We report a facile, versatile, and efficient deposition technique for CsPbBr3 film growth in ambient conditions satisfying nano-scale control and potential large-scale production. Achieving highly crystalline halide perovskite films for solar cells remains challenging, particularly in ambient conditions. Herein, we employed a full sequential dip-coating technique for preparing CsPbBr3 perovskite films in ambient conditions and used them as the photo-absorbing layer in n-i-p type mesoscopic-structured photovoltaic devices. The sequential dip-coating approach can grow highly crystalline CsPbBr3 films. The film composition can be tuned with controlled deposition parameters to reduce unwanted derivative phases, such as CsPb2Br5 and Cs4PbBr6. The optimized CsPbBr3 films exhibit comparable photovoltaic performance to those in the same device architecture fabricated using spin-coating methods. The technique demonstrates good versatility and suitability for potential scalable and high-throughput solution processing of CsPbBr3 perovskite films.

This research was aimed to study the transport and thermal characteristics in a cylindrical heat pipe using Al2O3-water nano fluid. Maxwell-Garnett, Hamilton and Crosser, Jang and Choi, Chon et al. and Sitprasert et al. models were used to determine the thermal conductivity. The non-Darcian transport approach was used to determine the nanofluid flow in the liquid-wick section, while the mass flow rate was used to describe the fluid flow at liquid-vapor interface. The non-linear algebraic equations from finite volume method discretization were solved by iterative segregation method and the SIMPLEC algorithm. The numerical simulation results of axial outer wall temperature, centerline pressure, velocity magnitude and nanofluid recirculation were found to be in good agreement with the values obtained for the cylindrical heat pipe operation and earlier studies. The results indicate that alumina oxide in 20 nm mixed with water can reduce the thermal resistance of the cylindrical heat pipe by 5.7% in Maxwell-Garnett model and Hamilton and Crosser model; 36% in Jang and Choi model; 3.7% in Chon et al. model; 12.1% in Sitprasert et al. model; and 21.8% in Yu and Choi model compared to pure water. The simulation result shows that the use of Al2O3-water nanofluid increases the effective thermal conductivity in all models. Besides, the evaporator and condenser heat transfer coefficients are found to increase in models compared to that of pure water.

Socio-technical transformations towards low-carbon energy systems are on the way in developed countries. Conversely, developing countries tend to be locked in fossil fuels and foster coal-based energy structures, emphasizing reliable and cost-effective energy provision and sidelining environmental concerns. In this study, we identified and analysed the predominant factors related to coal-based power generation in Bangladesh. We applied a mixed-method approach, initially conducting a systematic literature review and, subsequently, semi-structured expert interviews to identify and validate relevant factors. We then assessed their relative importance using an Analytical Hierarchy Process based on expert judgments. The results of this assessment reveal that socio-economic aspects and environmental issues scored highest, while technological aspects and sector regulations were considered to be less relevant for large-scale coal power implementation. We conclude that future energy policies created in Bangladesh will need to use appropriate legal instruments and address issues such as human displacement and resettlement, low levels of public acceptance, health hazards and environmental pollution. Participative policy frameworks should be deployed in coal plant projects, and active monitoring systems are necessary to reduce the negative consequences associated with increased electrification and energy consumption. To address foreseeable structural challenges, it furthermore will be crucial to explore sustainable alternatives.

Housing is not only one of the major sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, but it has been increasingly vulnerable to climate-induced disasters, particularly those sheltering the urban poor. Both mitigation and adaptation measures are therefore required for the design and construction of low-income housing to encourage low carbon development and improve resilience to disasters. As self-help housing—the common type of housing for the urban poor in developing countries—is usually built by ordinary people with participatory approach, it is crucial to develop a low-carbon and disaster-resilient assessment tool for assisting them in making informed decisions during planning process. The objective of this article is to propose a new approach for developing a low-carbon and disaster-resilient assessment tool for self-help housing (LoDAT-SH) by combining opinions from experts and community residents to assign weights, identify indicators, and establish benchmarks with the aim to develop a simple, relevant, and practical tool for non-expert users like self-help residents. The application of the proposed methodology to a case study of a developing country, Thailand, shows the ability of LoDAT-SH, which contains 45 indicators in the four categories of low carbon development, disaster resilience, community participation, and financial consideration, in enabling self-help residents to assess the performance of their housing design, identify potential measures to create a low-carbon and disaster-resilient housing, and prioritize such actions. To support the creation of a low-carbon and disaster-resilient housing as the mitigation and adaptation strategy for urban development at the global level, the study suggests that the methodology of LoDAT-SH should be replicated to develop a more comprehensive assessment tool applicable for the use in self-help housing design in other developing countries, which will house about 900 million of the urban poor by 2020.

