Barriers to Energy Access in the Urban Poor Areas of Dhaka, Bangladesh: Analysis of Present Situation and Recommendations

Energy is a crucial input to promote socioeconomic development. In Bangladesh, about 96 million people (59%) do not have access to electricity and 143 million people (88%) still depend on biomass for cooking. The urban poor living in slum areas with lack of access to clean and modern sources of energy have not been addressed comprehensively. The main objective of this study is to identify the barriers faced by the urban poor in the slum areas of Dhaka in accessing different fuels and provide specific recommendations to overcome the barriers to enable energy access. The study is mainly based on field survey covering 185 households of the four major slum areas of Dhaka, literature review, and stakeholder interviews. Many barriers have been identified through this research where urban poor face problems in accessing legal energy services due to illegal settlement, lack of explicit policy on energy and housing, lack of dedicated institution, the pervasive role of Mastaans, poor infrastructure and lack of monitoring and evaluating system. Barriers specific recommendations are also suggested based on the experiences from the field visit and the best practices outside Bangladesh are also identified. Keywords: Urban poor; Energy access; Energy policy; Slums; Dhaka JEL Classifications: C83; G28; R2

A framework for increasing the availability of life cycle inventory data based on the role of multinational companies

Purpose The aim of the paper is to assesses the role and effectiveness of a proposed novel strategy for Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data collection in the food sector and associated supply chains. The study represents one of the first of its type and provides answers to some of the key questions regarding the data collection process developed, managed and implemented by a multinational food company across the supply chain. Methods An integrated LCI data collection process for confectionery products was developed and implemented by Nestlé, a multinational food company. Some of the key features includes: (1) management and implementation by a multinational food company, (2) types of roles to manage, provide and facilitate data exchange, (3) procedures to identify key products, suppliers and customers, (4) LCI questionnaire and cover letter, and (5) data quality management based on the pedigree matrix. Overall, the combined features in an integrated framework provides a new way of thinking about the collection of LCI data from the perspective of a multinational food company. Results The integrated LCI collection framework spanned across five months and resulted in 87 new LCI datasets for confectionery products from raw material, primary resource use, emission and waste release data collected from suppliers across 19 countries. The data collected was found to be of medium-to-high quality compared with secondary data. However, for retailers and waste service companies only partially completed questionnaires were returned. Some of the key challenges encountered during the collection and creation of data included: lack of experience, identifying key actors, communication and technical language, commercial compromise, confidentiality protection, and complexity of multi-tiered supplier systems. A range of recommendations are proposed to reconcile these challenges which include: standardisation of environmental data from suppliers, concise and targeted LCI questionnaires, and visualising complexity through drawings. Conclusions The integrated LCI data collection process and strategy has demonstrated the potential role of a multinational company to quickly engage and act as a strong enabler to unlock latent data for various aspects of the confectionery supply chain. Overall, it is recommended that the research findings serve as the foundations to transition towards a standardised procedure which can practically guide other multinational companies to considerably increase the availability of LCI data

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inhibits inflammasome-mediated inflammation and has been proposed as a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing multiple treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 (NCT04381936, ISRCTN50189673). In this assessment of DMF performed at 27 UK hospitals, adults were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus DMF. The primary outcome was clinical status on day 5 measured on a seven-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were time to sustained improvement in clinical status, time to discharge, day 5 peripheral blood oxygenation, day 5 C-reactive protein, and improvement in day 10 clinical status. Between 2 March 2021 and 18 November 2021, 713 patients were enroled in the DMF evaluation, of whom 356 were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus DMF, and 357 to usual care alone. 95% of patients received corticosteroids as part of routine care. There was no evidence of a beneficial effect of DMF on clinical status at day 5 (common odds ratio of unfavourable outcome 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47; p = 0.40). There was no significant effect of DMF on any secondary outcome

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inhibits inflammasome-mediated inflammation and has been proposed as a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing multiple treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 (NCT04381936, ISRCTN50189673). In this assessment of DMF performed at 27 UK hospitals, adults were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus DMF. The primary outcome was clinical status on day 5 measured on a seven-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were time to sustained improvement in clinical status, time to discharge, day 5 peripheral blood oxygenation, day 5 C-reactive protein, and improvement in day 10 clinical status. Between 2 March 2021 and 18 November 2021, 713 patients were enroled in the DMF evaluation, of whom 356 were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus DMF, and 357 to usual care alone. 95% of patients received corticosteroids as part of routine care. There was no evidence of a beneficial effect of DMF on clinical status at day 5 (common odds ratio of unfavourable outcome 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47; p = 0.40). There was no significant effect of DMF on any secondary outcome

From factory to supply chain : reducing environmental impacts of confectionery manufacturing using heat integration and life cycle assessment.

