Qatar Foundation Annual Research Conference Proceedings Volume 2016 Issue 1

We report on a number of climate and air quality anomalies during 2015 and their potential impacts on human health, solar power generation and water security in Qatar and the wider region. The anomalies include a strong cut-off low pressure system and accompanying sand-storm in early April, elevated Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) from early summer through October in the Arabian Gulf, substantially higher year-on-year particulate matter concentrations (PM10 and PM2.5) in Qatar, and the development of two late season record strength cyclones in the Arabian Sea.

The impacts of climate change and air quality on sustainable development and human health are important considerations for all countries. The manifestations of climate change may differ from region to region, but the effects of a warming anomaly in the world's oceans, known as El Niño, has global reach. We present an analysis of surface observations, upper air and satellite data over Qatar and the GCC that relate the occurrence of these anomalies to the development of El Niño within the context of a changing climate.

The summer of 2015 saw increased ambient temperatures, dew point temperatures (a measure of relative humidity) and SST, compared to climatological averages, throughout much of the region. The July heat wave [Schär, 2015] resulted in temperatures in excess of 45C and SST exceeding 34C on July 31st. We report a substantial increase in particulate matter concentrations in the Doha urban area, as high as 20%-50% higher than the same period in 2014, during the summer months and into late October and early November. The higher concentrations of particulates are linked to increased evaporation and flux of sea salt particles during the warmer summer and their growth by interaction with emissions from the urban environment.

Tropical cyclones Chapala and Megh, developed one week apart in late October and early November, and were unprecedented in the historical record. Tropical cyclone Chapala developed over the warmest ever-recorded sea surface temperatures in the Arabian Sea and intensified to a Category 4 storm, causing severe damage.

The Southwest Monsoon keeps tropical cyclones from forming in the Arabian Sea for much of the year, allowing only a short season from May to early June before the monsoon arrives, and another short season in late October through November after the monsoon has departed. Arabian Sea tropical cyclones during the pre-monsoon period in May and June have become stronger over the past thirty years owing to a reduction in vertical wind shear brought about by dimming of sunlight from air pollution particles primarily emitted in India [Evan et al., 2011].

[Evan et al., 2011] also speculated that continued growth in air pollution emissions might also reduce wind shear in the post-monsoon October-November period, thus increasing the likelihood of development of intense tropical cyclones during that time. This is corroborated by evidence of the substantially higher year-on-year particulate matter concentrations in Doha presented earlier and the development of the two tropical cyclones in October and November.

Finally, we correlate the observed anomalies with projected climate trends to predict the contributions from climate change and air quality to human health impacts as well as those related to solar power generation and water security in Qatar and the region.

This paper is aiming at raising awareness, informing decision makers and informing the transportation community of the implications of road accidents and high accident rates and severities in Qatar and similar Gulf countries. The paper is also recommending to adopt an integrated approach with a set of measures and actions to policy makers in Doha, including environmental measures which can aim at improving pedestrian safety and reducing accidents while walking or crossing the roads in urban areas in Doha. The recommendations will be applicable for implementation in other similar cities in the region.

The statistics of those killed as a result of road traffic accident is very alarming and comparable to those caused by communicable diseases as shown in Table 1.1. Although road traffic accidents affect all age groups, but its fatality rate is conspicuously highest among young people. In fact, it is consistently one of the top three causes of death for people between the ages of 5 and 44 years (WHO, 2009). These unprecedented fatality rates has prompted the World health Organization (WHO) to call for urgent action to be taken to curb this menace or else the fatalities could rise to become the fifth leading cause of death by 2030 (WHO, 2009). Table 1.1: Leading causes of death, 2004 and 2030 compared

(Source: Peden et al., 2004)

These safety concerns are worldwide; the UK Department for Transport reports that in 2011, the fatality rate for pedestrians has increased by 12% compared to 2010. In the United States, statistics show that there are 5,000 killed and 64,000 injured pedestrians in vehicle accidents annually. Other western and Eastern countries also face similar problems and concern about pedestrian traffic accidents. In order to manage and improve pedestrian accidents, it is important to have a good understanding of pedestrian movements while walking and crossing the roads.

The fatality rate of road traffic accidents vary geographically depending on several factors which may include: the population of the place (i.e. level of crowdedness); environmental factors (e.g. its quality of road networks, design of the roads); economy of the region (e.g. income of the people); government policies of implementing road safety regulations etc. For instance, road traffic accidents have claimed more lives in North America than any other geographic region. Pedestrian accidents are of major concern in Qatar as well as in other Gulf countries that could discourage individuals to walk. Statistics show that the large majority of pedestrian deaths occur in urban areas. It has been claimed that pedestrians are involved in more than 25% of total deaths in these accidents. Pedestrian accidents in urban areas occur largely on the main roads where pedestrian traffic is more frequent and the vehicle traffic is heavier or faster; all of which make crossing action more difficult. Infrastructure, road design as well as other environmental factors all contribute to the volume of pedestrian, as well as other types’ of accidents.

Despite effort by the Gulf governments to improve road safety regulations, road traffic accidents are becoming increasingly prevalent in in these states, thereby, constituting a serious public health problem (Barrimah et al., 2012; Ansari et al., 2000; Bener & Jadaan, 1992; Ofosu et al., 1988). In fact, researches have shown that road traffic accidents are the major cause of morbidity and mortality at a rate that is comparable to heart diseases and cancer (WHO, 2009; Al Ghamdi, 2002 & 2003). In Saudi Arabia, road traffic accidents have been found to be second major health problem, after infectious diseases (Mufti, 1983). Since the oil boom in 1973, the Gulf states have experienced rapid expansion of their economy and urban development of most of its cities (Ofosu et al., 1988). Again, there has been rapid population growth triggered by its economic prosperity causing an influx of foreign workers (Ansari et al., 2000; Ofosu et al., 1988). The Gulf states are also attractive destinations to a large number of employees because of the high salaries and free income taxes in these states. Moreover, there have been an increased motorization of the highways and rapid expansion of road networks in all Gulf states (see for example Ansari et al., 2000; Ofosu et al., 1988). This is because motor vehicles are the principal means of transportation in these countries due to the convenience and speed they offer in facilitating the movement of people and goods to their various destinations (Ansari et al., 2000). Road transportation also has positive impacts on both the nations and individuals by enabling increased access to economic activities, job opportunities, education, recreation and health care service.

