Abstract

In this paper, we focus on the sustainability of housing and transport in Lagos, Nigeria. The study’s goal This paper analyses the issues of sustainability in the public transport sector of an urban city (Onitsha Nigeria) in the Global South. The increase in population due to rural-to-urban migration and economic growth has resulted in increased demand for urban cities. The evolution of transportation has a correlation with economic development given that it connects people to their social and economic activities. Onitsha is a commercial city with the biggest market in West Africa with a population of 1.6 million people. Road transportation is the only mode of transportation in Onitsha, despite a large capacity in the waterways that are under utilised. As a result, the public transportation system is characterised by heavy congestion, environmental pollution, dilapidated infrastructures and inadequate regulations and policies. These have a significant detrimental impact on the city’s economy and call for transportation solutions that are readily available, quick, and inexpensive. This paper proposes the use of Systems Thinking (ST) to better understand the interactions between the social, technological, economic, and environmental systems to help decision-makers develop policies that will ensure sustainability in the public transport sector.

Authors: Nkechi Nwankwo, Titus Kehinde Olaniyi, Onyeka Samuel Ojinna

Published in: World Congress on Sustainable Technologies (WCST-2023)

  • Date of Conference: 13-15 November 2023
  • DOI: 10.20533/WCST.2023.0004
  • ISBN: 978-1-913572-64-8
  • Conference Location: St Anne’s College, Oxford University, UK

Abstract

This paper proposes the development of environmental sustainability framework for Modular Refinery (MR) in the Global South (GS) using the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a case study. Energy, and most importantly oil and gas plays an important role in the economic development. The downstream sector demonstrates a lack of adequate petroleum refining regulation in some countries such as Nigeria, which has resulted in environmental pollution and Green House Gas (GHG) emissions that have continued to impair environmental sustainability in the country. The process of converting crude oil into petroleum and petrochemical products, wastes of different kinds are generated. These wastes are released to the environment in the form of gases, particles and liquid effluent, which becomes hazardous to the environment and to human health. The development of MR is one of the best, if not the only, option for making global south nations self-sufficient in domestic demand and net exporters of petroleum products. Literature in public domain have narrated various issues in respect of the theme of this paper as noted below. The oil and gas industry is essential to the global economy and the activities of the oil and gas companies have a huge effect on the world and the environment. Oil refineries in Nigeria are responsible for 4% of global CO2 emission and 24% in GHG emissions resulting in health and environmental issues. In order to cut GHG emissions that achieve global temperature rise of 1.5 -20C, Global North are reducing reliance on oil. GS countries including Nigeria plan to increase MR installation in order to increase both domestic availability of oil and the oil sector contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). MR are viable option in inaccessible location or rural areas, especially where oil supply is inadequate to meet daily consumption demand. The methodology for this study uses interpretivism as a research philosophy, allowing for the development of a sustainable environmental framework. This is an innovative method of comprehension made possible by combining an inductive method with interpretivism. A case study approach was adopted using the Nigerian oil and gas sector as the research strategy to gain in-depth knowledge about possible implementation. The key considerations for developing an environmental sustainability framework for modular refinery in GS can be encapsulated under the indices of stringency, compliance and transparency. One limitation of the indices would be over-reliance of GS on oil revenue. This paper argues the need for urgent diversification in the GS. Summarily, all the three indices needs detailing when adopting the proposed framework in the oil and gas sector of the GS. Future work will include the collection of primary data from key stakeholders in the oil and gas sector to ascertain the effectiveness of the proposed framework for MR. Further study to include financial evaluations for MR framework in terms of its economic feasibility will also be desirable.

