Establishing and comparing energy security trends in resource-rich exporting nations (Russia and the Caspian Sea region)

In the international arena, it is often the case that in countries which largely depend on foreign resources, energy security, and its key components i.e. security of energy supply, environment, technology, geopolitical and economic factors, is a subject of concern. However, due to the abundance of fossil fuel resources in resource-rich exporting nations, there is a lack of understanding of the risks around energy security and accordingly often a policy vacuum. Conceptualising energy security from different geopolitical vantage points will allow future concerns around energy supply security, climate change, and regional economic crises to be evaluated. By using policy documents and developing a time series approach and normalized z-scores for a range of comparable metrics this article compares the energy security performance in six Caspian Sea countries individually and collectively. The article results show that Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan made significant progress in energy security since 1990, while energy security indicators in Russia, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan regressed. Iran has a leading position in energy security performance, while Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have the lowest level of the energy security indicators compare to other region countries. This article both contributes a replicable definition of energy security that can be undertaken for other global regions, and begins to incorporate diversification and renewables development to enhance domestic energy security assessment

A review of current energy systems and green energy potential in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is rich in natural resources including coal, oil, natural gas and uranium and has significant renewable potential from wind, solar, hydro-power and biomass. In spite of this, the country is currently dependent upon fossil fuels for power generation. Coal fired plants account for 75% of total power generation leading to concerns over greenhouse gas emissions and impacts on human health and the environment. Recent economic growth in Kazakhstan has driven increased demand for energy services, making the construction of additional generating capacity necessary for enabling sustained economic growth. In this context, renewable energy resources are becoming an increasingly attractive option to help bridge the demand–supply gap and to decrease national greenhouse gas emissions. This study presents an overview of the existing energy system in Kazakhstan and investigates policy drivers for the energy sector. We review existing studies, national reports, energy strategies and plans, to identify and describe key barriers that prevent diffusion of renewable energy technologies in Kazakhstan. We propose potential measures to overcome specific barriers in order to successfully develop a renewable energy sector in Kazakhstan. It is seen that the likely major contributors to replacing fossil fuel based energy services are likely to be wind power and solar energy technologies, with biomass and hydro energy sources likely to play a lesser role. The barriers to development include low electricity tariffs, transmission losses and inefficient technologies, weak regulatory and legal frameworks and a high-risk business environment

Spatial assessment of the distribution and potential of bioenergy resources in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is naturally rich in fossil fuels and its economy is strongly linked to oil and gas exports. Significant coal reserves have led to an energy mix that is dominated by aging and polluting thermal power plants. Yet Kazakhstan comprises mainly grassland steppe where agriculture and livestock pastoralism dominate offering the potential for cleaner, renewable energy production from a range of agricultural and forestry wastes. Here we analyse the spatial distribution and bioenergy generation potential of different feedstocks using an ArcGIS platform and demonstrate a significant opportunity for a range of bioenergy technologies. We recommend a number of policy interventions to enable Kazakhstan to make a transition to cleaner, more accessible and locally generated supply which is also sustainable and provide a waste management solution

TECHNOLOGIA OPC JAKO NARZĘDZIE INTEGRACJI SYSTEMÓW ZAUTOMATYZOWANYCH

The paper features the application of the OPC technology in automated systems. It gives an insight into the considered technology and provides the prospects of the OPC technology development.W artykule rozpatrzono możliwość zastosowania technologii OPC w systemach zautomatyzowanych. Dokonano przeglądu tej technologii, a także określono perspektywy jej rozwoju

Effects of the Invasive Freshwater Mussel Limnoperna fortunei on Sediment Properties and Accumulation Rates

Since its introduction into South America around 1990, the freshwater bivalve Limnoperna fortunei (the golden mussel) has spread rapidly and is now a dominant component of the benthic and periphytic fauna in many rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. Sizable impacts of this nonindigenous species on nutrient recycling, plankton abundance and composition, and trophic relationships with fishes have been reported, but its effects on the sediments have received little attention. In this work, we use eighteen 20-L flow-through experimental units with and without mussels where changes in the mass and characteristics of the sediments accumulated throughout a yearly cycle in monthly, biannual, and annual intervals are analyzed. Experimental units with mussels yielded almost 2 times more sediments than units without mussels and contained significantly higher loads of organic matter and total N. Total P was not affected by the presence of mussels. Sediments accumulated in the biannual and annual experimental units agreed well with the yields of the monthly units, but the vertical stratification of organic matter, N, and P was unpatterned. Seasonal changes in the volume of total sediments, biodeposits, and their organic matter and N contents were positively associated with ambient water temperature and with intermediate (~150–250 NTU, nephelometric turbidity units) turbidity. Our results suggest that ecosystem-wide modifications in the living conditions of the benthic epifaunal and infaunal organisms in waterbodies invaded by the mussel are likely significant, although variable locally, regionally, and across taxa.Fil: Tokumon, Romina Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Boltovskoy, Demetrio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Cataldo, Daniel Hugo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Case Technology in the Process of Management of Student's Scientific-Research Activity

Objective: The need to develop methods of management of scientific - research activity using the case method is obvious in the framework of special education. Background: The relevance of the studied problem is caused by the need to develop methods of management of students' scientific- research activity by means of cases. Method: The leading method of the research of the given problem is the modeling allowing considering this problem as a process of purposeful and conscious mastering future expert's abilities to carry out monitoring of the quality of education. Results: assessment criteria of results efficiency of vocational education, determination of the essence, and classifications of methods of scientific research are presented in the article. The empirical methods of the research, methods of the organization, and assessment of students' research activity are considered. The developed cases are directed for the successful management of scientific-research activity of students. Conclusion: This research allows us to focus on the scientific-methodical provision of quality monitoring of education. Results can be used as an expansion of educational potential in the management process of students' scientific- research activity

Bulk Nanocrystalline Thermoelectrics Based on Bi-Sb-Te Solid Solution

A nanopowder from p-Bi-Sb-Te with particles ~ 10 nm were fabricated by the ball milling using different technological modes. Cold and hot pressing at different conditions and also SPS process were used for consolidation of the powder into a bulk nanostructure and nanocomposites. The main factors allowing slowing-down of the growth of nanograins as a result of recrystallization are the reduction of the temperature and of the duration of the pressing, the increase of the pressure, as well as addition of small value additives (like MoS2, thermally expanded graphite or fullerenes). It was reached the thermoelectric figure of merit ZT=1.22 (at 360 K) in the bulk nanostructure Bi0,4Sb1,6Te3 fabricated by SPS method. Some mechanisms of the improvement of the thermoelectric efficiency in bulk nanocrystalline semiconductors based on BixSb2-xTe3 are studied theoretically. The reduction of nanograin size can lead to improvement of the thermoelectric figure of merit. The theoretical dependence of the electric and heat conductivities and the thermoelectric power as the function of nanograins size in BixSb2-xTe3 bulk nanostructure are quite accurately correlates with the experimental data.Comment: 35 pages, 24 figures, 4 tables, 52 reference

Mapping the spatial distribution of the biomass and filter‐feeding effect of invasive dreissenid mussels on the winter‐spring phytoplankton bloom in Lake Michigan

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/115963/1/fwb12653.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/115963/2/fwb12653_am.pd