In Doha, as in other Gulf cities the mixed population composition and backgrounds and different walking and crossing behaviour add to the complexity of understanding pedestrian behaviour. Land use characteristics in these countries also have to be considered as a major contributor to accidents in these countries. Therefore, pedestrian flows have to be managed in a more efficient way in order to consistently cut the number of fatalities.

To address the above, the paper is designed to investigate the main factors that influence pedestrian behaviour at congested locations in urban areas in Doha and the appropriate way forward to influence this bahaviour. The paper presents an in-depth investigation and characterisation of pedestrian interaction with motorised traffic. The way forward to overcome some of the discussed factors will also be proposed.

References:

Al-Ghamdi, A. S. (2002) ‘Pedestrian–vehicle crashes and analytical techniques for stratified contingency tables’, Accident Analysis and Prevention, 34(2): 205–214.

Al-Ghamdi, A. S. (2003) ‘Analysis of traffic accidents at urban intersections in Riyadh’, Accident Analysis and Prevention, 35(5): 717–724.

Ansari, S., Akhdar, F., Mandoorah, M. and Moutaery, K. (2000) ‘Causes and effects of road traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia’, Public Health, 114(1): 37–39.

Barrimah, I., Midhet, F. and Sharaf, F. (2012) ‘Epidemiology of Road Traffic Injuries in Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia: Consistency of Police and Health Data’, International Journal of Health Sciences, Qassim University, 6(1): 31–41.

Bener, A. and Jadaan, K. S. (1992) ‘A perspective on road fatalities in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’, Accident Analysis & Prevention, 24(2): 143–148.

CNN World Report (2008) http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/05/news/economy/AAA_study/ (Accessed on 21st June 2012).

International Road Federation (2008) World Road Statistics 2008, Data 2001 to 2006. http://www.irfnet.org/files-upload/stats/2008/WRS2008_Publication.pdf (Accessed on 21st July 2012).

Mufti M. H. (1983) ‘Road traffic accidents as a public health problem in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’, Int. Assoc. for Accident and Traffic Medicine, 11: 65–69.

National Statistical Office (2011) Central Department of Statistics, Ministry of Economy and Planning, Published by the Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency. http://www.indexmundi.com/saudi_arabia/population.html (Accessed on 24th July 2012).

Ofosu, J. B., Abouammoh, A. M. and Bener, A. (1988) ‘A study of road traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia’, Accident Analysis & Prevention, 20(2): 95–101.

Peden, M., Scurfield, R., Sleet, D., Mohan, D., Hyder, A., Jarawan, E. and Mathers, C. (Eds.) (2004) ‘World Report on Road Traffic Injury and Prevention’, World Health Organization, Geneva.

World Health Organization (2009) ‘Global Status Report on Road Safety: Time for Action’.

Middle East (ME) supplies more than 47% oil exported in the world (IEA 2013) and has highest energy self-sufficiency in the world. It includes 12 countries and has a population of 205 million in 2010, which increased by about 61.4% from 1990 (IEA 2010). Its energy demand has increased astronomically at the rate of 7% per year, since 1971–2013, faster than in any other region in the world. Buildings majorly contribute to this. Building energy (residential, commercial and public use buildings) use in the ME has increased by about 46% in the period 2003–13 (IEA 2010).

Ironically ME houses only about 3% of the world's population, but it contributes to 13% of global CO2 emissions. Understandable, its per capita CO2 emission is one of the highest in the world at 7.53 tons of CO2/capita, 68% higher than the world average. Therefore improving the energy efficiency remains a key challenge for the region. International Energy Agency (IEA) identifies the development and enforcement of building energy codes coupled with energy consumption data generation as the top energy efficiency policy recommendations for this region (IEA 2014).

Qatar's per capita energy consumption is one of the highest, consuming 30.184 TWh as of 2012 (IEA 2012) Buildings contribute majorly (80%) to this, with air-conditioning taking a lion's share. With the absence of custom-made energy/thermal comfort standards, the buildings tend to follow western standards meant for colder climates verbatim. Cheap energy availability and tariffs exacerbate this practice (Fattouha and El-Katiri 2013). Often times, energy analysis and conservation come as postmortem ideas than at the design stage. And the energy subsidies often prove to be unrealistic and unsustainable in the long run.

Qatar has little research on occupant thermal comfort and preferences in buildings. Energy efficient building design necessitates this. As part of large energy conservation web tool design for Qatar, we conduct year long occupant surveys in office buildings to understand the nature of the building stock and occupant thermal comfort and preferences along side their thermal adaptations.

Saudi Arabia stands sixth in world's oil consumption and already uses a quarter of its own production. Building energy consumption in Saudi Arabia went up astronomically by 60.8% in five years from 2007 to 2012. Energy analysts argue that Saudi Arabia could turn into a net oil importer by 2030 if current demand, growth patterns continue. Air conditioning majorly contributes to this. Recent research posits that the building envelope codes have a limited role to play in reducing energy consumption (Radhi 2009).

Saudi building code specifies two design temperatures of 20 °C and 25.5 °C for winter and summer, for all climate and building types, much similar to the building codes of other countries like UAE (SBCNC 2007). Relying on Fanger's heat balance model (Fanger 1972), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard -55 (1992) formed the basis for this. This Standard is long since superseded (ASHRAE 1992).