Prioritization of sectors and sub-sectors is essential for providing suitable technology interventions at (sub) sectoral level and help to formulate environmental policy and regulations. In this context this study illustrates sector and sub-sector prioritization using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach and prioritize the portfolio of low emissions technologies at (sub) sector level by using cost-benefit analysis tool approach. The findings of this study suggest that updated GHG inventory and stakeholder engagement process are vital for sector and technology prioritization. The outcome of the process will help to formulate Low Emissions Development Strategies (LEDs) and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) at the national level.

The energy access status of urban poor in Dhaka is low inspite of being in an urban setting where the physical availability of modern energy like electricity and natural gas is prevalent. A demand-based approach of estimating energy poverty showed that more than one third of population in Dhaka slums are poor and a monthly minimum 2.38 kgOE of useful energy is needed per person to sustain their basic needs. However, the distribution of income and energy poor reveals that not all energy poor are income poor and vice versa, and there are more income poor than energy poor in the community. A closer look at the energy consumption pattern shows that the energy consumption of both energy and income poor are heavily reliant on traditional energy sources with minimal usage of modern energy. Adequate access to modern energy plays an important role in addressing energy poverty as well as income poverty.

Access to electricity is limited in rural areas of Myanmar, where the majority of the population live. Myanmar׳s rich solar resource and the recent price drop in solar PV modules indicate initial suitability for rural solar electrification systems to meet the electricity demand. In many parts of Myanmar, women are responsible for supporting the family financially. The ability of rural women in Myanmar to take advantage of solar PV powered services to improve their lives depends on concurrent progress towards addressing the many dimensions of gender equality – empowerment, health, education, opportunity, voice, representation, and livelihood-in rural locations. This paper examines the barriers of solar PV applications and the potential for women led solar PV enterprise development in rural Myanmar. Although the entrepreneurial process is the same for men and women in theory, in practice different factors e.g. social/cultural, religion, economic and educational ultimately result in the disadvantaged status of women-led enterprises. Therefore, widespread and long-term eventuation of this potential in Myanmar depends on a government committed to renewable energy resources for rural electrification and to diligently and holistically addressing geographical, political, educational, financial, ethnic and technical barriers to the empowerment of a rural, female population.

Tourism generates employment and contributes to socio-economic development in many cities. It also consumes resources, generates wastes and emits greenhouse gases (GHGs). Taking Hue City in Vietnam as a case, this paper suggests that the dominant approach to sustainable urban tourism, in the context of climate change, is the amalgamation of low-carbon development options with social responsibilities. GHG emissions estimation helps in understanding the scope and magnitude of the impacts of tourism and in designing mitigation options to achieve low-carbon development. Social considerations such as income-generating opportunities for the poor and stakeholder involvement in the planning process strengthen the technical feasibility of GHG mitigation options. Based on a GHG inventory, stakeholder consultation and surveys of income-generating opportunities, the study recommends development of garden houses as a locally appropriate strategy to enhance tourism, provide jobs for the poor and achieve low-carbon development in Hue City. Gender analysis is also recommended in identifying and implementing such strategies.

