ANN and GIS-assisted methodology for wind resource assessment (WRA) in Sarawak

Wind energy is a reliable, clean source and has emerged as one of the dependable, and the best performing developing renewable energy around the world. It has insignificant environmental impacts, compared to other energy sources. In Sarawak, Malaysia, wind resource varies depending on the location. An inadequate number of wind stations are the major obstacles that slow down the growing of green energy in the region. Site selection is a crucial issue for potential investors and policy makers. This paper examines the spatial distribution and the amount of potential wind power and energy densities for wind energy production and suitable locations in Sarawak. A geographical Information System (GIS) assisted methodology, which includes wind speed, power and energy densities using the existing wind station and based on the newly developed prediction model called topographical neural network (TNN) were used. Kriging interpolation was employed for a simple interpolation of data between locations. The results show that the northeast, northwest and coastal regions have better prospects of wind energy. The studied GIS methodology can be applied for identification of the most suitable locations for wind energy harvesting. The developed maps can further be used in micro-siting and economic evaluation analys

Clean energy generation using groundnut oil mill effluent with microbial fuel-cell

Microbial system that converts organic matter to energy is proposed in this paper. An attempt is made, to examine the potential of using groundnut oil mill effluent (GOME) as substrates to Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC). A methodology was developed to obtain a power density in batches by varying the feed rate of continuous flow in the MFC. The results obtained show that GOME produces higher energy per unit area compared to other mixed culture reported in scientific literatures. The minimum and maximum power densities obtained are 160 mW/m2 and 217 mW/m2 at low feed rate of (400 litre/hr) with cell potential of 625 mV and high feed rate of (420 litre /hr) with cell potential 727 mV respectively. Furthermore, the findings of this research work showed that MFC could produce higher power density at continuous flow process mode (160 mW/m2) compared to batch process (54 mW/m2). Thus, this study demonstrates the potential of generating clean energy via GOME, with by-products of carbon dioxide and water.Keywords: Clean energy, Fossil-fuel, Renewable energy, Fuel-cell, Groundnut Oil Mill Effluent (GOME

Reviewing Wind Speed and Energy Distribution in Malaysia

Recent increase on negative issues related to global warming, greenhouse gases and other environmental concerns, the awareness in promoting alternative energy sources have increased significantly. Renewable energy is the most promising and sustainable energy source that will sustain and maintain environment; in particular, wind energy is considered as the clean and perfect solution to present environmental worries as well as to counter the limited hydrocarbon reserves that last for (30-40) years. This paper is to review recent wind speed and energy distribution in Malaysia and enumerate the potentials of using the available resources for wind power generation in the country. The extractable power output in a wind turbine is directly proportional to the speed cubed. Due to the location of the country in the equatorial zone, the annual mean wind speed falls within class 1, which ranges from 2.0-5.0m/s based on recent studies conducted by many researchers. With this, the areas that are suitable ..

An Overview of Energy Sector and Wind Power Potential in Malaysia

With the new era of industrialization and urbanization, the use of renewable energy is a solution to resolve the impacts of the current dependency on fossil based fuels and hike in fuel prices in the world. The rapid economic development in recent years has led to the energy increase demand in Malaysia and the situation is expected to grow in the near future. The country energy sector is heavily dependent on fossil based fuels for electrical energy generation. Currently, wind energy systems are swiftly gaining recognition as one of the best sources of renewable energy because of its emission free characteristics. This paper reviews the recent scenario and the future expected energy situation in Malaysia. Wind energy resources assessment and potential in Malaysia is also discussed

The Status Of Wind Resource Assessment(Wra) Techniques, Wind Energy Potential and Utilisation In Malaysia and Other Countries

Current dependency on finite reserves fossil fuels and adverse environmental effects of conventional power system created new dimension interest in renewable energy sources toward building a sustainable and reliable energy in the near future. Wind energy is renewable and considered as one of the safest, cleanest and fastest growing forms of renewable energy in the world. Generation of electrical energy from wind can only be possible where there is considerable wind resource exists. For this reasons an accurate wind resource evaluation is a vital tool for harnessing energy content in a wind. This paper is critically reviews different techniques used in wind resource assessment, prospects and challenges of utilizing wind energy in some developed and developing countries; however recent progress and development of wind energy potential and utilizations in the countries neighboring Malaysia are discussed. Several recent wind energy potential studies, areas that are suitable for exploitation of wind energy for electrical power generation as well as the current situation of wind energy utilization in Malaysia and possible recommendations were presented

Statistical Modelling of Long-Term Wind Speed Data

The attention of most countries of the world has been shifted towards reducing the occurrences of greenhouse gasses, developing of renewable energy and energy efficiency towards building a sustainable energy in the near future. Wind energy as one of these renewable is perhaps the most suitable, clean and environmental friendly. In modeling wind speed, Weibull function is the most widely adopted model in the scientific literatures, however, other statistical functions are also need to be considered and judged their suitability based on certain criteria. In this study, five statistical models were selected for modeling of Miri wind speed data for a period of ten years. Distribution Function (PDF) and Probability (PP) plots are employed to verify the Goodness of fit (GOF) for the distributions. Lastly, graphical and GOF outcomes are compared, suggesting that, Lognormal and Gamma distributions are found to be most appropriate as compared to the Weibull, Rayleigh and Erlag distributions