Environments designed based on this model produce thermal monotony (uniform indoor temperatures yearlong), with the indoor environments delinked from the outdoors. It ignores the local climate, clothing, culture or comfort practices of Saudis. Researchers all across the globe criticized such rigid and unsustainable indoor temperatures.

The Adaptive model of Thermal Comfort on the other hand hinges on the field studies in real life buildings. People in their everyday environments are studied in order to develop the temperature standards that truly represent local climate, people, their comfort practices and adaptation mechanisms. Saudi Arabia is yet to develop its Adaptive Thermal Comfort Standards (ACS) (Nicol and Humphreys 2009) (CIBSE, (The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers) 2006, Indraganti, et al. 2014) (ASHRAE 2010) (ASHRAE 2010).

The potential of occupant's adaptation and the ACS is in producing sustainable indoor environments is long since been recognized. Therefore, this presentation highlights the necessity of the Adaptive Comfort Standards for the ME in the context of its growing energy concerns. It relies on the results of the first field studies we have conducted in Japan and India, KSA and Qatar and also draws heavily from the current research around the world.

References

ASHRAE. ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55–1992, Thermal environmental conditions for human occupancy. Atlanta: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc., 1992.

ASHRAE. “ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55–2010, Thermal environmental conditions for human occupancy”. Standard, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc, Atlanta, 2010.

CIBSE, (The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers). “Environmental Design Guide, Vol. A”. London, 2006.

Fanger, P. O. Thermal Comfort, Analysis und Applications in Environmental Engineering. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972.

Fattouha, Bassam, and Laura El-Katiri. “Energy subsidies in the Middle East and North Africa”. Energy Strategy Reviews 2, no. 1 (2013): 108–115.

IEA. “Regional Energy Efficiency Policy Recommendations, Regional Energy Efficiency Policy Recommendations Arab-Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) Region”. 2014.

IEA. “Energy balances of non-OECD countries”. International Energy Agency, 2010.

IEA. “Energy balances of non-OECD countries”. International Energy Agency, 2012.

Indraganti, Madhavi, Ryozo Ooka, Hom B Rijal, and Gail S Brager. “Adaptive model of thermal comfort for offices in hot and humid climates of India”. Building and Environment 74, no. 4 (April 2014): 39–53.

Nicol, Fergus, and Michael A Humphreys. “New standards for comfort and energy use in buildings”. Building Research & Information 37, no. 1 (2009): 68–73.

Radhi, H. “Can envelope codes reduce electricity and CO2 emissions in different types of buildings in the hot climate of Bahrain?”. Energy, 2009: 34(2009)205–215.

SBCNC. Saudi Building Code Energy Conservation Requirements: 601. 601, Saudi Building Code National Committee, Riyadh: Government of Saudi Arabia, 2007, 198.

Introduction: To date, a variety of studies have been published on the topic of long term energy system transition. Most studies on future energy systems, however, have a shorter time frame or adopt a supranational focus (e.g. the Energy Roadmap, 2011 or the World Energy Outlook, 2015). It then constitutes a sincere challenge to perform a national energy system transition study with as time horizon 2050 and covering a far-reaching transformation of the energy system.

VITO, together with the FPB (Federal Planning Bureau) and ICEDD, performed a study to scrutinise the transition of the Belgian national energy system towards a future mix entirely based on renewable energy sources. The focus on renewable energy sources and on building a national energy system completely running on renewable energy can be traced back to three main concerns:

•   – Climate change: Renewable energy sources (RES) are a major instrument in the fight against climate change as RES do not release (net) greenhouse gas emissions.
• – Security of supply: Most renewable energy sources make use of technologies that ultimately derive energy from natural phenomena like wind, wave, tidal, sun, water, etc. Renewable electricity can be generated from wind power, wave, solar photovoltaics (PV), hydro, geothermal and biomass. Since most RES are then cultivated or naturally available within a nation's territory, RES can help to reduce Belgium's (and Europe's) growing dependence on imported fossil fuels. As a 100% RES based system is independent of imported fossil fuels, it goes without saying that security of energy supply should benefit from a transition to a 100% RES based system.
• – Economy/competitiveness: creating or expanding a renewable market with a considerable number of direct and indirect jobs can seem appealing. Moreover, an energy system entirely based on renewable energy presupposes considerable efforts in the field of energy savings to drastically diminish the amount of energy needed, which in its turn instigates the activity of a.o. the building sector (through e.g. Insulation, heat pumps, airco systems, etc.). Not only job creation can prompt economic growth, also cost cutting does. As to costs, (most) RES, once in operation, have no fuel costs and less maintenance is needed to keep them functioning (IEA, 2005). However, it is also worth noting that most RES today need subsidies to compete with other technologies. These subsidies should nonetheless decrease steadily over time because of the “learning by doing” process and economies of scale so as to reach a level playing field with the “old” fossil fuels whose prices, due to scarcity issues, will likely not stop increasing in the coming decades if no global action is taken.

Methodology: The methodology to calculate the pathways/scenarios towards a fully renewable energy mix is based on the TIMES techno-economic modelling framework, developed by the IEA (International Energy Agency, ETSAP implementing agreement). TIMES (an acronym for

The Integrated MARKAL-EFOM System) is an economic model generator for energy systems, which provides a technology-rich basis for estimating energy dynamics over a long-term, multi-period time horizon. Reference case estimates of end-use energy service demands (e.g. car travel; residential lighting and heating/cooling; steam heat requirements in industrial sectors; etc.) are provided by the user. In addition, the user provides estimates of the existing stock of energy related equipment in all sectors and the characteristics of available future technologies, as well as present and future sources of primary energy supply and their potentials.