Photovoltaic micro utility (PV MU) systems are feasible both technically and financially in Bangladesh. This paper presents the user opinions towards photovoltaic micro utilities installed in the rural areas of Bangladesh as user acceptance could lead to the further expansion of these systems to meet electricity requirements at the rural areas. Five point Likert scale is employed to determine the user acceptance of the PV MU system. Impacts of PV MU on the social life of the users are also discussed to elucidate the changes in social life of the users after using these systems. Users were mostly pleased about the systems and were happy to obtain 700 lumens from PV lamps in place of 76 lumens of kerosene lamps. They were also satisfied about the reduction of kerosene consumption and reduced environmental impact, tenure of power supply, systems reliability and safety of the systems. The average kerosene saved by 40, 50, 60-65 and 80-85 Wp systems were around 15.20, 20.16, 22.48,32 liter/month respectively. They agreed that their access to the information, amount of sales and working opportunity increased after installing PV MU system. It also provided them very easy communication with their customers and suppliers, and increased their comfort.

This paper discusses the status, opportunities, and modalities for engendering liveable low-carbon smart cities in ASEAN as an inclusive green growth model and the opportunities for regional cooperation. Rapid economic growth and increases in urban population in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) cities will require the consumption of a huge amount of resources which will damage the local and global environment and produce an enormous amount of waste if not handled appropriately. Such environmentally unsustainable growth undermines public health and safety, comfort and liveability, and more importantly is a barrier to achieving global targets for emission reduction. Transforming cities to make them liveable through low-carbon green growth will not only increase the comfort for the city dwellers by improving liveability, but also minimise greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Already, initiatives have been taking place in ASEAN to encourage cities to promote green growth through practicing environmental sustainability. Such initiatives are often implemented on a project basis, which are short term and lack a sustaining impact in the region. A well-constructed, city-level, and market-driven framework that allows for participation of all stakeholders and that has a built-in monitoring and evaluation system with well-thought-out measurable indicators to track performance would be useful to systematically transform ASEAN cities. Regional cooperation, such as through facilitating knowledge sharing, has a role to play in strengthening low-carbon green growth development in the region. Therefore, during 2015–2025, the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) will provide an excellent opportunity to spearhead such activities in a systematic and consistent manner, be a model, and show the world the benefits of low-carbon city development.

In order to plan, manage and use municipal solid waste (MSW) in a sustainable way, accurate forecasting of MSW generation and composition plays a key role. It is difficult to carry out the reliable estimates using the existing models due to the limited data available in the developing countries. This study aims to forecast MSW collected in Thailand with prediction interval in long term period by using the optimized multivariate grey model which is the mathematical approach. For multivariate models, the representative factors of residential and commercial sectors affecting waste collected are identified, classified and quantified based on statistics and mathematics of grey system theory. Results show that GMC (1, 5), the grey model with convolution integral, is the most accurate with the least error of 1.16% MAPE. MSW collected would increase 1.40% per year from 43,435-44,994 tonnes per day in 2013 to 55,177-56,735 tonnes per day in 2030. This model also illustrates that population density is the most important factor affecting MSW collected, followed by urbanization, proportion employment and household size, respectively. These mean that the representative factors of commercial sector may affect more MSW collected than that of residential sector. Results can help decision makers to develop the measures and policies of waste management in long term period. (c) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This study presents the optimization of the continuous flow potassium hydroxide-catalyzed synthesis of ethyl ester from palm oil with ultrasonic assistance. The process was optimized by application of factorial design and response surface methodology. The independent variables considered were ethanol to oil molar ratio, catalyst concentration, reaction temperature and ultrasonic amplitude; and the response was ethyl ester yield. The results show that ethanol to oil molar ratio, catalyst concentration, and ultrasonic amplitude have positive effect on ethyl ester yield, whereas reaction temperature has negative influence on ethyl ester yield. Second-order models were developed to predict the responses analyzed as a function of these three variables, and the developed models predicts the results in the experimental ranges studied adequately. This study shows that ultrasonic irradiation improved the ethyl ester production process to achieve ethyl ester yields above 92%.

This article describes the preparation of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) chalcogenide glass composite by the melt-quenching technique. MWCNT composite (Se80Te20)100−xAgx (0 ≤ x ≤ 4) bulk samples are characterized by the XRD, SEM and EDX. The electrical measurements were carried out in the temperature range of the 308-388 K. Cole–Cole plot has been used to determine the electrical conductivity at room temperature. It has been observed that MWCNT chalcogenide composite have higher value of electrical conductivity than pure glass. The results have been discussed on the basis of increased ionic conductivity (Ag+ ions) in MWCNT doped (Se80Te20)100−xAgx (0 ≤ x ≤ 4) bulk samples.

