The impact of multi-location work on reaching carbon neutrality objectives:the carbon footprint of ICT equipment use at the University of Oulu

Abstract. This thesis project aimed to quantify the impact of multi-location work on the carbon footprint of the University of Oulu by conducting a survey and monitoring the electricity consumption of ICT equipment. The work presents the concept of carbon neutrality, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol quantifying carbon emissions. In addition, global decarbonization commitments and the pledges of higher education sector are introduced. Furthermore, a benchmarking of decarbonization actions of higher education institutes was done, reviewing 29 case studies. The scopes of emissions considered in their carbon footprint were reviewed, as well as their chosen mitigation methods. The effect of multi-location work on Higher Education Institutions and especially its impacts on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are presented. The carbon footprint of ICT equipment, the internet, and their calculation methods are also illustrated. In addition, a survey was conducted among the staff of the University of Oulu, to collect data about the various types of ICT equipment that staff use on-campus, in their home office, and those being carried in-between these two workplaces. The survey also uncovered information about the staff’s ICT equipment usage habits. In addition, electricity consumption monitoring of laptops and monitors was done to increase the accuracy of the carbon footprint calculation. The results achieved from electricity consumption monitoring of ICT equipment demonstrate that the electricity consumption of laptops during meeting hours is approximately 2.5 times higher than the electricity consumption during regular work. Further, when leaving the laptop on and not using it, it could consume almost as much as using it on a regular basis. On the other hand, putting the laptop in sleep mode consumes only 17% electricity compared with when it is left on and not used. Furthermore, it was also found out that the laptop would consume up to 65% more when the VPN is on. The staff survey also revealed that, on average, staff would prefer working three days from home per week. This would indicate a 36% increase of the carbon footprint of the ICT equipment. It is expected that the results of this work will help raising awareness and change habits regarding ICT equipment usage, in order to contribute to the carbon mitigation goals of the University of Oulu

Population dynamics of the ribbon fish, Lepturacanthus savala (Cuvier 1829) from the north-eastern part of the Bay of Bengal

Population parameters of Lepturacanthus savala from the trawl catches in the north-eastern part of the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh were investigated based on length frequency data, using complete ELEFAN computer program. The asymptotic length (Lα) and growth constant (K) were estimated to be 106.50 cm (total length) and 0.80/year respectively. Based on these growth parameters, the total mortality (Z) was estimated to be 1.89. The estimated values for natural mortality (M) and fishing mortality (F) were 1.08 and 0.81 respectively. The estimated value for the exploitation rate (E) using the length converted catch curve was 0.43. The recruitment pattern showed two peaks per year. The estimated sizes of L. savala at 25, 50 and 75% probabilities of capture were 57.49, 60.39 and 63.28 cm respectively. The estimated length weight relationship for combined sex was W=0.00093 TL(super)2.9

An investigation into the current utilisation and prospective of renewable energy resources and technologies in Libya

With the increase in energy demand and the international drive to reduce carbon emission from fossil fuel, there has been a drive in many oil-rich countries to diversify their energy portfolio and resources. Libya is currently interested in utilising its renewable energy resources in order to reduce the financial and energy dependency on oil reserves. This paper investigates the current utilisation and the future of renewable energy in Libya. Interviews have been conducted with managers, consultants and decision makers from different government organisations including energy policy makers, energy generation companies and major energy consumers. The results indicate that Libya is rich in renewable energy resources but in urgent need of a more comprehensive energy strategy and detailed implementation including reasonable financial and educational investment in the renewable energy sector

Multi-criteria optimization in end milling of AISI D2 hardened steel using coated carbide inserts

This paper proposes a multi-criteria optimization technique using the mathematical models developed by the response surface methodology (RSM) for the target responses combined with desirability indices for the determining the optimum cutting parameters in end milling of AISI D2 hardened steels. Different responses may require different targets either being maximized or minimized. Simultaneous achievement of the optimized (maximum or minimum) values of all the responses is very unlikely. In machining operations tool life and volume metal removed are targeted to be maximized whereas the machined surface roughness need to be at minimum level. Models showing the combined effect of the three control factors such as cutting speed, feed, and depth of cut are developed. However, a particular combination of parameter levels appears to be optimum for a particular response but not for all. Thus adoption of the method of consecutive searches with higher desirability values is found to be appropriate. In this study the desirability index reaches to a maximum value of 0.889 after five consecutive solution searching. At this stage, the optimum values of machining parameters - cutting speed, depth of cut and feed were determined as 44.27 m/min, 0.61 mm, 0.065 mm/tooth respectively. Under this set condition of machining operations a surface roughness of 0.348 μm and volume material removal of 7.45 cm3 were the best results compared to the rest four set conditions. However, the tool life would be required to compromise slightly from the optimum value