Global consumption for confectionery products are growing and is exerting enormous pressures on confectionery supply chains across the world to efficiently utilise natural resources towards becoming environmentally sustainable. However, there are a disparate range of studies investigating the environmental impacts of confectionery products, and more importantly how to improve environmental sustainability performance. In this thesis, the aim was to improve knowledge of opportunities for reducing environmental impact in confectionery manufacturing – from factory to supply chain – by developing methodological tools based on heat integration and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). A range of novel methodologies were developed to advance heat integration and LCA knowledge, including (1) a heat integration framework combining direct and indirect heat exchange from zonal to multiple zones, possibly incorporating heat pump technology to enhance low grade heat recovery; (2) methodologies for systematically improving Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data based on the role of multinational companies and for conducting effective LCA for confectionery products; and (3) a methodology to assess and quantify the environmental life cycle impacts of multi-product food factories. These methodologies have been applied at a multi-product confectionery factory, which has revealed significant findings: (1) combining direct and indirect heat integration from zonal to multiple zones can reduce factory energy by 4.04–6.05%, (2) heat pump technology can reduce factory energy by up to 29.2% but imposes design complexity and long economic paybacks up to 6.62 years, (3) fine bakery ware products on average was found to have the highest aggregated environmental life cycle impacts (higher than chocolate products by 7.1%, milk-based products by 18%, and sugar by 51.9%), and (4) combined improvement strategies of 50% energy reduction with 100% renewable energy, zero food waste to landfill (inc. 50% food waste reduction), and raw material changes to lower impacts can potentially reduce: Global Warming Potential by 65.82%, water depletion by 43.02%, abiotic depletion potential by 20.66%, land use by 17.45% and ecosystem quality by 7.24%. Overall, this research has culminated in several contributions to knowledge which substantially increases understanding of how to improve the environmental sustainability of confectionery manufacturing across the product, factory and supply chain level. The research will serve as a guide for future improvements, research and policies of confectionery manufacturers, supply chain actors, policy makers, and research institutes

From factory to supply chain : reducing environmental impacts of confectionery manufacturing using heat integration and life cycle assessment.

Global consumption for confectionery products are growing and is exerting enormous pressures on confectionery supply chains across the world to efficiently utilise natural resources towards becoming environmentally sustainable. However, there are a disparate range of studies investigating the environmental impacts of confectionery products, and more importantly how to improve environmental sustainability performance. In this thesis, the aim was to improve knowledge of opportunities for reducing environmental impact in confectionery manufacturing – from factory to supply chain – by developing methodological tools based on heat integration and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). A range of novel methodologies were developed to advance heat integration and LCA knowledge, including (1) a heat integration framework combining direct and indirect heat exchange from zonal to multiple zones, possibly incorporating heat pump technology to enhance low grade heat recovery; (2) methodologies for systematically improving Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data based on the role of multinational companies and for conducting effective LCA for confectionery products; and (3) a methodology to assess and quantify the environmental life cycle impacts of multi-product food factories. These methodologies have been applied at a multi-product confectionery factory, which has revealed significant findings: (1) combining direct and indirect heat integration from zonal to multiple zones can reduce factory energy by 4.04–6.05%, (2) heat pump technology can reduce factory energy by up to 29.2% but imposes design complexity and long economic paybacks up to 6.62 years, (3) fine bakery ware products on average was found to have the highest aggregated environmental life cycle impacts (higher than chocolate products by 7.1%, milk-based products by 18%, and sugar by 51.9%), and (4) combined improvement strategies of 50% energy reduction with 100% renewable energy, zero food waste to landfill (inc. 50% food waste reduction), and raw material changes to lower impacts can potentially reduce: Global Warming Potential by 65.82%, water depletion by 43.02%, abiotic depletion potential by 20.66%, land use by 17.45% and ecosystem quality by 7.24%. Overall, this research has culminated in several contributions to knowledge which substantially increases understanding of how to improve the environmental sustainability of confectionery manufacturing across the product, factory and supply chain level. The research will serve as a guide for future improvements, research and policies of confectionery manufacturers, supply chain actors, policy makers, and research institutes

Potential management interventions to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from tea cultivation

Previous studies have confirmed the agricultural stage as an important contributor to total tea life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We therefore focus on the growing and processing of black tea and evaluate the GHG reduction potential of possible agricultural management interventions for tea produced from Unilever’s tea estates and factories in Kenya. A baseline GHG footprint was calculated using data collected over four years. Potential interventions to reduce the GHG footprint per kg of black tea focused on key drivers (yield and fertiliser use) of the GHG footprint. These interventions and their effects on production are evidence-based but hypothetical and relate to possible changes in: (1) Harvesting practices; (2) Fertiliser application (timing) and (3) Organic production. Improvements in fertiliser application and harvesting practices could potentially deliver 16% and 9% reduction in GHG emissions, respectively. Under favourable conditions (sourcing fertiliser locally and no yield decline), changing to organic production could theoretically deliver 25% reduction in GHG emissions. However, under less favourable conditions (European sourced fertiliser and 30% yield decline), GHG emissions could increase by 41%. The availability of locally sourced organic fertiliser, sufficient to maintain nitrogen application rates, is seen as the biggest challenge in delivering sustainable organic tea cultivation