The energy security performance of Thailand has been assessed using the "Aggregated Energy Security Performance Indicator (AESPI)" for the period 1986-2030. During 1986-1991, AESPI had a sharply decreasing trend from level 9 to level 7 (maximum is 10), implying that the country's energy security status reduced during that period. The energy conservation programmes contributed in maintaining AESPI (at higher than level 6) during 1992-2009. Of the 25 indicators, energy and electricity consumption per capita, final energy intensity (including industrial and transportation sector), losses in transformation, RPR of crude oil and natural gas, net energy import dependency and carbon-di-oxide emission per capita (and per GDP) have a high correlation among them and also have a high weighting factor for AESPI indicator. The use of current policy scenario and low carbon society scenario to estimate AESPI during 2010-2030 showed that AESPI under the low carbon society scenario has an increasing trend at 1.3% annual average improvement rate compared to 0.6% of current policy scenario. AESPI was also developed for Phuket, a province of Thailand, for the period 2001-2009. The results show that Phuket had low AESPI compared to the national level, and this can be improved by promoting electricity conservation, energy efficient equipment use and cost-effective renewable energy projects. The advantages (and differences) of AESPI compared to other energy security indicators in the literature have also been presented and discussed. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Wind turbine used for electricity generation is known as clean and renewable energy technology. The worldwide increasing trend of wind turbine installation present and future projection addressing the issue of energy required for manufacture and environmental impact due to energy consumption. The life cycle energy and environmental impact of wind turbine has been studied in many literature, but some studies are based on average data, the life cycle stages are incomplete of some study, most of the literature are horizontal axis type and the literature for Asian developing countries are rare. In addition, the life cycle study of vertical axis wind turbine is unusual. Since, the life cycle assessment (LCA) study varied from location to location due to industrial performance, countries energy mix and related issues, a life cycle embodied energy, emissions and environmental impacts analysis were undertaken for two grid connected rooftop wind turbines (vertical axis and horizontal axis) considering the industrial performance, applications and related issues in Thailand. The life cycle assessment was done using SimaPro 7.3.3 software from cradle to grave for base case and for alternative cases. The result showed that, wind turbine installation in Thailand at Chiangmai is reliable to deliver wind energy over the year compared to Phuket and Surat Thani Island. The vertical axis wind turbine is energy and emission intensive per kWh/year energy delivered compared to horizontal axis wind turbine for base case system. The embodied energy and environmental impact could be possible to reduce by more than 60% and 50% respectively using reuse of materials strategy. The embodied energy of vertical axis wind turbine could be possible to reduce by 36% with thermoplastic and 40% with fiberglass plastic turbine instead of aluminum turbine, while the environmental impact reduction more than 15% has been observed. The energy intensity, CO2 emission intensity and energy payback time found to be lower when compared with literature.

Simulation of a copper cylindrical heat pipe was carried out assuming steady state laminar flow, incompressible flow in liquid-wick and ideal gas incompressible flow in vapor section in three dimensions to estimate the temperature, pressure and velocity profiles. The model used non-Darcian transport through porous wick to determine liquid flow in liquid-wick section. The mass flow rate describes the fluid flow at liquid–vapor interface instead of conjugate heat transfer problem. Heat source of evaporation and condensation was considered in the total enthalpy equation of liquid-wick section to describe the loss and gain of heat from evaporation and condensation. The non-linear algebraic equations from finite volume method discretization were solved by iterative segregation method and the SIMPLEC algorithm. The numerical results of axial outer wall temperature, centerline pressure and velocity magnitude were found to be in good agreement with cylindrical heat pipe operation. The results of axial outer wall temperature and velocity magnitude streamlines are better than the results obtained in earlier studies and the results of axial outer wall temperature are in a good agreement with experimental results. The hypotheses test by two-sample t-test method between the numerical results and experimental results for axial outer wall temperature shows that they are not statistically different.