5 research outputs found
Mind the Gaps
The word âdiversityâ is well adopted and celebrated by globally successful companies including Google and Apple who claim that diversity inspires innovation. The New Zealand electricity supply industry supports a number of initiatives that aims to address gender diversity, and increase the number of high achieving electrical engineering graduates. However, the desire to enhance workforce capability by encouraging diversity in New Zealandâs electricity industry is not yet fully realised. The gender imbalance is a noticeable issue across all sectors, and anecdotal evidence suggests that there is a void of young engineers to acquire knowledge from experienced senior professionals and smoothly transition into senior roles.
Understanding the demographic profile of electrical engineers derived from census data helps to identify any gaps that need to be addressed. Tertiary enrolment demographic trends for the Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) degree specialisation can be referred to as a proxy for what the future demographic profile of the electricity industry may look like.
This paper analyses and discusses the demographic trends of professional electrical engineers and tertiary students who have completed electrical and electronic related qualifications at universities and polytechnics. Targeted areas that require attention and investment are identified and discussed
Genetic diversity analysis of commercial Arabica coffee in Nepal using Molecular markers
Coffee is an established plant for its flavor and has high commercial use. In Nepal, the popularity of coffee is increasing for its high economic value. However, its diversity and the status of its genetic mapping have not been studied in Nepal. In the present study, the genetic diversity of 28 coffee accessions was assessed by using twenty-four SSR markers with the aim of studying the variation of coffee in accord with the genetic markers from a molecular approach. With the use of DNA extraction and marker selection for its amplification using PCR tools, a total of 81 loci from SSR were identified. Of all SSR 63.22% showed for mean polymorphism. The mean polymorphic information content of SSR was 0.38, which showed low genetic diversity of SSR markers among Coffea genotypes. On the basis of the SSR marker, the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) dendrogram constructed showed a similar group of distribution among 28 accessions, which was further supported by a principle coordinate analysis scatter plot. The phylogenetic relationships among the accessions were assessed by SSR marker, which also showed low diversity in coffee genotypes. Our study demonstrated the use of SSR markers in diversity analysis as the data were informative and highly reproducible for evaluating relationships among coffee cultivars in Nepal. The use of more markers systems and a high genotype pool would have been beneficial in accessing more accurately. Regardless, the information from the phylogenetic relationship study could be useful for breeding, varietal improvement, and for conservation programs
Molecular Identification and Antioxidant Activity Determination among Coffee Varieties Cultivated in Nepal
Coffee is the most popular beverage containing numerous phytochemical components that have antioxidant activity capable of scavenging free radicals. Antioxidant and phenolic contents have considerable benefits for human health. The aim of this study was the molecular identification of 9 coffee samples from the Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Lalitpur, Nepal, and the determination of the antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of green and roasted coffee beans. Molecular identification was performed using ITS-specific PCR followed by sequencing and phylogenetic tree construction using the maximum parsimony method. The DPPH assay was used to determine the antioxidant activity, and the FolinâCiocalteu (F-C) assay was used to determine the total phenolic content. All the samples belonged to the taxa Coffea arabica. The antioxidant activity in roasted beans varied from 2.49 to 4.62âAAE mg/g and from 1.4 to 3.9âAAE mg/g in green beans. The total phenolic content varied from 2.58 to 3.38âGAE mg/g and from 4.16 to 5.36âGAE mg/g for the roasted beans and green beans, respectively. The data revealed that the highest antioxidant content (4.62âAAE mg/g) was found in roasted coffee and that the highest phenolic content (5.36âGAE mg/g) was found in green coffee. The study concludes that roasting increases the antioxidant activity but decreases the phenolic content of coffee
Guideline for the connection of small-scale inverter based distributed generation: an introduction and summary
Small-scale distributed generation (DG) in New Zealand, particularly photovoltaic (PV)
generation, has been growing steadily over the past few years. In the last year alone to 31 March
2016, installed PV generation of all capacities has grown by a factor of about 1.6 to reach 37
MW. Approximately 90% (33 MW) of this installed PV capacity is made up of small-scale,
single phase residential grid-tied systems with ratings below 10 kW. This corresponds, on
average, to approximately 300-400 new PV systems being installed each month within low
voltage (LV) distribution networks.
