Energy Poverty, Economic Growth, and Industrialization Nexus in South Asian Countries: Panel Data Analysis

Energy inflation is measured as a person's inability to obtain sufficient energy sources. It's a diverse and complicated issue. This study investigates how economic growth, industrialization, urbanization, and employment in South Asian countries are all linked to energy poverty. In the South Asian region, the relationship between these factors has not been thoroughly examined. This study uses the panel data collected from South Asia’s most energy-intensive countries from 1995 to 2000. Advanced econometric methodologies and panel estimations are applied to explore the dynamic relationship. The long-run co-integration study reveals that economic growth reduces but industrialization increases energy poverty in these countries. Furthermore, energy poverty has a negative association with employment but a positive association with urbanization. The findings offer a framework for energy policymakers to establish policies that will assist them to meet the Sustainable Development Goals' objectives (SDGs)

Inflation Led Import or Import Led Inflation: Evidence from Bangladesh

Volume 2, Numebr 2, 2013 (Issue 4

Proposed Thermal Circuit Model for the Cost Effective Design of Fin FET

The Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) device has been rapidly evolving and its size has been drastically decreasing ever since it was first fabricated in 1960 [Us Patent 3,356,858: 1967]. The substantial reduction in the CMOS device size has led to short channel effects which have resulted in the introduction of Fin Field Effect Transistor (FinFET), a tri-gate transistor built on a silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate. Furthermore, due to the geometry of the FinFET the severity of the heating problem has dramatically increased. Self-heating in the 3-dimensional FinFET device enhances the temperature gradients and peak temperature, which decrease drive current, increase the interconnect delays and degrade the device and interconnect reliability. In this work we have proposed a methodology to develop an accurate thermal model for the FinFET through a rigorous physics-based mathematical approach. A thermal circuit for the FinFET will be derived from the model. This model will allow chip designers to predict interconnect temperature which will lead them to achieve cost-effective design for the FinFET-based semiconductor chips. Keywords: Bulk CMOS, SOI CMOS, FinFET, Thermal heating

Investigation of MPPT Techniques Under Uniform and Non-Uniform Solar Irradiation Condition-A Retrospection

A significant growth in solar photovoltaic (PV) installation has observed during the last decade in standalone and grid-connected power generation systems. The solar PV system has a non-linear output characteristic because of weather intermittency, which tends to have a substantial effect on overall PV system output. Hence, to optimize the output of a PV system, different maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques have been used. But, the confusion lies while selecting an appropriate MPPT, as every method has its own merits and demerits. Therefore, a proper review of these techniques is essential. A “Google Scholar” survey of the last five years (2015-2020) was conducted. It has found that overall seventy-one review articles are published on different MPPT techniques; out of those seventy-one, only four are on uniform solar irradiance, seven on non-uniform and none on hybrid optimization MPPT techniques. Most of them have discussed the limited number of MPPT techniques, and none of them has discussed the online and offline under uniform and hybrid MPPT techniques under non-uniform solar irradiance conditions all together in one. Unfortunately, very few attempts have made in this regard. Therefore, a comprehensive review paper on this topic is need of time, in which almost all the well-known MPPT techniques should be encapsulated in one paper. This article focuses on classifications of online, offline, and hybrid optimization MPPT algorithms, under the uniform and non-uniform irradiance conditions. It summarizes various MPPT methods along with their mathematical expression, operating principle, and block diagram/flow charts. This research will provide a valuable pathway to researchers, energy engineers, and strategists for future research and implementation in the field of maximum power point tracking optimization

Isolation and characterization of Staphylococcus aureus from raw cow milk in Bangladesh

The study was intended for identification and characterization of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from raw cow milk. A total of 47 milk samples were collected from Sheshmore, Shutiakhali and Bangladesh Agricultural University Dairy Farm, Mymensingh. Using bacteriological, biochemical and PCR-based identification schemes, 12 (25.53%) isolates were confirmed as S. aureus. All the isolates showed ?-hemolysis on 5% sheep blood agar. S. aureus specific nuc gene (target size 279-bp) was amplified in the cases of all isolates. The isolates were found as resistant to Penicillin (100%), Erythromycin (75%) and Amoxicillin (100%). On the other hand, the isolates were sensitive to Ciprofloxacin (83.33%), Oxacillin (100%), Cloxacillin (100%) and Neomycin (100%). The isolated S. aureus showed increased resistance to broad spectrum antibiotic (e.g., Ciprofloxacin). As many people have a tendency to drink raw milk and raw milk products, there is high risk of S. aureus infection in human