Using these as inputs, the TIMES model aims at supplying energy services at minimum global cost (at minimum loss of surplus) by simultaneously making equipment investment and operating decisions. For example, an increased demand for electrical appliances in the residential sector due to population growth leads to a number of reactions.

First, it involves a choice of appliances as the market provides different types corresponding to different energy efficiency levels (energy labelling) at different costs. Second, the increased demand for electricity has to be met and either existing generation equipment is used more intensively or new – possibly more efficient – equipment must be installed. The choice of the model of the generation equipment (type and fuel) is based on the analysis of the characteristics of alternative generation technologies, on the economics of the energy supply, and on environmental criteria.

The cost minimisation approach covers the full time horizon, which involves comparing different costs at different points in time. For this purpose all costs are discounted to the base year, using a uniform (social) discount rate.

The TIMES model is less suited as a projection tool. The main purpose of TIMES is the analysis of alternative scenarios, i.e. the impacts of measures are evaluated by comparing two scenarios which have been constructed in a transparent and consistent manner. The approach is more normative from the point of view of the public authorities (prescribing what optimally should happen). Transparency is guaranteed by the explicitness.

Challenges of intermittent energy

When dealing with high penetrations of intermittent renewable energy sources like wind and solar, fluctuations in supply occur and prevail over demand fluctuations. In the case of solar energy, the decomposition of the yearly production profile comprises 3 components: first, day/night fluctuations, second, a long wave starting at close to zero levels in January, peaking in the summer months and ending at similar close to zero levels by the end of the year, and third, a pattern that looks purely random. For wind we observe many cycles, defining periods with low availability extending from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. Dealing in a correct way with the intermittent nature of wind and solar energy is a major challenge for developing renewable energy scenarios and the high share of renewable energies required several model improvements for which we defined specific model adjustments that are also applicable for TIMES models for other countries. Different approaches for dealing with intermittent energy can be thought of: a better integration of the Belgian network in a European network, installing back-up installations, implementing smart grids, using storage technologies, adapting demand to supply.

Storage options are included in order to represent different alternatives in dealing with the volatility of energy supply. So far, the only mass storage available in Belgium is the pumped water storage facility in Coo, representing a capacity of 5 GWh, allowing producing electricity at a power rate of 1.2 GW. Additional storage facilities are included in the model: day/night and seasonal storage options for electricity, electricity to hydrogen and hydrogen to electricity options (electrolysis and fuel cells) and hydrogen storage options.

Standard TIMES models consider 12 sub-periods in one year, representing 4 seasons and 3 daily levels: night, day and peak. Usually this distribution in twelve time slices is chosen to represent the variability in demand and one peak demand slice simulates a peak close to historical levels. Empirically it has been found that this level of detail is sufficient for dealing with fluctuations in demand when supply is steerable. However, when dealing with high penetrations of intermittent renewable energy sources like wind and solar, fluctuations in supply occur and prevail over demand fluctuations. In order to represent this in the model the number of time periods within one year has been extended to 78 periods, equivalent to 26 two-week periods and 3 daily levels. Results: The main goal of this study is to examine the feasibility and the impact of a 100% renewable energy target on the future Belgian energy system 63. Although the realisation of such a transformation within a 40-year perspective may at first seem highly ambitious in a nation rather poorly endowed with natural resources and possessing both a highly energy-intensive industry and an energy-greedy residential sector, it appears to be technically feasible.

1. Extensive electrification and almost 100% renewable electricity by 2030

Moving to a 100% renewable energy system implies a radical transformation of nearly all sectors of the economy. The model shows that the strongest growth of renewable technologies is concentrated in the period 2030–2050. Nevertheless, some sectors experience thorough impacts earlier on through high growth rates of renewable energy technologies. This is particularly the case in the electricity production sector, which has to be transformed almost completely into a renewable based sector by 2030, since investments in the power generation sector appear to be the least expensive. Furthermore, the results of the model indicate that a 100% renewable energy system needs extensive electrification, causing a doubling or even tripling of the current electricity production by 2050.

2. Energy imports strongly diminish, but remain important

Transforming the energy system into a 100% renewable system will require considerable investments in demand-side management technologies, storage capacities and energy production installations. On the other hand, a higher share of renewable energy or lower energy consumption implies less fossil fuel purchases, which may reduce the national external fuel bill. Indeed, it is evident that solar, wind, hydroelectric or geothermal energy production installations do not need fuel input to produce useful energy for final consumers. The only exceptions to this rule are biomass and electricity imports which will tilt the balance of payments. Even so, the share of total imported energy tumbles from 83% in the reference scenario to a range between 15% and 42% in the renewable scenarios.

3. Additional energy system costs are rather stable over the different scenarios

The energy system cost is the sum of all energy expenses in an energy system. It consists of variable, fixed and investment costs. We calculated that the increase of the energy system cost amounts to approximately 20% in 2050, or 2% of Belgian GDP in 2050 (GDP2050). The necessary power sector investments vary between 1.0% (scenario focusing on demand decrease) and 1.7% (PV and WIND) of GDP2050. In conclusion, we can say that from today up to 2050, 300 to 400 billion € of investments are needed to transform our current energy system into a 100% renewable energy system.

4. Creation of additional employment

Although total system costs may appear considerable, one has to bear in mind that orienting our energy future towards renewable energy sources also entails benefits. One of those positive effects is further analyzed in the course of this study: the creation of additional employment through the renewable value chains. It was estimated that, by the end of 2030, this effect would create 20 000 to 60 000 additional full-time equivalent jobs compared to the reference scenario. At any point in time, the renewable scenarios create more full-time equivalent jobs than the reference scenario. The high end of the interval is taken in by the PV scenario, given that it necessitates many discrete panel installations combined with a large installation component in PV employment.

