Technical efficiency in electricity generation - the impact of smallness and isolation of island economies

Technical efficiency in electricity generation - the impact of smallness and isolation of island economie

The restructuring and privatisation of the electricity distribution and supply businesses in England

In December 1990, the 12 regional electricity companies — responsible for the distribution and supply of electricity in England and Wales — were privatised. For the first few years following privatisation, real prices, profits and costs in the industry rose. Following two Price Control Reviews, prices have now fallen sharply and there have been substantial reductions in costs and more recently in profits. This paper attempts to conduct a social cost-benefit analysis of the privatisation by examining actual and predicted falls in costs over the period to 2005. We conclude that the privatisation did yield significant net benefits but that these were unevenly distributed across time and groups in society. Relative to our preferred counterfactual, consumers experience slightly lower prices and the government gains £5 billion in sale proceeds and net taxes. However, consumers begin to gain only from 2000.

Modelling the Costs of Electricity Regulation: Evidence of Human Resource Constraints in Developing Countries

Successful electricity industry reform depends on the presence of an appropriately staffed regulatory agency for the liberalised sector. However developing countries can have resource constraints that make the establishment of an effective regulatory agency difficult. This paper attempts an econometric modelling of staff numbers in electricity regulatory institutions. We specify a model of the determinants of staff numbers that reflects electricity system complexity as well as national economic and regulatory environments. We empirically estimate a translog cost function specification of the model using data on 60 electricity regulators collected from an international questionnaire survey in 2000-01. We conclude that there are significant differences between the regulatory cost functions of developed and developing countries and that, in establishing independent regulatory agencies, developing countries face high fixed costs relative to market size.Electricity Regulation; International Comparisons; Human Resources

Using an Innovative Model to Automate an Efficient Taxi Dispatching System in Mauritius

The world is rapidly changing with the introduction of innovative technologies to meet the ever-changing demands of consumers. This research focuses mainly on the study of the actual taxi system in Mauritius to manage their everyday activities in an efficient way to earn a good and a decent earning. With over 6000 drivers in Mauritius, this has caused a major issue in the transportation sector. According to the survey conducted in Shanghai, China, the percentage of empty miles ((total miles-service miles)/total miles) for taxi is 32%, while the waiting time for passenger may extend more than 1 hour in the rush hours at the worst. The taxi employed under this actual system is rarely capable of reaching the customers in the shortest possible time. This is an exigent problem actually confronting current taxi systems. Thus, an alternative Interactive Taxi dispatching system is proposed, whereby the system will be fast and cost effective to transfer the customer’s request from the operator to the most suitable vehicle. This dispatch ensures that customers are served within the shortest time, resulting in satisfying customer’s demands. Since existing taxi system are working manually, there is a need to have automatic taxi trip system which would be easy and efficient. [14] Therefore, the aim of this paper is to research the pertinence of the use of an Interactive Taxi Dispatching System as an alternative mode for taxi drivers to easily be connected with their riders

Modelling the Costs of Electricity Regulation: Evidence of Human Resource Constraints in Developing Countries

Modelling the Costs of Electricity Regulation: Evidence of Human Resource Constraints in Developing Countrie

Development of a continuous process for the production of hexafluoropropyl methyl ether.

M. Sc. Eng. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2015.Partially fluorinated dialkyl ethers are valuable intermediates for organofluorine syntheses. These compounds can be used for the preparation of perfluoroacrylic acids or the anhydrides, amides and esters thereof. They also serve as very effective solvents, particularly for the extraction of essential oils. A continuous process for producing 1,1 ,2,3,3,3-hexafluoropropyl methyl ether by reacting a liquid mixture of potassium hydroxide and methanol with gaseous hexafluoropropene in one or more microstructured devices was developed. The reaction of hexafluoropropene and potassium methoxide is highly exothermic, with higher operating temperatures favouring the formation of hexafluoropropyl methyl ether. The reactants are contacted for a prescribed time within a reaction zone having a high heat transfer area to reaction volume ratio and in intimate contact with a cooling medium, facilitating efficient dissipation of the exothermic reaction heat. The product mixture is contacted with water at below ambient temperature to extract the residual methanol and the raffinate is further purified by means of conventional distillation. The water and methanol mixture is fed to a distillation column that recovers methanol at a purity of 99%. The HME-methanol mixture is fed to another distillation column which produces HME at 98% purity. The methanol recovered from both distillation columns is recycled to the start of the process. The synthesis of hexafluoropropyl methyl ether using the aforementioned process was demonstrated experimentally using a falling film microreactor. Quadratic response surface methodology was used to probe for optimal reaction conditions for the yield of hexafluoropropyl methyl ether as well as the purity of the raw product

The restructuring and privatisation of British Rail: Was it really that bad?

This paper uses a social cost-benefit analysis (SCBA) framework to assess whether rail privatisation in Britain has produced savings in operating costs. The paper shows that major efficiencies have been achieved, consumers have benefited through lower prices, whilst the increased government subsidy has been largely recouped through privatisation proceeds. We also find that output quality is no lower (and is probably better) than under the counterfactual scenario of public ownership (pre-Hatfield). The achievement of further savings is key to delivering improved rail services in the future. This paper finds that a privatised structure, where shareholders demand a return on their investment, has led to significant improvements in operating efficiency - it remains to be seen whether the new regime, with a not-for-profit infrastructure owner, will deliver the same efficiency improvements

The Use of Low-Level Laser Therapy to Reduce Postoperative Morbidity After Third Molar Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Purpose Surgical removal of third molars carries morbidity and significantly affects patients' quality-of-life. This study aims to investigate whether administration of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) is effective in reducing postoperative morbidity in patients undergoing surgical removal of mandibular third molars compared with placebo. Material and Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis involving a comprehensive search strategy implemented across 5 electronic databases. This was supplemented by hand searching and contacting international experts and grey literature. Titles, abstracts, and full articles were scrutinized for studies meeting the inclusion criteria. All randomized controlled trials comparing treatment group of LLLT with a placebo control group were eligible for inclusion. The outcomes variables were postoperative pain, swelling, and trismus. Risk of bias and methodological quality assessment was carried out. We pooled data statistically, and meta-analyses were carried out using a random-effects model. Results Seventeen randomized controlled trials were included in this systematic review, all of which were considered to have a low risk of bias. Participants, aged 13 to 70 years, and 35% women, totaled 1064. Meta-analyses found significant reductions in standardized mean differences (SMDs) in swelling at day 2 and day 7 postoperatively (SMD, −0.611; 95% confidence interval, −0.968, −0.234 and SMD, −0.532; 95% confidence interval, −0.795, −0.269). There were nonsignificant reductions in SMD in pain and trismus at day 2 and day 7 postoperatively. Conclusions LLLT significantly reduces swelling after extraction of mandibular third molars compared with placebo. LLLT has not shown to reduce postoperative pain and trismus. LLLT does not cause adverse effects. There is currently insufficient evidence available, to promote the investment in LLLT vs the net clinical benefit. Randomized controlled trials with larger sample size and standardized study design and outcome measures are required, to make definitive recommendations to clinicians on its use on patients