Inflation Led Import or Import Led Inflation: Evidence from Bangladesh

This study investigates the relationship between inflation and import for the economy of Bangladesh over the sample period of 2000 to 2011. This study used different econometric techniques of measuring the long and short term relationship between variables. The Johansen Cointegration test is used to determine the existence of a long term relationships between study variables. The normalized Cointegrating coefficients are found statistically significant and show a stable and positive relationship between study variables. The short run interactions are similar to the long run relationships. The estimated error correction coefficient indicates that 0.6 percent deviation of the inflation rate from its long run equilibrium level is corrected each period where such correction rate for import is 24 percent. Finally, Granger causality analysis suggests the existence of a unidirectional causality running from Inflation to import

Solar Irradiance Nowcasting System Trial and Evaluation for Islanded Microgrid Control Purposes

The rapid increase in solar photovoltaic (PV) integration into electricity networks introduces technical challenges due to varying PV outputs. Rapid ramp events due to cloud movements are of particular concern for the operation of remote islanded microgrids (IMGs) with high solar PV penetration. PV systems and optionally controllable distributed energy resources (DERs) in IMGs can be operated in an optimised way based on nowcasting (forecasting up to 60 min ahead). This study aims to evaluate the performance under Perth, Western Australian conditions, of an all-sky imager (ASI)-based nowcasting system, installed at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia (WA). Nowcast direct normal irradiance (DNI) and global horizontal irradiance (GHI) are inputted into a 5 kWp solar PV system with a direct current (DC) power rating/alternating current (AC) power rating ratio of 1.0. A newly developed classification method provided a simplified irradiance variability classification. The obtained nowcasting system evaluation results show that the nowcasting system’s accuracy decreases with an increase in lead time (LT). Additionally, the nowcasting system’s accuracy is higher when the weather is either mostly clear (with a recorded LT15 mean absolute deviation (MAD) of 0.38 kW) or overcast (with a recorded LT15 MAD of 0.19 kW) than when the weather is intermittently cloudy with varying cloud conditions (with a recorded LT15 MAD of 0.44 kW). With lower errors observed in lower LTs, overall, it might be possible to integrate the nowcasting system into the design of IMG controllers. The overall performance of the nowcasting system at Murdoch University was as expected as it is comparable to the previous evaluations in five other different sites, namely, PSA, La Africana, Evora, Oldenburg, and Julich

Prevalence and Antibiotic Resistance Pattern of Escherichia coli Isolated from Raw Dairy Milk

E. coli is one of the most important food borne pathogen, which could be transmitted by milk and milk products. To assess the role of dairy milk as the source of drug resistant E. coli, we examined 50 raw dairy milk samples (25-farm milk + 25-market milk) from some selected areas of Bangladesh by cultural, morphological, biochemical and antimicrobial sensitivity tests. In the preliminary observation, the mean total aerobic mesophilic count of market and farm raw milk samples were 8.98 and 8.68 log CFU/ml, while mean coliform count were 4.20 and 3.03 log CFU/ml respectively. Thirty-three E. coli isolates were recovered from collected samples (66% 33 of 50) and this pathogen was more prevalent in market milk (76%, 19 of 25) than farm milk (56%, 14 of 25). In addition, most of the isolated E. coli exhibited resistance against ampicillin and cefotaxime. This result shows that, the raw dairy milk and its products could be a source of human drug resistant E. coli

Renewable energy integrated islanded microgrid for sustainable irrigation—A Bangladesh perspective

Due to high investment and maintenance costs, the government on Bangladesh is unable to provide sufficient support for grid extension and supplying electricity to remote or rural areas. The deficit in electricity introduces a crisis in powering irrigation systems, which influences negatively the country’s dominant income-generating sector, agriculture. Islanded microgrids with solar photovoltaic (PV) cells is one of the most attractive solutions for providing power to rural areas due to their cost-effectiveness, reliability and environment-friendly attributes. Therefore, a techno-economic feasibility study has been undertaken to investigate the prospects of renewable energy-based islanded microgrids to support rural electrification to power both households and irrigation systems. Three case studies based on the operation time of irrigation pumps during the day are developed using the HOMER Pro Microgrid Analysis Tool to identify the optimised configurations for the proposed system. The optimised configurations are then assessed considering the performance matrices of the cost of electricity (COE), net present cost (NPC), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and renewable energy fraction (RF). From the analyses, it is perceived that the operation of irrigation pumps at different times of a day is a significant influence, and the optimum method considering techno-economical evaluation is to run the irrigation pumps during the daytime by solar PV. It is evident that the proposed islanded microgrid has significant potentialities in powering irrigation systems as well as rural electrification with low energy generation costs, a contribution to the reduction of global warming and to ameliorating the energy crisis in Bangladesh in order to achieve a sustainable future