5. A new paradigm on energy perception

A new paradigm is arising in the way we think about energy. In a world without excess overcapacity of intermittent renewable energy sources and only limited access to biomass and geothermal energy, long-term (seasonal) storage is becoming extremely expensive. This leads us to believe that, in a cost-optimal modelling approach, a transformation of the energy system towards abandoning strict equilibria and replacing it by installing overcapacity in intermittent renewable energy sources is to be preferred. In other words, it may be more cost-efficient for the Belgian society to adapt in a certain way to the variability of the solar energy flow instead of trying to store enough energy in order to keep our current socio-economic paradigm unchanged. This in turn can impact the current industrial organisation towards more seasonal production oriented sectors, using necessary energy commodities such as electricity only during the cheapest periods of the year when e.g. sunlight is abundantly available and closing down during the darker winter months. This flexibility within the industry can then be perceived as having the same effect as a giant battery in which electricity can be stored in the aggregation state of e.g. steel.

The concept of electromagnetic energy harvesting and wireless power transfer had been proposed more than half a century ago. In all published works related to electromagnetic energy collection, classical antennas have been used while the focus shifted to the rectification circuitry. Recent works showed that the weakest link in the traditional energy harvesting chain is the antenna itself. Here, we show that metasurfaces provide a viable alternative to classical antennas yielding efficiencies approaching unity. This presentation will be confined to the microwaves frequency regime.

Far-field wireless power transfer (WPT) is a relatively old concept where antennas are used to transfer power between two distant points. WPT perhaps dates back to Tesla but it was Brown in the 1950s that demonstrated its viability [1]. In recent years, WPT has been reconsidered as practical means to transfer power from outer space where satellites collect solar power with high efficiency using photovoltaic technology and then convert the power to microwaves for beaming to antenna farms at specific locations on earth. This would facilitate availability of plenty of power everyday throughout the year.

Conventional antennas have been the traditional microwaves transducers used for WPT applications. Conventional antenna types include log-periodic, patch, dipole or any of the varieties of antennas that were conceived in the past 100 years. Almost all antennas that were considered for WPT applications were designed in the first place for communication applications where traditional parameters such as gain, directivity and efficiency were considered the most critical. For WPT applications, at the transmission stage, the gain, directivity and efficiency play an important role in the design. At the receiving stage, however, the primary concern is to collect as much power as possible per footprint and based on specific polarization and incident angle. In applications of classical communication antennas, the real estate or footprint of the antenna has partial relevance. For instance, a patch printed antenna occupies some space on copper but its antenna parameters assume the antenna is present in a larger empty sphere. In other words, its functional space extends beyond its size.

Metamaterials are made of a three-dimensional ensemble of electrically-small resonators. Metasurfaces are considered as a two-dimensional version of metamaterials. The interesting and desired properties of metamaterials or metasurfaces are achieved when all elements of the ensemble operate at their resonance frequency (for simplicity, we assume all elements are identical). The resonance of each particle of a metamaterial or metasurface is fundamentally indicative of its ability to store energy. Metamaterials, therefore, can be effective energy collectors. This does not come as a surprise since metamaterials have been shown to be highly effective absorbers. However, in the case of absorption, the absorbed energy is mostly dissipated in the dielectric host. For the effective use of metamaterial as energy harvesters or collectors, not only the energy absorption is of high importance but also channeling the absorbed energy into energy collection channels is critical.

In this paper we demonstrate that metasurfaces can indeed be effective electromagnetic energy harvesters and can provide energy harvesting efficiency appreciably higher than what classical antennas can achieve. The effectiveness of the metasurface for energy harvesting arises from the close proximity between the electrically-small resonators that constitute the metasurface. While the spacing between electrically-small resonators is critical to achieve homogenization for classical metamaterial applications, in energy harvesting as the case in our work, the spacing between elements allow for careful input impedance tuning of all elements, thus enabling highly efficient energy transduction [2].

In this talk, we present metasurfaces composed of different types of resonators including split-ring resonators, electric-inductive-capacitive resonators, complementary split-ring resonators and dielectric resonators. We show that it is possible to achieve energy absorption with approximately 100% efficiency. In fact, using the concept of stacking of metasurfaces (which does not necessarily lead to metamaterials), it is possible to achieve efficiencies significantly higher than 100% as based on the efficiency definition provided in [3–4]. Simulation and experimental results will be provided to fully validate the feasibility and practicality of electromagnetic energy harvesting using metasurfaces.

References:

[1] Brown, W. C., “The History of Power Transmission by Radio Waves,” IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. 32, No. 9, pp. 1230–1242, 1984.

[2] Almoneef, T. and O. M. Ramahi, “Split-Ring Resonator Arrays for Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting,” Progress in Electromagnetic Research B, in press.

[3] Ramahi, O.M., T. Almoneef and M. AlShareef, “Metamaterial Particles for Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting,” Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 101, No. 17, pp. 173903–173908, 2012.

[4] Almoneef, T and O. M. Ramahi, “A 3-Dimensional Stacked Metamaterial Array for Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting,” Progress in Electromagnetic Research B, Vol. 146, pp. 109–115, 2014.

With growing climate change concerns, depleting natural resources and decrease in oil and gas prices, it is more vital than ever to efficiently manage natural resource allocation. Methane, the key component in natural gas and a raw material for numerous chemicals, is Qatar's more abundant resource. Natural gas can be monetized through many alternative paths. It can be sold as natural gas, either through pipelines or in liquefied form, or converted into diverse sets of fuels and materials using many alternative processing technologies. In the meantime, concerns of the effects of increased carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere, majority of which are emitted from large industrial stationary sources and fuel consumption, have caused the global society to seek ambitious emission reduction targets.