Genetic analysis of male sterility genes in different A and B sorghum lines

Hybrid seed production requires use of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS). Without this system, hybrid seed production would not be economically feasible. There is, therefore, need for developing A and B sorghum lines, as an essential step for development of hybrid sorghum industry. A genetic study of male sterility in different A and B sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) lines was conducted at the research farm Institute for Agriculture Research in Samaru and Kadawa. Chi-square test revealed goodness-of-fit to single gene of observed proportion of sterile and fertile plants to the expected ratio in all the backcross generations, thereby upholding the assumption of single gene inheritance for the traits studied. Stability of male sterile genes across generations of backcrosses indicated that sterility was inherited 68 to 95% among the different genotypes. Based on high number of sterile plants, crosses 159 x 160 and 421 x 422 are the best in terms of breeding potential for male sterility.La production des semences hybrides n\ue9cessite l\u2019utilisation de la st\ue9rilit\ue9 m\ue2le cytoplasmique (CMS). Sans ce syst\ue8me, la production des semences hybrides ne serait pas \ue9conomiquement faisable. Il y a donc, un besoin pour d\ue9velopper des lign\ue9es A et B du sorgho, comme une \ue9tape essentielle dans le d\ue9veloppement d\u2019industrie de sorgho hybride. Une \ue9tude g\ue9n\ue9tique de la st\ue9rilit\ue9 m\ue2le dans diff\ue9rentes lign\ue9es A et B du sorgho ( Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) a \ue9t\ue9 conduite \ue0 la ferme d\u2019exp\ue9rimentation de l\u2019Institut des Recherches Agricoles de Samaru et Kadawa. Le test de Chi-carr\ue9 a r\ue9v\ue9l\ue9 la qualit\ue9 d\u2019association d\u2019un seul g\ue8ne de la proportion observ\ue9e de plants st\ue9riles et fertiles au ratio observ\ue9 dans les g\ue9n\ue9rations de r\ue9trocroisement, ainsi soutenant l\u2019hypoth\ue8se de l\u2019h\ue9ritage d\u2019un g\ue8ne pour les traits \ue9tudi\ue9s. La stabilit\ue9 de g\ue8nes de la st\ue9rilit\ue9 m\ue2le \ue0 travers les g\ue9n\ue9rations du r\ue9trocroisement a indiqu\ue9 que la st\ue9rilit\ue9 \ue9tait h\ue9rit\ue9e entre 68 \ue0 95% entre les diff\ue9rents g\ue9notypes. Sur la base du nombre \ue9lev\ue9 de plantes st\ue9riles, les croisements 159 x 160 et 421 x 422 sont les meilleurs en termes du potentiel d\u2019am\ue9lioration g\ue9n\ue9tique pour la st\ue9rilit\ue9 m\ue2le

Development of Wind Mapping Based on Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for Energy Exploration in Sarawak

The exponential rise in global population and rapidly depleting reserves of fossil fuels and pollution that is occurring as a result of burning hydrocarbons have drawn the attention of researchers, engineers and designers in searching for clean and emission free sources of energy. Wind energy is naturally replenished which comes from wind and produce electricity using natural power of wind to drive a generator. The power is clean and inexhaustible that will sustain and maintained the environment. The most important parameter of the wind energy is the wind velocity. A couple number of wind speed prediction models have been published in scientific literatures that are related to estimation of wind speed values. This paper presents Neural Network (NN) techniques for the prediction of wind speed in the areas where wind speeds velocity does not exist. The ANN model has been designed using the NN Toolbox in Matlab environment. A total of ten years data from five locations starting from 2003 to 2012, and five years data from a period of 2008-2012 were used for the network training, testing and validation. Topographical parameters (latitude, longitude and elevation) and meteorological variables that results in wind formation have been considered in this study. Comparison techniques based on statistical measures between the references measured and simulated wind speed indicated that the ANN model correlated well with reference measured data

Statistical Modeling of Long-Term Wind Speed Data

The attention of most countries of the world has been shifted towards reducing the occurrences of greenhouse gasses, developing of renewable energy and energy efficiency towards building a sustainable energy in the near future. Wind energy as one of these renewable is perhaps the most suitable, clean and environmental friendly. In modeling wind speed, Weibull function is the most widely adopted model in the scientific literatures, however, other statistical functions are also need to be considered and judged their suitability based on certain criteria. In this study, five statistical models were selected for modeling of Miri wind speed data for a period of ten years. Distribution Function (PDF) and Probability (PP) plots are employed to verify the Goodness of fit (GOF) for the distributions. Lastly, graphical and GOF outcomes are compared, suggesting that, Lognormal and Gamma distributions are found to be most appropriate as compared to the Weibull, Rayleigh and Erlag distributions