Qatar Foundation Annual Research Conference Proceedings Volume 2016 Issue 1

Background & Objective: Air pollution is a major problem that has been recognised throughout the world for hundreds of years. In the middle ages, the burning of coal in cities released increasing amounts of smoke and sulphur dioxide to the atmosphere. In the late 18th century, the Industrial Revolution, beginning in the UK, led to escalation in pollutant emissions based around the use of coal by both homes and industry.Polluta Read More

Fresh fruit and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet as they are a significant source of vitamins and minerals. However, fresh fruits and vegetables can also be a source of toxic substances such as pesticides. Pesticides are a several and diverse group of chemical compounds, which applied to crops at various stages of cultivation and during production and post-harvest treatment of agricultural commodities. Re Read More

Fadwa El Mellouhi1, Akinlolu Akande2, Sergey Rashkeev1, Mohamed El-Amine Madjet1, Golib Berdiyorov2, Carlo Motta2, Stefano Sanvito2 and Sabre Kais1, Fahhad Alharbi1 1Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar 2School of Physics and CRANN, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland In the past four years, the solar cell field has experienced an unprecedente Read More

Karst is ubiquitous on the peninsula of Qatar, including depressions, sinkholes, and caves. Faulting and fractures play a major role in the development of karst, where fluids find pathways through limestone and dissolve the host rock. The resulting fissures may grow larger as more surface water is funneled through to form cavities or karst. Sinkholes may also form, when cavern roofs collapse, and it is this last chara Read More

Bimetallic catalyst shows distinct physical and chemical properties differ from its monometallic catalyst due to the high synergy between the monometals. Bimetals of transition metals shows different applications in the field of catalysis, batteries and solar energy conversion etc. CuCo bimetallic catalysts are excellent candidate for the applications in the field of heterogeneous catalysis, solid state sensor, energy storag Read More

Energy-related activities are a major contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A growing body of knowledge clearly depicts the links between human activities and climate change. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil and other human activities has released carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other heat-trapping GHG emissions into the atmosphere and thus increased the concentra Read More

In the present architecture of the electric power grids, energy is generated in large-scale that is remotely located from consumers and transmitted using passive high-voltage transmission networks to substations. The electric power is then delivered to consumers via medium and low-voltage distribution systems. Line frequency transformers (LFTs) enable high-efficiency and long-distance power transmission by stepping up the Read More

Qatar peninsula is an arid country with limited water resources. With little rainfall of approximately 80 mm per year and no surface water, aquifers are the only source of natural water in Qatar. The groundwater aquifer receives around 50 million m3 per year as natural recharge, whereas annual groundwater abstraction is more than 220 million m3, mainly used for agriculture. Groundwater occurs in a form of fresh lenses Read More

Qatar seeks to generate 2% of its electricity from solar power by 2020 (Bryden et al., 2013, REN 2015), and 20% by either 2024 (PV Insider, 2014) or 2030 (REN, 2015). Since electricity is produced almost entirely from natural gas in Qatar, these renewable energy targets introduce the prospect of natural gas savings that can be made use to increase trade and/or reduce carbon emissions. Electricity production in Qatar has been Read More