While on the one hand natural gas provides a clean fuel associated and enables carbon dioxide emissions through fuel switching globally, its local processing is associated with significant footprints. In the case of Qatar and its small population, this has resulted in very high per capita emissions. Most of the emissions are stationary and spatially concentrated in industrial clusters, where they originate mainly from natural gas processing, hydrocarbon processing, petrochemicals and metals production, and power and water generation.

The industrial sector is challenged to balance profit making activities from natural gas monetization with increasing pressures to reduce overall carbon dioxide emissions. Conventional design of industrial parks centering on natural gas are carried out in an ad-hoc process that depends on the expertise of designers, available capital, market demand and regulations. Reduction methods in the past have been limited in technology, energy integration or geographical proximity to apply carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).

Recently, carbon integration (Al-Mohannadi and Linke, 2015a,b) has been introduced as a systematic approach to determine the most efficient carbon dioxide reduction options in industrial parks by considering multiple carbon dioxide sources, potential carbon sinks, the layout of the city and the associated costs of transmission and conditioning. Carbon integration looks into the various conversion routes that take carbon dioxide into value added products, which can be converted chemically, biologically or through geographical utilization such as Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) applications. This creates incentives to reduce carbon emissions, to create synergies between firms and to produce additional products in the cluster, while adhering to required emission reduction targets.

Beyond focusing on low cost carbon dioxide emissions reduction, the broader design challenge for a natural gas monetizing industrial cluster is to identify the most promising configurations from the vast number of alternatives that exist from the possible combinations of many alternative natural gas monetization processes, and the many alternative carbon management options that could be applied, whilst exploiting synergies between natural gas conversion and carbon management. Most previous works have focused on different aspects of the overall problem: optimizing gas conversion processes, and managing carbon dioxide emissions reductions. Very few works have considered monetization in industrial clusters, and there is no published work on how to systemically make gas monetization decisions under carbon dioxide emissions constraints.

This work introduces the first systematic approach to allocate natural resource under carbon dioxide footprint constraints. The approach yields integrated natural gas and carbon dioxide management schemes that yield the maximum profit for the given gas monetization and carbon dioxide management options and constraints that exist in the industrial cluster. The work explores different carbon dioxide emission reduction scenarios; expansion plans and determines most profitable product mix from an industrial cluster. By taking into consideration the tradeoff between environmental performance and potential profitability of natural resource allocation, it provides valuable information to decision makers from an optimization based tool. Policy makers and regulators can use the tool for developing strategies and for planning of more sustainable industrial clusters, parks or cities.

The work is illustrated using a case study to demonstrate the application of the method on industrial cluster resembling a configuration of gas monetization options often observed in oil and gas centered economies.

Keywords

Resource Allocation, Climate Change, Carbon Dioxide emissions, Carbon Integration, Natural Gas Allocation, Gas Monetization, Carbon Reduction, Process Integration, Industrial Parks, Planning, Modeling, Optimization.

References

Al-Mohannadi, D.M., P. Linke (2015). On the Systematic Carbon Integration of Industrial Parks for Climate Footprint Reduction. Journal of Cleaner Production, DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.05.094.

Al-Mohannadi, D.M., S.K. Bishnu, P. Linke, S.Y. Alnouri (2015b). Systematic Multi-Period Carbon Integration in an Industrial City. Chemical Engineering Transactions 45, 1219–1224.

The surge in the field of renewable energy aiming to develop clean energy technology is continuing to rise. Quest for a H2-based economy derived from non-fossil resources remains at the forefront of future fuels. During the past few decades there has been intense research on the utilization of electrical energy to produce H2 in an energy efficient and environmentally benign way. Electrocatalytic hydrogen generation via water electrolysis provides an important alternative to that extracted from hydrocarbon resources. One of the most crucial components which could revolutionize H2 production is that the design and development of a novel electrocatalyst that can efficiently split water to generate H2. Currently, platinum (Pt) is known as the state-of-the art electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, due to cost and scarcity of Pt, research focus shifted to precious-metal-free based materials for efficient HER reaction. As results, a wide variety of transition-metal-based electrocatalysts have been developed and investigated. To this end and due to unique d-band electronic structure, Mo-based electrocatalyst such as, Mo2C and MoS2 has been the subject of intense investigation for HER reaction. Yet, functional and robust catalysts operating with reasonable current densities (J) at low overpotential in brine water are still scarce.

Herein, we demonstrate a facile synthesis of β-Mo2C embedded on mesoporous carbon support; Metal Organic Framework (MIL 53(Al)) was utilized as a novel source for mesoporous carbon support. Microscopic studies revealed the formation of monodisperse Mo2C with

Background

Chlorine is extensively used as a powerful oxidizing agent in the countries surrounding the Arabian Gulf for water treatments and biofouling control. The usage has been increasing significantly as demand for water grows considerably both in industry and domestic use. This is due to the fact that it is a well-tested technology, has had a history of long-term worldwide industrial use and is of acceptable cost. Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl, commonly termed chlorine) is a common form of chlorine that is used and in all cases it is produced on site by means of an electro-chlorination plant (ECP). In seawater, chlorine produces a mixture of hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hypochlorite ion (OCl − ). These rapidly react with the bromide ion to form a mixture of hypobromous acid (HOBr) and hypobromite ion (OBr − ). The acute oxidants formed by chlorination are therefore short lived and are not persistent in seawater, but can be quite toxic. Further complicating the environmental concern of chlorination is the production of numerous, and more persistent, compounds formed by complex reactions between chlorine/bromine and the organic constituents of seawater, collectively described as chlorination by-products (CBPs). Many CBPs are persistent and may be toxic to marine organisms subjected to long-term exposures. The Gulf waters support a range of coastal and marine habitats including mangrove swamps, seagrass beds and coral reefs. However, marine organisms in the Arabian Gulf are living close to their tolerance limits due to the extreme environmental stressors of temperature and salinity. Anthropogenic stressors such as chlorine may further exacerbate these natural stressors.

