Fabrication and characterisation of superhydrophobic bio-ceramic hollow fibre membranes prepared from cow bone waste

Superhydrophobic membranes have great potential towards various application, especially for thermal-based membrane system such as membrane distillation. In this study, bioceramic hollow fibre membranes derived from cow bone waste were prepared by phase inversion/sintering method, followed by surface modification via immersion grafting with fluoroalkylsilane (FAS) agent. Interestingly, the grafting process led to the formation of hydroxyapatite nanorods, mimicking the unique structure of electrospun nanofiber membranes. The hydrophobicity of the modified membranes was assessed by measuring the water contact angle and showed excellent improvement from hydrophilic property to superhydrophobic with the highest value of 174° After the modification, the water entry pressure also improved from 0 to 1 bar. In addition, the presence of FAS agent on the membrane surface was observed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A correlation between pore size, porosity, and mechanical strength of the modified membrane was discussed; the increment of membrane pore size after grafting process is synonym to the dental erosion mechanism. The result indicates that the superhydrophobic bioceramic hollow fibre membranes derived from cow bone waste have significant potential to be developed for membrane distillation application in treating water and wastewater

Public acceptance of national renewable energy policy among landed residents in Peninsular Malaysia

Policy goals for sustainable energy will be hampered without sufficient public acceptance. While there is a growing body of literature on public acceptance of solar energy, most studies tend to investigate public acceptance of new technology, not on the policies constructed to help the successful deployment of the technology. This research was conducted to identify public acceptance of solar-related items of the National Renewable Energy Policy among landed residents in Peninsular Malaysia and key factors contributing to the acceptance. The theoretical framework underlying this research follows Stern's Attitude- Behaviour-Context (ABC) framework that integrates attitudinal, contextual, and personal capability factors in one framework that is both comprehensive and feasible to undertake. These are personal norm, environmental concern, economic, social, roof position, certain socio-demographic factors, and home ownership. The study extends the ABC framework by proposing solar policy acceptance role as an antecedent to intention to adopt and information provision to increases policy acceptance. A survey design and an experimental design was conducted to achieve the research objectives. For the survey design, questionnaires with a 5-point Likert scale were distributed via multistage cluster systematic sampling to landed residents in Peninsular Malaysia (N=508) and analysed both descriptively and inferentially using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The experimental design follows the Solomon Four Group Design where the data from four groups were analysed using a string of t-test analysis. The structural model analysis provides evidence of moderate model fit with R2 = 0.44 for policy acceptance and significant path relations for attitudinal variable (β= 0.342) and contextual variable (β=0.442) to policy acceptance. Several main findings that emerged were contextual factors, especially economic factors, prove more important than other factors and can be the focus for future solar policy decision-making. Another finding is the proof that policy acceptance (passive behaviour) can act as an antecedent to intention to adopt solar PV (active behaviour) at homes which shows the importance of the public to accept the National Renewable Energy Policy. Another conclusion was that policy information that is simple and appealing to the public can boost policy acceptance. Policy makers need to be aware that although both attitudinal and contextual factors are important for acceptance, certain contextual factors may carry more weight as a determinant for solar policy acceptance. The research is significant in extending the policy acceptance model by identifying unique variables to solar policy acceptance and the extension of intention to adopt solar PV after policy acceptance. It also provides more literature on the controversial Knowledge Deficit Model on the way information of the policy can be conveyed to affect solar policy acceptance. Lastly, the findings provide recent and essential data of the current acceptance and factors that interest the public so that policy makers can make informed decisions for future policy improvements

DON’T KNOCK GM CROPS JUST YET EU

This is my assignment done during my master's degree to produce a poster on recent debates and issues in Bioeconom

Public Support for Feed-in-Tariff and Net Energy Metering Policies in Malaysia: The Role of Policy Information

Renewable energy (RE) policies have proven to be an effective tool for implementing RE. Despite various policies introduced, the RE deployment in Malaysia has been weak, especially individual RE uptake. Lack of policy support has been linked with inadequate policy awareness and information based on the knowledge deficit theory. This study investigates the support for the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) and Net Energy Metering (NEM) policy of individual solar photovoltaic (PV) technology among landed residents in Malaysia and the effect of information provision on policy support. A Solomon-four-group design was employed to measure policy support and test the relationship between information provision and policy support using a set of Likert scale questionnaires and a poster of FiT and NEM policy prepared in layman's terms as an intervention. Results show that majority of the residents agree with the environmental mission of the policy, except for the reduction of fossil fuel usage. For the economic aspect, the residents prefer a fixed rate for RE produced and generally agreed that high electricity consumers should pay for the RE fund. However, residents were less enthusiastic about the percentage deducted from electricity bills and the 'high electricity consumer' baseline.  There was a significant difference between items scores at pre and post-test when given the intervention, in line with the deficit theory. Therefore, policy information should be communicated strategically, focusing on thepolicy's social and economic components that have the greatest influence on Malaysians

Fabrication and characterisation of superhydrophobic bio-ceramic hollow fibre membranes prepared from cow bone waste

Superhydrophobic membranes have great potential towards various application, especially for thermal-based membrane system such as membrane distillation. In this study, bioceramic hollow fibre membranes derived from cow bone waste were prepared by phase inversion/sintering method, followed by surface modification via immersion grafting with fluoroalkylsilane (FAS) agent. Interestingly, the grafting process led to the formation of hydroxyapatite nanorods, mimicking the unique structure of electrospun nanofiber membranes. The hydrophobicity of the modified membranes was assessed by measuring the water contact angle and showed excellent improvement from hydrophilic property to superhydrophobic with the highest value of 174° After the modification, the water entry pressure also improved from 0 to 1 bar. In addition, the presence of FAS agent on the membrane surface was observed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A correlation between pore size, porosity, and mechanical strength of the modified membrane was discussed; the increment of membrane pore size after grafting process is synonym to the dental erosion mechanism. The result indicates that the superhydrophobic bioceramic hollow fibre membranes derived from cow bone waste have significant potential to be developed for membrane distillation application in treating water and wastewater