Impact of Expanded United States Sugar Imports from CAFTA Countries on the Ethanol Market

The need to decrease the United States’ dependency on oil has pushed ethanol to the forefront of energy sources. In the U.S., corn is used to make ethanol. Corn-based ethanol production has been profitable over the past few years, but there has been a near doubling of corn prices in late 2006 and early 2007 (Outlaw, et. al., 2007). The trend is a constant rise in prices, which has given way to ethanol production by other sources of raw materials like sugarcane. Sugarcane ethanol is the most cost-efficient biofuel available anywhere in the world, and in the United States, the government supports sugar prices. Through the US sugar policy, sugar prices are controlled, and foreign imports are severely limited. Brazil is leading the way in sugarcane ethanol, and its neighbors in Central America are following suit. In 2006, the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) was established. The agreement allows sugar imports into the U.S. from these countries duty free. Those countries have extreme ethanol growth potential with low production costs and large sources of sugarcane. This paper uses GIS and statistical tools to determine the impact of the expanded U.S. sugar imports from CAFTA-DR countries on the U.S. ethanol market in terms of production and regional concentration. To estimate the relationship between ethanol production and sugar imports, an OLS regression model has been developed with monthly U.S. ethanol production as a function of imported sugarcane, gas, ethanol , and corn prices; covering January 2000 to September 2008.Ethanol, Sugarcane, Sugar, CAFTA-DR, Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, International Relations/Trade,

Experimental data on Helically Coiled Oscillating Heat Pipe (HCOHP) design and thermal performance

Experimental and derived data from three Helically Coiled Oscillating Heat Pipes (HCOHPs) charged with ethanol, methanol and deionized water working fluids respectively are presented. The data was obtained from prototypes of the HCOHPs fabricated out of copper and tested under laboratory conditions. The primary data presented covers the HCOHP aspects, charging of the working fluid and temperature measurements from Omega K-type Thermocouples installed on the evaporators, condensers, adiabatic sections, and on the cylindrical copper vessel integrated with it. The derived data covers the HCOHPs performances and thermal contact resistance experienced during laboratory testing. The data on the aspects and charging of the working fluid provides useful information for the validation of design parameters of other heat pipes. The measured temperature data and the derived performance data can used to validate the performance of heat pipes in other studies and to depict performance profiles in standard text and reference books. The nature of the data presented as a whole would be useful for comparative analysis involving heat pipes and other passive heat transfer devices

Investigations into impacts of fenestration and shading variation on ventilation and energy performance of an office in cooling and heating seasons

Consideration of reducing energy consumption and improving occupant comfort are crucial in sustainable building designs and retrofitting. In the built environment, fenestration and shading device (F&SD) installations are common strategies applied in buildings to minimize solar heat gains towards reducing cooling and overall energy. The influence of F&SD strategies on building performance is contingent upon their designs; however, existing research does not provide performance trends and distributions of F&SD with different configurations. This study investigated the influence of varied F&SD configurations on the ventilation and energy performance of an office unit in a building in Shanghai using brute-force parametric analysis and Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis. The evaluated strategies included window-facing orientation, window-to-wall ratio, shading device types, number of shadings, shading device depths, and shading tilt angles. The results show that changes in F&SD configurations resulted in reductions in solar gains, winter natural ventilation loss, and summer natural ventilation gains by up to 93.8 %, 80.2 %, and 75.6 %, respectively. For all F&SD configurations investigated, the difference between the maximum and minimum zone temperatures for summer was 1.39 °C and for winter, 1.21 °C. Heating energy demands increased up to 0.75 %; besides, cooling energy reductions were 3.03 % and 2.7 % for horizontal and vertical shading devices respectively. This study’s findings can aid building designers in comprehending the energy and ventilation performance of varied F&SD configurations and provide insights and references for sustainable design processes

Specific identification of toads and frogs based on the mouthpart configuration of their tadpoles

The mouth part configuration of the tadpoles of some anuran amphibians were examined using a dissecting microscope. Features examined included the tooth rows, oral disc, and the jaw sheath. Two different groups of tadpoles were collected and suitable pond conditions provided for them tometamorphose into adults. One group metamorphosed to Bufo regularis and the other to Hyperolius nasatus. The Bufo regularis tadpoles had a jaw sheath that was serrate and valley-sawed with a Labial Tooth row Formula (LTF) of 2(2)/3. The Hyperolius nasatus tadpoles on the other hand had ajaw sheath that was cuspate pointed with a Labial Tooth row Formula of 2(2)(3)/3(3). The findings from this study show that it is possible to identify frogs and toads from their tadpoles without having to look for the breeding adults in the wild

Factors Influencing Successful Small-Farm Operations in North Carolina

The overall goal of this research project is to identify and refine factors influencing successful small farm operations in North Carolina. Small farms account for 91 percent of all farms. Given the importance of small farm viability, this research project focuses on identifying ways to further enhance successful small farming in North Carolina. In an effort to further explain the factors that affect successful small-scale farming, researchers have identified factors that have underpinnings in 1) small-farm educational programming; 2) small-scale agricultural enterprises and production practices; 3) alternative marketing; and 4) risk management. Although this research project includes several surveys, for this phase of the project the survey instrument solicited production and financial data, attitudes and beliefs about farming, as well as demographic questions. The research instrument was distributed to a sampling frame that also included small farmers not identified as being successful. Outcomes of this project yielded possible ways to further enhance the success of small farms in North Carolina. Based on case study and questionnaire results, income was not found to be as important as believed and the overall, “love of farming,” seemed to be the driving force behind the farmer’s view of success and not profit. The small farm may represent an individual business enterprise but in reality represents a family business whose success is often measured in qualifiers indicators rather than business quantifiers.Small Farm, Agribusiness, Successful, Agribusiness,