Effect of mulching and organic manure on growth and yield performance of wheat

An experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh in Rabi season (dry season) of 2014 to study the effect of mulching and organic manure on growth and yield performance of wheat. Five mulching practices viz. M1=1 irrigation at 17-21 days after sowing (DAS), M2=2 irrigations at 17-21 and 55-60 DAS, M3=3 irrigations at 17-21, 55-60 and 75-80 DAS, M4=control, M5=straw mulch (6 t ha-1) and five organic manure managements viz. O1=recommended chemical fertilizer (NPKS @ 100-23-20-16 kg ha-1), O2=poultry manure @ 6 t ha-1 (100% PM), O3=vermicompost @ 8 t ha-1 (100% VC), O4=50% chemical fertilizer+50% VC and O5=50% chemical fertilizer+50% PM were used as experimental variables. The experiment was conducted in split-plot design with three replications. The results showed that mulching had significant influence on all attributes. The highest values of all attributes were found in straw mulch treatment. It was observed that organic manure had significant influences on all characters. The highest values of yield and yield attributes were found in O5 (50% chemical fertilizer+50% PM) treatment. It was observed that effective tillers hill-1, grain yield and straw yield were significantly affected by combined effect of mulching and organic manure. The highest values obtained from mulching and O5 (50% chemical fertilizer+50% PM) treatment. Therefore, it can be inferred from the results of the study that highest production could be obtained from mulching and O5 (50% chemical fertilizer+50% PM) treatment

Inflaton Fragmentation and Oscillon Formation in Three Dimensions

Analytical arguments suggest that a large class of scalar field potentials permit the existence of oscillons -- pseudo-stable, non-topological solitons -- in three spatial dimensions. In this paper we numerically explore oscillon solutions in three dimensions. We confirm the existence of these field configurations as solutions to the Klein-Gorden equation in an expanding background, and verify the predictions of Amin and Shirokoff for the characteristics of individual oscillons for their model. Further, we demonstrate that significant numbers of oscillons can be generated via fragmentation of the inflaton condensate, consistent with the analysis of Amin. These emergent oscillons can easily dominate the post-inflationary universe. Finally, both analytic and numerical results suggest that oscillons are stable on timescales longer than the post-inflationary Hubble time. Consequently, the post-inflationary universe can contain an effective matter-dominated phase, during which it is dominated by localized concentrations of scalar field matter.Comment: See http://easther.physics.yale.edu/downloads.html for numerical codes. Visualizations available at http://www.mit.edu/~mamin/oscillons.html and http://easther.physics.yale.edu/fields.html V2 Minor fixes to reference lis

Population parameters of Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1816) in the Marudu Bay, Sabah, Malaysia

An investigation of the population parameters of Indian mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1816) in the Marudu Bay, Sabah, Malaysia was carried out from January to September 2013. The relationship between total length and body weight was estimated as W=0.006TL^3.215 or Log W=3.215LogTL – 2.22 (R^2=0.946). Monthly length frequency data of R. kanagurta were analyzed by FiSAT software to evaluate the mortality rates and its exploitation level. Asymptotic length (L∝) and growth co-efficient (K) were estimated at 27.83 cm and 1.50 yr^-1, respectively. The growth performance index (φ') was calculated as 3.07. Total mortality (Z), natural mortality (M) and fishing mortality (F) was calculated at 4.44 yr^-1, 2.46 yr^-1 and 1.98 yr^-1, respectively. Exploitation level (E) of R. kanagurta was found to be 0.45. The exploitation level was below the optimum level of exploitation (E=0.50). It is revealed that the stock of R. kanagurta was found to be still under exploited in Marudu Bay

Evaluation Study of Boundary and Depth of the Soil Structure for Geotechnical Site Investigation using MASW

This study reviews the correlation between the experimental Rayleigh dispersion curve and the Vp & Vs ground model versus depth. Six samples of stations A , B , C , D , E and F were used in the experiment.The geophone spacing used was set 1 m and total length of each line was 23 m. The result shows positive significance (best fit) of R2 that ranges from 0.80 to 0.90. The fk (frequency-wave number method) dispersion curves analysis confirmed that the soil structure investigated is divided into three zones: (1) Unsaturated soil zone (clay soil), in which the layer is dominated by soil with typically alluvial clayey silt and sand. The Vp ranges from 240 m/s to 255 m/s at a depth of 2 to 8 m. (2) The intermediate zone (stiff soil), in which the layer is dominated by sand, silt, clayey sand, sandy clay and clay of low plasticity. This structure is interpreted as partially saturated soil zone, the soil is typically very dense. It contains soft rock typically fill with cobble, sand, slight gravel and highly weathered at depth of 18 to 30 m with Vp of 255 to 300 m/s. (3) Saturated soil zone at a depth of 8 to 18 m with Vp of 300 to 390 m/s. There is a very good agreement between wave-number (k) and phase velocity (Vw) produced. Both the two parameters shows similar pattern in the topsoil and subsurface layer, which constitute boundary field of soil structure. Moreover, relationship between phase velocity versus wave-length shows best fit of model from inversion with measured value (observed) in implementation of the boundary and depth of each layer

Preheating in end milling of AISI D2 hardened steel with coated carbide inserts

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of preheating through inductive heating mechanism in end milling of AISI D2 hardened steel (60-62 HRC) by using coated carbide tool inserts. Apart from preheating, two other machining parameters such as cutting speed and feed were varied while the depth of cut constant was kept constant. Tool wear phenomenon and machined surface finish were found to be significantly affected by preheating temperature and other two variables. End milling operation was performed on a Vertical Machining Centre (VMC). Preheating of the work material to a higher temperature range resulted in a noticeable reduction in tool wear rate leading to a longer tool life. In addition, improved surface finish was obtained with surface roughness values lower than 0.4 um, leaving a possibility of skipping the grinding and polishing operations for certain applications