Traditionally, the flow of power in electricity distribution networks has been largely
unidirectional. However, distributed generation introduces reverse power flows into the LV
network when the power produced by DG systems is greater than what can be consumed
locally. This introduction of reverse power flows and the dynamic behavior of DG system
inverters can negatively impact the electricity network, causing issues such as over-voltage,
phase imbalance, overloading of conductors and transformers, and create unique safety
challenges. As such, each DG connection application received by electricity distribution
businesses (EDBs) presently needs to be carefully considered for its impact on the electricity
network. The resourcing demand imposed by larger numbers of connection applications, and
the difficulty of technical assessment including congestion evaluation, are likely to increase
substantially as DG uptake intensifies. This has prompted the Electric Power Engineering
Centre (EPECentre) via its GREEN Grid programme, with the assistance of the electricity
industry based Network Analysis Group (NAG), to develop a small-scale inverter based DG
connection guideline for New Zealand EDBs. This has been developed on behalf of the
Electricity Engineersâ Association (EEA) specifically for the connection of inverter energy
systems (IES) of 10 kW or less.
This paper summarizes key aspects of this guideline. This includes a streamlined connection
application evaluation process that enables EDBs to efficiently categorize DG applications into
three groups. These groups vary from those with minimal or moderate network impact that can
be auto-assessed, to those most likely to cause network congestion that require manual
assessment. These categories are determined by looking at the DG hosting capacity specific to
the LV network that the DG is connecting to. For two of these categories, mitigation measures
for connection, are prescribed. It is also shown how DG hosting capacity can be used to simply
evaluate LV network congestion in order to satisfy Electricity Industry Participation Code
(EIPC) Part 6 requirements. Key technical requirements for all IES, appropriate for New
Zealand conditions, are also summarized
Guideline for the connection of small-scale inverter based distributed generation: an introduction and summary
Small-scale distributed generation (DG) in New Zealand, particularly photovoltaic (PV)
generation, has been growing steadily over the past few years. In the last year alone to 31 March
2016, installed PV generation of all capacities has grown by a factor of about 1.6 to reach 37
MW. Approximately 90% (33 MW) of this installed PV capacity is made up of small-scale,
single phase residential grid-tied systems with ratings below 10 kW. This corresponds, on
average, to approximately 300-400 new PV systems being installed each month within low
voltage (LV) distribution networks.
Traditionally, the flow of power in electricity distribution networks has been largely
unidirectional. However, distributed generation introduces reverse power flows into the LV
network when the power produced by DG systems is greater than what can be consumed
locally. This introduction of reverse power flows and the dynamic behavior of DG system
inverters can negatively impact the electricity network, causing issues such as over-voltage,
phase imbalance, overloading of conductors and transformers, and create unique safety
challenges. As such, each DG connection application received by electricity distribution
businesses (EDBs) presently needs to be carefully considered for its impact on the electricity
network. The resourcing demand imposed by larger numbers of connection applications, and
the difficulty of technical assessment including congestion evaluation, are likely to increase
substantially as DG uptake intensifies. This has prompted the Electric Power Engineering
Centre (EPECentre) via its GREEN Grid programme, with the assistance of the electricity
industry based Network Analysis Group (NAG), to develop a small-scale inverter based DG
connection guideline for New Zealand EDBs. This has been developed on behalf of the
Electricity Engineersâ Association (EEA) specifically for the connection of inverter energy
systems (IES) of 10 kW or less.
This paper summarizes key aspects of this guideline. This includes a streamlined connection
application evaluation process that enables EDBs to efficiently categorize DG applications into
three groups. These groups vary from those with minimal or moderate network impact that can
be auto-assessed, to those most likely to cause network congestion that require manual
assessment. These categories are determined by looking at the DG hosting capacity specific to
the LV network that the DG is connecting to. For two of these categories, mitigation measures
for connection, are prescribed. It is also shown how DG hosting capacity can be used to simply
evaluate LV network congestion in order to satisfy Electricity Industry Participation Code
(EIPC) Part 6 requirements. Key technical requirements for all IES, appropriate for New
Zealand conditions, are also summarized