Adaptable pathway to net zero carbon : a case study for techno-economic & environmental assessment of rooftop solar PV system

DATA AVAILABILITY : No data was used for the research described in the article.Several countries have a critical need to enhance their electricity production to satisfy the tremendously increasing energy demand and to minimize the black outs. Due to scarcity of fossil fuels and degrading environment, rooftop Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) can be a suitable renewable alternative of green and clean energy. In this paper, due to the techno-economic, environmental and social benefits of Solar PV, the modelling and planning of a solar PV plant to fulfil the energy demand of an academic building is carried out. The analysis is done including all the financial and environmental aspects considering recent market prices and future price escalation. A Modified Greedy Search based optimal planning of the SPV to minimize grid dependence considering load variation pattern with its assessment analysis for an academic building is proposed in this research work. The various financial parameters that affect the feasibility of Solar PV plant i.e., energy payback period, grid dependency, rate of investment return, economic payback period, rate of escalation with actual cost of electricity, annual maintenance cost, depreciation and taxation are considered and evaluated. The environmental factors related to the generation from Solar PV i.e., CO2 emission reduction and carbon credit are also included in analysis. The results obtained for the proposed Solar PV plant shows that the energy payback period is 8 years and IRR with depreciation and taxation is 21% (approx.) with net CO2 mitigation of 1199 tCO2 during the useful life span (25 years) of the plant.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/egyram2024Electrical, Electronic and Computer EngineeringSDG-07:Affordable and clean energ

Evaluation of traditionally used medicinal plants for anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral (HPV-1) activity

The aim of this study was to determine the anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiviral activities of traditionally used medicinal plants.The extracts were tested for cytotoxicity against human melanoma (A375), epidermoid carcinoma (A431), cervical epithelial carcinoma (HeLa) and human embryonic kidney cells (HEK-293). The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities were also determined. Gomphocarpus fruticosus, Helichrysum kraussii and Syzygium jambos were selected for activity against the herpes simplex virus type-1.The extracts exhibited low toxicity towards HEK-293 cells, and four extracts; namely Acacia mellifera, G. fruticosus, H. kraussii and S. jambos, were able to inhibit the A431 and HeLa cells with 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50) ranging from 34.90-56.20μg/ml. Arbutus unedo, Combretum molle, Dissotis princeps, Erythrophleum lasianthum, Harpephyllum caffrum, H. kraussii and S. jambos, showed high DPPH inhibitory activity, with IC50 values ranging from 2.41-5.25μg/ml. The highest antioxidant activity was seen for S. jambos (DPPH) and A. unedo (NO) respectively with greater activity than ascorbic acid. D. princeps, H. caffrum, Leucas martinicensis and S. jambos, showed high inhibition of the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) enzyme with IC50 values ranging from 3.79-25.80μg/ml with S. jambos showing the highest activity. S. jambos further showed the highest anti-HSV-1 activity at 50.00μg/ml against 100TCID50virus challenge dose.This is the first report of the selected plants for their cytotoxicity, anti-inflammatory and viral inhibitory activity. S. jambos was able to show high inhibition of the HPV type-1 virus and the COX-2 enzyme.The National Research Foundation of South Africa (84870), the University of Pretoria and the Department of Science and Technology. Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens (SANBI).http://www.elsevier.com/locate/sajb2018-09-30hj2017Plant Production and Soil Scienc