Objectives

In order to evaluate the risks of chlorine exposure to Arabian Gulf marine organisms, the aims of this study were to 1) develop protocols for acute and chronic toxicity tests involving native species at different trophic levels, 2) correlate sensitivity to other marine organisms used as indicator species in risk assessments, 3) draw conclusion from the results and explore ways that this could be used for informing environmental management activities.

Methodology

Materials and methods

Stock solution of calcium hypochlorite was prepared in filtered artificial seawater (0.45 μm filter paper) daily in dark bottles. Concentration of chlorine in the experimental chambers were verified daily by the N,N-diethyl-p-phenlenediamine (DPD) colorimetric method. Different concentrations of chlorine were either administered as a continuous flow through or via daily renewal.

Exposure to test species

Species were collected from different location around the coastal areas of Qatar. They were then cultured in the laboratory using conditions of the Arabian Gulf. Species used in the tests include phytoplankton (Synechococcus sp.), zooplankton (Uterpina acutifrons), pearl oysters (Pinctada radiata), sea urchins (Diadema setosum) and killifish embryos (Aphanius dispar).

Results

Sensitivity varied across the trophic levels for each species and was found to be in line with other test organisms that are used in established toxicity procedures. All five species used were found to be useful for certain types of toxicity testing. For example, Pinctada radiata and Diadema setosum were excellent in testing for successful fertilization and early development stages, while local Aphanius dispar embryos were useful for following sub-lethal effects such as malformation and hatchability. Embryos of oysters and urchins were found to be the most sensitive to chlorine (Fig. 1.). Effect of chlorine was only observed near or after hatching has occurred. Continuous exposure showed more effective than the semi-renewal method.

Discussion and conclusion

While chlorine continues to be used heavily globally, available toxicology data are either very limited or out dated especially those based on the Arabian Gulf. The purpose of this study was to increase the knowledge of chlorine chemistry and toxicity especially the sensitivity towards the Arabian Gulf species. Results obtained reveal that the sensitivities of all five species used in this study are in line with species used internationally in similar tests. LC50s were determined for all species and are currently being used in modelling tools to determine the fate and environmental risks of chlorine. Chlorine being a powerful oxidizing agent asserted its effect immediately after contact. It loses its potency within the first hour in seawater and this may contribute to the low effect shown in this study compared those in fresh water. Given the short-lived nature of chlorine as an oxidant in seawater, our attention has also been focused on the sub-lethal effects that may be attributed from the by-products. Work is ongoing in this area. Expanding tests with species used in this study to evaluate their sensitivity towards chlorine by-products will further increase our understanding of their chemistry and environmental risk in the Arabian Gulf and will provide a science-based tools for making management decisions.

The amount of water below 1000 m³ per capita per annum is considered as the water poverty zone. With business as usual scenario it is estimated that by the year 2025 half the world's people will live in countries with high water stress. Based on Global averages irrigation water demands accounts for about 70% of all water uses. Meanwhile water use efficiencies of irrigated projects are generally very low particularly those under traditional surface methods. On the other hand conveyance losses vary within a range of 25–50% of the total diversion. Generally canal lining can save about 75% of the conveyance losses. However, high quality linings were found to practically eliminate such losses. The paper reviews the benefits of canal lining, which include hydraulic, economic and environmental benefits. Since seepage from irrigation canals is the most important factor in lining considerations the paper presents some review on the phenomenon. Canal lining is usually classified into four main types: hard surface linings, membrane linings, earth linings and soil sealants. The paper critically discusses the different types and highlights the criteria for selecting the appropriate lining technique. The paper also reviews the recent technical developments and research at the global level in this field; these include the development of new materials and techniques. Finally the paper presents a review of the canal lining related research executed by the National Centre for Research, Sudan during the last 20 years. These include development of low cost lining (building) materials using locally available aggregates (sand and gravel), lining irrigation canals on expansive soils and development of low cost concrete pipes and production of precast canal-lets. Canal lining was found conserve irrigation water, reduce fuel consumption, reduce irrigation time and reduce labour requirements. Development of Low Cost Building Materials for Canal Lining:: Four low cost building materials have been studied, these are namely khafgi, ferrocement, kenaf sheets and concrete made of small-sized gravel available near RDRC. Kenaf sheets were rejected because of the low durability expected. The other three materials were found to be feasible based on strength, permeability and durability. Water transported sand near RRS was found to be suitable for building works including lining whereas wind transported sand can hardly be recommended for such works.

Hand placement cast in-situ was adopted using the semicircular configuration, as besides improving structural integrity of the canal, it is the most hydraulically efficient section particularly for small canals. A semi circular cast-in situ form was made to construct channel sections that accommodate maximum discharges at RDRC. The work is done in alternate sections and the lap-joint technique was used. Pipe Casting:: It have been noticed that some desert farms the canalization system is liable to be buried by wind-blown sand. To avoid this problem the system should adopt pipes instead of open channels; however, traditional farmers cannot afford to cover such expenses since such pipes are relatively expensive in the local market. To overcome such problems the study was extended to develop intermediate technologies for pipe casting. A form was designed and constructed in a local workshop. The form is made of PVC pipe equipped with a handle as an internal unit the external unit is made of sheet metal also a wooden base is used. The external unit is composed of two semi-cylinders; a steel channel is welded to each end of each semi-cylinder to facilitate fastening meanwhile a rubber strip used to prevent water leakage. Again locally available aggregates were used. Laboratory tests (Impact Value and Crushing Value) showed that locally available gravel is suitable for pipe casting. The internal unit of the form is removed about an hour after the end of the casting process and the external one after a day. The pipes were then cured for 7 days. Compressive Strength and permeability tests proved that the produced pipes comply with the Known International Standards. Additionally the pipes were tested in the field by passing a tractor, which represent the maximum expected load in such farms without being damaged. Lining Irrigation Canals on Expansive Soils:: Um Jawaseer Desert Farm Project, which is located in Wadi El Magadam, the Northern State was established in the year 1989 for the settlement of the nomads of El Hawaweer Tribe. The project harnesses water from an aquifer of about 40 m below ground surface for irrigation and other purposes. Evaluation studies showed that the project is successful in creating better livelihood for the people of the area.

