Hazardous Waste Management: An African Overview

Hazardous waste materials and their management are of prime importance to society. This article gives an overview of the current practices that relate to hazardous waste management. It looks at issues concerning the transboundary or international movement of harmful materials from industrialized nations to the developing and emerging world. This study has shown that Africa, most notably Nigeria, has become a dumping ground for hazardous waste materials as a result of the high importation of scrap computers and electronic devices into the country. The public health hazards, such as birth deficiencies, cancers, and even infectious diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Hepatitis B and C, respectively, have been traced to the improper management of these waste materials. The review highlights a few models on hazardous waste management as developed by previous literature, which gives a hierarchy, ranging from source reduction, recycling, and landfill options. Studies reveal that hazardous waste management in Africa must revolve around wealth creation, economic, and environmental sustainability. The study provided evidence that the recycling option has high potentials in the areas of energy recovery. The data collected show South Africa to be the most advanced in the African continent in the field of hazardous waste management. For a sustainable environment, keen attention must be paid to hazardous waste management globally

Approximate bound state solutions of nonrelativistic Schrödinger equation with q-deformed Hulthen plus modified inversely quadratic Yukawa potential within the framework of Nikiforov-Uvarov method

We study the nonrelativistic Schrödinger equation for q-deformed Hulthen plus modified inversely quadratic Yukawa potential using the generalized parametric form of NIkiforov-Uvarov method.  The energy eigenvalues and the corresponding normalized wave functions expressed in terms of hypergeometric function are obtained. We have also discussed four (4) special cases of this potential, i.e. Woods-Saxon, Hulthen,  Morse  and inversely quadratic potentials. Keywords: Nonrelativistic Schrödinger equation, q-deformed Hulthen potential, modified inversely quadratic Yukawa potential, parametric Nikiforov-Uvarov method

Effect of ethanolic extract of leaf of azadirachta indica on some hematological parameters in albino Wister rats

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ethanolic extract of the leaf of Azadirachta indica on haematological indices of rats. Twenty four adult male rats (weighing between 100 and 120g) were randomly but equally divided into four groups of six rats per group. Rats in group I (control) were administered with 10ml/kg of distilled water while rats in groups2 to 4 were respectively administered with the extract of A. indica orally at the dose levels of 100mg/kg, 200mg/kg and 300mg/kg, once daily for 14 days. On the 15th day post administration, rats of all the groups were sacrificed and their blood samples were collected through cardiac puncture into EDTA sample bottles for haematological analysis.The results showed that PCV, Hb, RBC counts were non-significantly increased in all the experimental groups compared to control, indicating that extract of A. Indica caused non-significant increase in thePCV, Hb and RBC counts. The mean white blood cell and platelet counts were significantly decreased in group3 compared to control. The mean lymphocyte values increased while the mean neutrophil values decreased in all the experimental groups compared to control. The mean values of MCH, MCHC and MCV were similar between experimental groups and the control. Therefore, in conclusion low dose of ethanolic Azadirachta indica causes increase in the cellular components of blood but higher dosesmay result in decrease of some or all of these blood parameters

Economic Analysis of Wastewater Reuse in Covenant University

Wastewater reuse is a vital technique to supplement existing water resources for both developing and developed nations. However, the economic research into the design and implementation of a wastewater reuse scheme is required in order to determine the feasibility of any wastewater reuse project from an economic stand point. There are numerous benefits of wastewater recycling. However, these benefits are often not evaluated due to several factors. Nevertheless, the valuation of these benefits is required to justify investment decisions. This research uses cost-benefit analysis to evaluate the benefits of implementing a wastewater reuse scheme in a university community. The investment decision is influenced by the result obtained from the cost benefit analysis calculation. The result of the Net Present Value of this research showed that, the University could recoup its initial investments and also realize huge profits implementing a wastewater reuse scheme. Meaning that the research is or would be feasible financially. This research also shows that with the use of constructed wetland, an extensive method of wastewater treatment, the energy costs accrued per year by the University community would be reduced by millions of naira. Furthermore, the environmental and social benefits of the projects were also considered to complete an economic analysis. The results showed that there are significant environmental and social benefits which includes sustainable groundwater withdrawal, the avoidance of land subsidence and corporate social responsibility. Keywords: Wastewater, reuse, Valuation, Expenditur

Exchange Rate Volatility and International Trade In Nigeria

Volatile exchange rate makes international trade and investment decisions more difficult because volatility increases exchange rate risk. This study seeks to evaluate the impact of exchange rate volatility on international trade in Nigeria on the basis of annual data from 1980 to 2013, which was obtained from World Bank Development Indicators (WDI). Exchange rate volatility, gross national product (GDP), investment, interest rate, import and export were used to capture the causal relationship between exchange rate volatility and international trade and also the long-run and short-run relationship between exchange rate volatility and international trade. A review of the literature reveals that exchange rate volatility has a negative impact on international trade. The empirical analysis began with testing for stationarity of the variables by applying the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF), this was followed by co-integration test, then the granger causality and the Error Correction Model (ECM). The co-integration test indicated that the variables are co-integrated which implies that a long-run relationship exist between the variables while the granger causality test showed that a causal relationship exist between international trade and exchange rate volatility. It was observed form the ECM analysis that exchange rate volatility negatively affects international trade. The study therefore recommend that the government should put in place exchange rate and trade policies that will promote greater exchange rate stability and trade conditions that will promote domestic production in the economy. In other to achieve this, the government should provide efficient infrastructural services like energy resources

