores were not curated and have been lost. However we have recently re-drilled the impact crater and have recovered a near continuous record of ~400m of organic rich sediments deposited in a deep isolated lake which overly the basement rocks spanning a period ~10 Ma. The Boltysh impact crater, centred at 48°54–N and 32°15–E is a complex impact structure formed on the basement rocks of the Ukrainian shield. The age of the impact is 65.17±0.64 Ma [1]. At 24km diameter, the impact is unlikely to have contributed substantially to the worldwide devastation at the end of the Cretaceous. However, the precise age of the Boltysh impact relative to the Chicxulub impact and its location on a stable low lying coastal plain which allowed formation of the postimpact crater lake make it a particularly important locality. After the impact, the crater quickly filled with water, and the crater lake received sediment input from the surrounding land surface for a period >10 Ma [2]. These strata contain a valuable record of Paleogene environmental change in central Europe, and one of very few terrestrial records of the KT event. This preeminent record of the Paleogene of central Europe can help us to answer several related scientific questions. What is the relative age of Boltysh compared with Chicxulub? How long was the hydrothermal system active for after the impact event? How did the devastated area surrounding the crater recover, and how rapid was the recovery? The first sediments to be deposited in the crater lake were a series of relatively thin turbidites, the sediments then become organic rich shales and oil shales. Within the core there is ~400 m of organic rich shales/oil shales spanning a period of ~10 Ma some of which contain macrofossils such as ostracods, fish and plant fossils. Preliminary palynological studies suggest initial sedimentation was slow after the impact followed by more rapid sedimentation through the Late Paleocene. Hydrocarbons extracted from these samples are commonly dominated by terrestrial n-alkanes (Fig 1), Hopanes (including 3-methylhopanes) and steranes are also abundant and indicate the immaturity of the samples. The immaturity of samples is also evident from the abundance of hopenes, sterenes and oleanenes especially in the upper section of the core. In some of the oil shales the hopenes and sterenes are the most abundant hydrocarbons present. There is variation in the distribution of hydrocarbons/biomarkers and palynology throughout the core caused by changing inputs and environmental conditions

Geopolitics and Energy: The End of the Oil Age... Sort Of [video]

Defense Energy SeminarThe age of petroleum is not over. Not even close. Not due to policy. Not due to ideology. And certainly not to technology. But that doesn't mean the age of a global oil market is long for this world. Some 80% of the oil consumed on Earth is internationally traded, and nearly all that trade is only possible because of a specific U.S. policy carried out by the U.S. Navy. Policy changes. Policy has changed. And so has the Navy. What's emerging from those changes is a new, more brutal global environment and a new, more brutal American Navy that will be used in new, more brutal way

Growth and maturity of Indian oil sardine Sardinella longiceps (Valenciennes, 1847) along southwest coast of India

Growth studies are important to determine the total recruitment of fish with respect to time while information on age and length at first maturity are essential to assess the spawning stock. The present communication deals with growth, maturity and mortality parameters of Indian oil sardine Sardinella longiceps from southwest coast of India. Length at first maturity of oil sardine was found to be 15.7 and 15.2 cm for male and female, respectively. Comparison of length at first maturity of oil sardine with earlier studies showed only minor variations. The growth parameters L∞, K, and age at zero length (t0) were calculated as 19.8 cm, 1.14 yr-1 and -0.0464 respectively. From the VBG equation, the length attained at the end of I, II and III year is estimated as 13.79, 17.87 and 18.9 cm respectively. Two peaks of recruitment to the fishery were observed. The values of total mortality (Z), natural mortality (M) and fishing mortality (F) estimated are 4.33, 2.7 and 1.6 respectively. The exploitation rate was found to be 0.37

Daur Ulang Minyak Jelantah Pada Kelompok Pemuda Remaja GPDI Jemaat Ekklesia Padang Bulan, Jayapura

Cooking oil is not only necessary for frying but also as for flavor additive to the foods. Repeated use of cooking oil (Used Cooking Oil/ UCO) can affects its quality and caused a risk for human health. In addition, UCO could potentially be a contaminant to the environment as well. Therefore, our activity aimed to use the UCO as materials for candle making. We targeted people at the youth age as targeted community and introduce the technology to reuse UCO for candle making. Sharing information and practice was conducted to increase the enthusiasm of participants. At the end of the program, participants were able to make candles and also put some aroma therapy essence into the candle made from UCO. Keyword: aroma therapy; used cooking oil (UCO); candle.

Study of some Blood Parameters of Broilers Fed on Ration Containing Fish Oil

This study was designed to identify the effects of ration supplementation with fish oil on certain hematological values of broilers. A total of 150 unsexed chicks (Ross 308) at age one day old were randomly assigned to 3 equally treated groups (50 birds per treatment) with two replicates (25 birds per replicate)as following: T1/ birds fed basal diet without supplemented with fish oil (as control group) while T2 and T3 /birds fed basal diet supplemented daily with 0.25 and 0.5% respectively fish oil during the experiment period (35 days). Blood samples were collected at the end of experiment and then analysis. Traits involved in this study were RBCs, WBCs, PCV, Hb, monocytes, heterophiles, basophiles. eosinophiles, lymphocytes, and H/L ratio. The results indicate that 0.5 % of fish oil have a significant (p>0.05) improving in RBCs, WBCs, PCV, Hb, heterophiles, lymphocytes and H/L ratio. In conclusion fish oil can be used during the breeding period with ration at a level 0.5% could enhance health status of broilers. Keywords: Poultry, Broilers, Omega-3, Fish oil, Nutrition, Blood parameter

Cellular Structure of Stems and Fronds of 14 and 25 Year-Old Elaeis Guineensis Jacq.

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is one of the most important commercial crops in Malaysia. It has been cultivated in Malaysia mainly for palm oil and related products. The mature trees are felled at the end of its economic life (25 years). The stem which is rich in lignocellulosic material is an abundant supply for wood-based industry. However, oil palm which is a monocotyledoneous species behaves unlike ordinary wood. Therefore, this study aimed to i) analyse the detail cellular structure of oil palm stem and frond; ii) evaluate the fibre morphology oil palm at different age groups and height levels; and iii) analyse the structure of the oil palm stem, and its relation to its physical properties. In this study, 3 trees each of 14 and 25 year-old oil palm were selected. The samples were obtained from FELDA Keratong, Pahang. Three discs of 15 cm thick were taken from bottom, middle and top levels of each stem. Smaller block samples were taken from outer, middle and inner zone of each disc. Different sizes of blocks were prepared for microscopic structure study, fibre morphology test, determination of number of vascular bundles, moisture content test and density test. Frond samples were also taken from bottom, middle and level of oil palm crown for microscopic structure study