Huge water losses were encountered in the first two phases. In the third phase the project adopted stone lining, which is estimated to conserve about 1/3 of the irrigation water. However, stone lining is known to be one of the least effective lining techniques. Identification tests were carried out in accordance with the British Standards and showed that Um Jawaseer soil possesses swelling properties.

To reduce (mitigate) the expansive potential of Um Jawaseer soil some additives (cement, lime, bituminous emulsion and refuse oil) were tested, these additives were added to the soil at a rate of 6% by weight as recommended by some authors.

To avoid damage the linings a combination of soil treatment and construction technique was used for the lining of Um Jawaseer irrigation system. The soil was first excavated to a depth of 60 cm and mixed with the additive (cement). Water is added to the soil/ cement mixture till the optimum moisture content (plastic limit) was reached. Finally the mixture was compacted into two layers (30 cm each). As for the construction technique the semi-circular channel cross section was used since it produces integrity in structure and the channels so constructed can resist external forces. This combination gave very encouraging results since it is found to mitigate upheaval damage and produce strong and efficient conduits. Precast concrete canal-lets:: The merits of precasting are attributed to the high quality control coupled with the technique. Precasting was advised by some authors for mass production of tertiary canals. The J- Section was selected for ease of casting the form is made of metal sheets.

The form was filled of concrete, while being compacted with steel rod, left for an hour to allow for setting of concrete and then released. The finished section is allowed to dry for 24 hours and then cured for 7 days by wetted kenaf sacks. Keyword: Seepage, Irrigation, Canal lining, Pre-casting, efficiency

Atmospheric concentration of CO2, which is considered as one of the major greenhouse gases (GHGs), has increased up to 398 ppmv as of 2015. CO2 concentration in atmosphere was 280 ppmv in pre-industrial era, and due to the continuous discharge, it is expected to increase up to 550 ppmv by 2050. Many of the major industrial sources of CO2 emissions are natural gas fired power plants, synthesis gas used in integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) and power generation, gas streams produced after combustion of fossil fuels or other carbonaceous materials, and oxyfuels. Reactive absorption of CO2 from the industrial off gases by using chemical solvents is considered as one of the most common, efficient, and cost effective technologies utilized by the industry for CO2 capture. The captured CO2 can be stored by using the geological or oceanic sequestration approaches. As an alternative to geological or oceanic sequestration, the captured CO2 can be re-energized into CO by using solar energy and combined with H2, which can be generated from different methods, to produce syngas. The syngas produced can be further processed to liquid fuels such as methanol, gasoline, jet fuel, etc. via the catalytic Fischer-Tropsch process.

In past, a variety of chemical solvents (mostly aqueous amines and there derivatives) have been used for CO2 capture from different gaseous streams via reactive absorption. Though the amines are attractive for the CO2 capture application, there are several disadvantages such as very strong corrosion to equipment and piping, high energy requirement during the stripping of CO2 and they are prone to oxidative and thermal degradation. Recently, use of aqueous potassium carbonate (K2CO3) as a solvent for the absorption of CO2 has gained widespread attention. The usage of K2CO3 has been employed in a number on industries for the removal of CO2 and H2S. Due to its high chemical solubility of CO2, low toxicity and solvent loss, no thermal and oxidative degradation, low heat of absorption, and absence of formation of heat stable salts, K2CO3 seems to be more attractive compared to the conventional amines towards CO2 capture. However, K2CO3 solvent shows slow rate of reaction with CO2 and, consequently, low mass transfer in the liquid phase as compared to the amine solvents. Hence, several investigators are focused towards improving the rate of reaction of CO2 in K2CO3 solvent with the help of different types of promoters.

In this paper, the kinetics of absorption of CO2 into an aqueous K2CO3 (20 wt %) promoted by ethylaminoethanol (EAE) solution (hereafter termed as APCE solvent) was studied in a glass stirred cell reactor using a fall in pressure method. Reactive absorption of CO2 in EAE promoted aqueous K2CO3 solution (APCE solvent) was studied at different initial EAE concentrations (0.6 to 2 kmol/m³) and reaction temperatures (303 to 318 K). The reaction between the CO2 and APCE solvent was very well represented by the zwitterion mechanism. The N2O analogy was employed for the determination of H_(CO2) in the APCE solvent. The H_(CO2) was observed to be decreased by 5 and 31% due to the increase in the EAE concentration from 0.6 to 2 kmol/m³ and reaction temperature from 303 to 318 K, respectively. The D_(CO2) in the APCE solvent was also decreased by 21% due to the similar increase in the initial EAE concentration. In contrast, the D_(CO2) increased with the rise in the reaction temperature from 303 to 318 K by a factor of 1.678. The rate of absorption of CO2 in the APCE solvent was observed to increase by 35.10% and 47.59% due to the increase in EAE concentration (0.6 to 2 kmol/m³) and reaction temperature (303 to 318 K). The absorption kinetics was observed to be of overall second order i.e. first order with respect to both CO2 and EAE concentrations, respectively. The rate constant (k_2) for the absorption of CO2 in the APCE solvent was observed to be equal to 45540 m³/kmol√s at 318 K. The temperature dependency of k_2 for the CO2 – APCE solvent system was experimentally determined as: k_2 = (1.214 × [10]^18)√exp(( − 9822.7)/T). Findings of this study indicate EAE as a promising promoter for the aqueous K2CO3 solution.