Temperature Forecasting as a Means of Mitigating Climate Change and Its Effects: A Case Study of Mali

Temperature forecasts and trend analyzes were carried out for several locations in Mali as an important tool for warning of potentially threatening weather events such as severe heat waves, storms, droughts and floods, which could pose a great risk to humans and their environment. Five locations (Segou, Sikasso, Kayes, Gao and Taoudenni) across Mali (170 00’N – 40 00’W) were chosen for this research work. Satellite data of annual temperature obtained from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) database for 35 years (1985-2019) was used for this work. The Mann-Kendall trend test was carried out for various locations to observe and study the trend. Four Models including Auto Regressive and Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), Exponential smoothening (ETS), TBATS (Trigonometric seasonality, Box-Cox transformation, ARMA errors, Trend and Seasonal components) and the linear model were employed to forecast average temperature for 10 years for all the locations. The model that produces the best forecast at the 95% confidence level is expected to have the lowest Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) value. The results showed that no significant trends were recorded at the considered locations. The linear model produced the best forecast for Segou, Kayes and Taoudenni, while the TBATS model produced the best forecast for Gao and the ARIMA model produced the best forecast for Sikasso.Citation: Billy, U., Udo, S., Ewona, I., Umoh, M., & Mfongang, A. (2023). Temperature Forecasting as a Means of Mitigating Climate Change and Its Effects: A Case Study of Mali. Trends in Renewable Energy, 9(2), 167-179. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.17737/tre.2023.9.2.0015

Comparative Measure of Income Volatility of Farm Households in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria: GARCH - CV Approach

The study measured income volatility of farming households in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, using GARCH and Coefficient of variation approach. Farming household’s socioeconomic conditions were assessed. Ninety (90) farming households were sampled from Uyo zone of Agricultural Development Programme (AKADEP) using a multistage sampling procedure. Questionnaire was used as a tool for primary data collection. Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskadascity (GARCH) and Coefficient of Variation (CV) methodologies were used to measure income volatility. Giving the peculiarity nature of agriculture in the study area, both on and off season’s income was used for the study. Result reveals that 71.1% of the respondents were between the ages of 35-44 years, 93.4% were married while 59% completed primary education, and 88.9% were farmers whose household size are between 5-9 people respectively. About 37.8% had up to 15-19years farming experience, 50.2 % had monthly income of about N19.999.00. The GARCH approach of measuring income volatility gives a better result as compared with coefficient of variation in both seasons. The CV measure from the mean score shows an explosive result. The GARCH measure shows persistency. The study recommended among others the intra-diversification within crop and livestock production which will enhance relative stability in farming household’s income. Keywords: Measure, Income, Volatility, GARCH-CV Approach, Farm Household

Determination of volume of wastewater generated in a university campus

The development of wastewater reuse schemes has been greatly slowed down by the lack of adequate wastewater generation data. Most data sources on wastewater generation provided by international organizations are mere estimates ofa nation’swastewater generation pattern and can only go a long way in explaining the wastewater situation of that nation. Intensive wastewater reuse schemes for futuristic purposes would require collection and storage of wastewater data for effective planning. This study identifies and closes that gap in a University campus where there is a high demand of water for daily use. Flowrates of wastewater being discharged into the environment was determined over a period of time using a standard weir and a level measuring tool. From this, the volume of wastewater generated was calculated. The results show that about 1,529,288 liters of wastewater was generated daily in the University campus. From this value, the water consumption rate of the university community was estimated to be 1,911,610 liters of water daily. From these findings, the wastewater generated within the Covenant University campus could be sufficient for agricultural, urban and other municipal reuse schemes. The environmental, economic and public health benefits from wastewater recycling are enormous and thus more attention must be given to its generation, treatment, disposal and reus

Energy and exergy evaluation of a 220MW thermal power plant

A component based energy and exergy evaluation was performed on a 220MW thermal power plant in Nigeria. The component based exergy analysis examines and compares the energetic and exergetic performances of each component by identifying the deficiencies of each component. Design and operating data were obtained from Egbin power plant in Nigeria. The result of the analysis showed that the total exergy that was destroyed in the power p lant was 400.015 MW. The major contributors to the exergy destruction in the power plant were the boiler (87%), the three turbines (a combined total of 9%) and the condenser (2 %). The effect of increasing the High Pressure turbine (HPT) inlet temperature at constant boiler pressure incresses the exergy efficiency of the component as well as the second law efficiency of the power plant, thus reducing the exergy destruction of the component. At the variation of environmental or dead state temperature, ther e were no appreciable changes in the values of exergy efficiency of the boiler/steam generator. The outcomes of this work provide the exergy consumption and distribution profile s of the thermal power plant, making it possible to adopt effective energy - saving measures. Keywords : Energy, Exergy, Efficiency, Sustainability, Power Plant and Boilers