Numerical investigation of fire in the cavity of naturally ventilated double skin façade with venetian blinds

Double skin façades (DSFs), offer great views, architectural aesthetics, and energy savings. Yet, in a fire event the glass façade breaks leading to risks to human life and firefighting difficulties. Shading devices incorporated to prevent unfavourable heat gains to reduce cooling load though offer energy savings potentially present other challenges in firefighting and occupants’ evacuation. In this study, Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS) was used to numerically investigate the spread of a 5 MW HRR polyurethane GM27 fire in a multi-storey double skin façade building with Venetian blinds placed in its cavity. The blinds were positioned 0.4 m away from the internal glazing, middle of the cavity and 0.4 m away from the external glazing respectively. In each blind position the slat angle was opened at 0°, 45°, 90° and 135° respectively. The results show peak inner glazing surface temperature ranged between 283°C to 840°C depending on the thermocouple position, the Venetian blind position and slat opening angle. Without Venetian blinds, peak inner glazing surface temperatures ranged between 468°C to 614°C. In all cases except when the slat angle was 0° and the blind was positioned closer to the outer glazing, the inner glazing surface temperature from the closest thermocouple (TC 14) above the fire room exceeded 600°C, the glass breakage temperature threshold. Overall, the Venetian blind position and slat opening angle influenced the spread of fire. Venetian blind combustibility and flammability were not considered and therefore recommended for future studies

Numerical data on fire in the cavity of naturally ventilated double skin façade with Venetian blinds

This Data Article presents simulation data and methodology on fire in the cavity of naturally ventilated Double Skin Façade (DSF) with Venetian blinds. The simulation data includes glazing surface temperature data and the Input and Output Source Code files. The data for the validation of the model is also presented along with its methodology, input source code file and output temperature results. The comprehensive methodology used to obtain this data from the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) and PyroSim are presented. The data presented can provide theoretical benchmarks for architects, engineers, researchers, and designers when incorporating Venetian blinds in DSFs. It can also help fire fighters and engineers to theoretically assess the spread of fire in buildings with DSFs incorporating Venetian blinds

What not to do in facial infrared thermographic measurements: A post data enhancement

The accuracy of infrared thermographic measurements depends on several factors, including movement of target. In this study, accuracy of nose tip temperatures obtained in a mental workload assessment using a thermal imaging camera were impacted by participants’ movement and camera zooming/panning. To correct these measurement errors, we compared manual facial landmark identification techniques using data labelling software with an automated deep learning-based approach utilised for facial landmark tracking and evaluated both against the built-in tracking features of the thermal camera, Thermal Spot Tracking. Using the Manual Thermal Landmark Annotation measurements as the ground truth, our results show that the Automated Facial Feature Tracking approach, which is the AI based approach performed better than the Thermal Spot Tracking as it matched comparatively more spatial coordinates and temperature datapoints as well as showed comparatively lower mean relative error. The study highlights the potential of AI in enhancing the accuracy of thermographic measurements, particularly in applications involving facial temperature analysis

A review of the status of the fauna of selected protected areas in the major vegetation zones of Ghana

The fauna in four major vegetation types, namely, rainforest, semi-deciduous forest, inland savanna and coastal scrub and grassland, was examined with the main objective of providing a general description of the fauna and highlighting the species that are threatened or of special conservation concern, nationally and globally. The fauna examined weremammals (large and small), birds and reptiles. The sources of information include the Internet, books, journals and faunal survey reports on various forest reserves and protected areas in Ghana. The threat to fauna appears to be highest in the rainforest and the semi-deciduous forest. For mammals, 41.8 and 28 per cent are threatened in the rainforest and semi-deciduous forest, respectively. The comparable figures for birds are 4.5 and 3.1 per cent. The most endangered (critically endangered) mammal species in Ghana is the Miss Waldron’s red colobus monkey(Procolobus badius); current thinking is that it has gone extinct. Six species of mammals are endangered (IUCN) in the semi-deciduous forest, two in the rainforest and four in the inland savanna; no endangered species has been recorded in the coastal scrub and grassland. The main causes of threat to fauna in forest reserves are habitat degradation andfragmentation, to which mining activities have been contributing in recent times

Effects of Trade Openness on Economic Growth: The Case of African Countries

The relationship between trade and productivity has not been established theoretically. Some researchers have indeed found some, if not complete, support for the view that increasing openness has a positive impact on productivity. This study used a Cobb-Douglas production function as in Miller and Upadhyay (2000) to estimate the impact of FDI, exchange rate, capital-labor ratio and trade openness on GDP for 38 African countries from 1980 to 2008. Data were transformed to natural logs and estimated using alternative panel models; which included one- or-two-way fixed or random effects models. The results found trade openness having a positive relationship with GDP; which is comparable to findings of Ahmed et al.; (2008).Trade Openness, Productivity, Africa, Cobb Douglas Production Function., International Development, International Relations/Trade, Productivity Analysis,