Optimized Energy Management Schemes for Electric Vehicle Applications: A Bibliometric Analysis towards Future Trends

Concerns over growing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and fuel prices have prompted researchers to look into alternative energy sources, notably in the transportation sector, accounting for more than 70% of carbon emissions. An increasing amount of research on electric vehicles (EVs) and their energy management schemes (EMSs) has been undertaken extensively in recent years to address these concerns. This article aims to offer a bibliometric analysis and investigation of optimized EMSs for EV applications. Hundreds (100) of the most relevant and highly influential manuscripts on EMSs for EV applications are explored and examined utilizing the Scopus database under predetermined parameters to identify the most impacting articles in this specific field of research. This bibliometric analysis provides a survey on EMSs related to EV applications focusing on the different battery storages, models, algorithms, frameworks, optimizations, converters, controllers, and power transmission systems. According to the findings, more articles were published in 2020, with a total of 22, as compared to other years. The authors with the highest number of manuscripts come from four nations, including China, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, and five research institutions, with these nations and institutions accounting for the publication of 72 papers. According to the comprehensive review, the current technologies are more or less capable of performing effectively; nevertheless, dependability and intelligent systems are still lacking. Therefore, this study highlights the existing difficulties and challenges related to EMSs for EV applications and some brief ideas, discussions, and potential suggestions for future research. This bibliometric research could be helpful to EV engineers and to automobile industries in terms of the development of cost-effective, longer-lasting, hydrogen-compatible electrical interfaces and well-performing EMSs for sustainable EV operations

Environmental management of confectionery products: Life cycle impacts and improvement strategies

This paper presents the first environmental life cycle analysis for a range of different confectionery products. A proposed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) was developed to characterise and identify the environmental profiles and hotspots for five different confectionery products; milk chocolate, dark chocolate, sugar, milk chocolate biscuit and milk-based products. The environmental impact categories are based on Nestle's EcodEX LCA tool which includes Global Warming Potential (GWP), Abiotic Depletion Potential (ADP), ecosystems quality, and two new indicators previously not considered such as land use and water depletion. Overall, it was found that sugar confectionery had the lowest aggregated environmental impact compared to dark chocolate confectionery which had the highest, primarily due to ingredients. As such, nine key ingredients were identified across the five confectionery products which are recommended for confectionery manufacturers to prioritise e.g. sugar, glucose, starch, milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, milk liquid, wheat flour and palm oil. Furthermore, the general environmental hotspots were found to occur at the following life cycle stages: raw materials, factory, and packaging. An analysis of five improvement strategies (e.g. alternative raw materials, packaging materials, renewable energy, product reformulations, and zero waste to landfill) showed both positive and negative environmental impact reduction is possible from cradle-to-grave, especially renewable energy. Surprisingly, the role of product reformulations was found to achieve moderate-to-low environmental reductions with waste reductions having low impacts. The majority of reductions was found to be achieved by focusing on sourcing raw materials with lower environmental impacts, product reformulations, and reducing waste generating an aggregated environmental reduction of 46%. Overall, this research provides many insights of the environmental impacts for a range of different confectionery products, especially how actors across the confectionery supply chain can improve the environmental sustainability performance. It is expected the findings from this research will serve as a base for future improvements, research and policies for confectionery manufacturers, supply chain actors, policy makers, and research institutes towards an environmentally sustainable confectionery industry

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Abstract Enzymatic saccharification (Hydrolysis) is one of the technologies to hydrolyze lignocellulosic biomass. In this study, Bangladeshi bagasse is used as feedstock for enzymatic saccharification and ethanol fermentation. Cutter mill and Mechano-chemical treatment (Ball mill) are used for pretreatment. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of substrate concentration, pretreatment time and enzyme concentration to enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol fermentation. The yield of glucose from cellulose is decreased with increasing substrate concentration from 5% to 15%, but the total amount of glucose is increased with increasing substrate concentration. Sample with long pretreatment time hydrolysis easily. Ball milling pretreatment of 1 hour is the most effective on enzymatic hydrolysis which gives better sugar yield than others. Enzyme loading has significant effect on enzymatic hydrolysis. Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used to converts C 6 sugar into ethanol and incubated at 30 o C for 96 hours. Almost all fermentable sugar converted into ethanol within 24 hours