Authors: N. Nwankwo, J. Olokpa, T.K. Olaniyi

Published in: World Congress on Sustainable Technologies (WCST-2022)

  • Date of Conference: 6-8  December 2022
  • DOI: 10.20533/WCST.2022.0004
  • ISBN: 978-1-913572-57-0
  • Conference Location: Virtual (London, UK)

Abstract

The paper presents experimental results of staged transient and dynamic operation tests for various configurations of the energy storage system (ESS) in a low-voltage direct current microgrid (LVDC MG). Photovoltaic generation (PG) sources, batteries (BATTs), supercapacitors (SC), DC-DC converters, and DC loads (DCLs) are connected through a point of common coupling (PCC) in a LVDC MG prototype to perform the staged tests. Transient and dynamic operation cases of the LVDC MG prototype are performed by supplying the PG power to the PCC and adjusting DC resistive loads to attain the ESS’s behaviors for comparative assessments. In view of this, the staged tests are typically performed in two semi-activation and full activation configurations of the hybrid battery-supercapacitor (BATT-SC) ESS. As a result, the full-active configuration of the BATT-SC ESS shows the out-of-performing results rather than the semi-active configuration to quickly stabilize dynamic/transient operation cases of the LVDC microgrid.

Authors: Duong Minh Bui, Phuc Duy Le, Thanh Dung Nguyen, Khoi Minh Nguyen

Published in: World Congress on Sustainable Technologies (WCST-2021)

  • Date of Conference: 7-9 December 2021
  • DOI: 10.20533/WCST.2021.0004
  • ISBN: 978-1-913572-41-9
  • Conference Location: Virtual (London, UK)

Abstract

Despite the enormous amount of raw or secondary materials flowing within the construction industry, the actual available volume of materials and their respective End-of-Lifecycle (EoL) treatment is not regulated nor uniform. On top of that, the EoL responsibility of different stakeholders after the future building deconstruction is confusing and disputable. Consequently, different sustainability policies and metrics suffer from inaccurately reported volumes of circulating materials in the economy. Hence, this article aims to find a new way to improve and regulate the EoL treatment of recyclable materials and to create value for them. The ultimate goal of the proposed framework is to make original manufacturers responsible for the EoL treatment of their recyclable construction materials and products under the Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) policy that is enacted in the European Union for sustainable management of waste streams. Adhering to the EPR is difficult for buildings as they are long-term and complex assets. A high degree of transparency, accuracy and security is required to correctly track the lifecycle information of building parts and their respective manufacturers for the EPR implementation. For this purpose, a framework is conceptualised based on the immutability and transparency of blockchain technology to remove trust and trace barriers in the current supply chain. The proposed conceptual model results from the synergy of Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology, material and component banks, blockchain technology and smart contracts for the EoL treatment of recyclable materials. As a result, a datadriven and closed-loop material cycle will be accomplished. This paper demonstrates that through self-executing smart contracts, a clear line of responsibility and ownership could be defined while manufacturers could be made accountable in the postconsumer phase of their construction products.

Authors: Arghavan Akbarieh, William Carbone, Markus Schäfer, Danièle Waldmann, Felix Norman Teferle

Published in: World Congress on Sustainable Technologies (WCST-2020)

  • Date of Conference: 8-10 December 2020
  • DOI: 10.20533/WCST.2020.0004
  • ISBN: 978-1-913572-25-9
  • Conference Location: London, UK

Abstract

Due to the climate change the need of sustainable technological progress is growing. Renewable energies undergo a significant upturn, but they come with the price of nearly uncontrollable and hard-to-predict fluctuating energy generation. This forces a paradigm change in handling the energy resources in the society. Especially in the industry, there will appear a need to manage energy in the sense of planning and controlling power consumption. If a company wants to make use of its flexibility in energy consumption - for example by managing a local virtual power plant - there is a need to make decisions in the required pace. Thus, a real-time decision-making process needs an adequate IT-infrastructure and algorithms tailored to the specific use case. This paper gives an overview of the necessary components to realize real-time analytics for industrial energy management. The concepts are expatiated on a scalable real-time computing architecture and a mathematical approach for short term prediction of energy consumption that are included in a Business Intelligence Tool for decision support using only open source components.

Authors: Marcel Graus, Philipp Niemietz, Michaela Hiller, Mohammad Touhidur Rahman

Published in: World Congress on Sustainable Technologies (WCST-2017)

  • Date of Conference: 11-14 December 2017
  • DOI: 10.20533/WCST.2017.0004
  • ISBN: 978-1-908320-78-0
  • Conference Location: University of Cambridge, UK

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