Sustainable bio-economy that delivers the environment-food-energy-water nexus objectives: the current status in Malaysia

Biomass is a promising resource in Malaysia for energy, fuels, and high value-added products. However, regards to biomass value chains, the numerous restrictions and challenges related to the economic and environmental features must be considered. The major concerns regarding the enlargement of biomass plantation is that it requires large amounts of land and environmental resources such as water and soil that arises the danger of creating severe damages to the ecosystem (e.g. deforestation, water pollution, soil depletion etc.). Regarded concerns can be diminished when all aspects associated with palm biomass conversion and utilization linked with environment, food, energy and water (EFEW) nexus to meet the standard requirement and to consider the potential impact on the nexus as a whole. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the detail interactions between all the components in the nexus once intended to look for the best solution to exploit the great potential of biomass. This paper offers an overview regarding the present potential biomass availability for energy production, technology readiness, feasibility study on the techno-economic analyses of the biomass utilization and the impact of this nexus on value chains. The agro-biomass resources potential and land suitability for different crops has been overviewed using satellite imageries and the outcomes of the nexus interactions should be incorporated in developmental policies on biomass. The paper finally discussed an insight of digitization of the agriculture industry as future strategy to modernize agriculture in Malaysia. Hence, this paper provides holistic overview of biomass competitiveness for sustainable bio-economy in Malaysia

Luminescence spectra of TeO ₂-PbO-Li ₂O doped Nd ₂O ₃ glass

A tellurite glass of TeO 2-PbO-Li 2O doped with Nd 2O 3 has been successfully fabricated by using the conventional melt-quenched technique. The absorption and emission spectroscopy have been identified using UV-VIS-NIR and photoluminescence spectrometer, respectively. From the spectroscopy, ten significant spectra have been observed in the region of 400-900 nm. The absorption wavelength centered at 585 nm attributed to 4I 9/2 → 4G 5/2 transition is the predominant wavelength to be used as the excitation wavelength. Emission spectra have been determined by using 585 nm excitation wavelength at room temperature. From the emission spectra, seven distinctive upconversion bands contributed from Nd 3+ were observed in the region of 400-1500 nm. It was found that the bands were centered at 450 nm ( 4G 11/2 → 4I 9/2), 485 nm ( 4G 11/2 → 4I 11/2), 605 nm ( 4G 11/2 → 4I 15/2), 665 nm ( 4G 7/2 → 4I 13/2), 880 nm ( 4F 3/2 → 4I 9/2), 1062 nm ( 4F 3/2 → 4I 11/2) and 1340 nm ( 4F 3/2 → 4I 11/2), respectively. These emission bands showed the possibility of visible and near infrared emission spectra

Consumers’ Perception of Barriers Effecting Green Purchase Behavior: Instrument Assessment

With the emergence of green consumerism, the trend of “going green” has now prolonged to the Asian region, including Malaysia. Despite most of Malaysians have shown great concern for environmental issues; however, the green buying behavior among Malaysians is not encouraging. The study focuses on the barriers that trigger the green purchasing gap and; identify which barriers are perceived as the most relevant in acquiring eco-friendly home appliances. The paper examines the measurement instrument (questionnaire) for validity and reliability, for the purpose of data analysis. Statistical techniques used for validity and reliability were Exploratory Factor Analysis and Cronbach’s Alpha. Exploratory Factor Analysis was performed on individual dimension for the purpose of explaining variation among items and their reduction to form a meaningful construct

The optical properties of trivalent rare earth ions (Er3+) doped borotellurite glass

Erbium doped borotellurite glass has been fabricated by using conventional melting method. The density and molar volume have been calculated and analyzed while their optical properties were studied by measuring the optical absorption and luminescence spectra at room temperature. From the XRD results, since the patterns do not exhibit any diffraction line thus it confirms their amorphous nature. It is found that the density of the glass samples increased and the molar volume decreased with respect to Er ions content. Meanwhile, the upconversion emissions centered at 487, 523, 558, 642, 695 and 782 nm have been observed under the 650 nm excitation in the 4F9/2 level. Some other results will be analysed and discussed in details