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An energy audit is a primary step toward improving energy efficiency at the facility level and ensuring a clean production. The pulp and paper sector is one of the most energy-intensive industries in Morocco. This article aimed at identifying energy conservation opportunities at a Small and Medium-sized paper industry. The audit results together with their financial viability are presented regarding the analysis of energy consumption and electrical quality issues. The paper introduces an action plan for a more efficient energy use of some specific applications such as furnaces and compressed-air installations as well. The recommended energy efficiency measures have the potential of saving about 347.85 MWh of electrical energy and 101.78 MWh of thermal energy corresponding to reductions of 11.48% and 2.22%, respectively. The total investments related to the application of the action plan is approximately 290.53 kMAD and the global payback period does not exceed one year. It was also shown that a total quantity of 283.39 t of CO 2 emissions can be saved annually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to climate change and the imperative for sustainable energy solutions, this study investigates the feasibility of producing green hydrogen and associated e-fuels (methane, methanol, and ammonia) using a renewable energy hybrid system in Dakhla, Morocco. Utilizing the System Advisor Model (SAM) software for simulation-based analysis, the research evaluates a hybrid system combining concentrated solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic (PV) plants against standalone counterparts. Various simulations comparing standalone PV and CSP plants with a novel CSP/PV hybrid concept were carried out. The hybrid system demonstrates significant promise, exhibiting increased annual energy yield and capacity factors up to 90%, leading to enhanced efficiency, performance, and cost savings with a Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) approximating 17 cents/kWh. Furthermore, this paper conducts an in-depth exploration into the feasible production of hydrogen and its derived synthetic fuels utilizing hybrid renewable systems. The study provides a thorough examination of the production processes, yields, and efficiencies of hydrogen and its derivative e-fuels, with a focus on green hydrogen production through water electrolysis, CO2 hydrogenation, the Sabatier process, and the Haber-Bosch process. It sheds light on the potential applications of these fuels in the transportation sector, including in electric and hydrogen vehicles and aviation. The insights garnered are indispensable for crafting future strategies and policies in sustainable energy planning. These findings not only provide valuable direction for forthcoming initiatives in renewable energy but also underscore the pivotal role of hybridization in enhancing the efficient production and utilization of hydrogen within both renewable energy and transportation sectors. • PV and CSP systems to generate electricity for the Dakhla city was investigated. • A Hybrid system optimization has been proposed. • The Electricity surplus was used to produce hydrogen and hydrogen-based products. • Various scenarios for the heavy-duty application of e-fuel were presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of green hydrogen through electrolysis, utilizing renewable energies, is recognized as a pivotal element in the pursuit of decarbonization. In order to attain cost competitiveness for green hydrogen, reasonable generation costs are imperative. To identify cost-effective import partners for Germany, given its limited green hydrogen production capabilities, this study undertakes an exhaustive techno-economic analysis to determine the potential Levelized Cost of Hydrogen in Germany, Norway, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, and Egypt for the year 2050, which represents a critical milestone in European decarbonization efforts. Employing a stochastic approach with Monte Carlo simulations, the paper marks a significant contribution for projecting future cost ranges, acknowledging the multitude of uncertainties inherent in related cost parameters and emphasizing the importance of randomness in these assessments. Country-specific Weighted Average Cost of Capital are calculated in order to create a refined understanding of political and economic influences on cost formation, rather than using a uniform value across all investigated nations. Key findings reveal that among the evaluated nations, PV-based hydrogen emerges as the most cost-efficient alternative in all countries except Norway, with Spain presenting the lowest Levelized Cost of Hydrogen at 1.66 €/kg to 3.12 €/kg, followed by Algeria (1.72 €/kg to 3.23 €/kg) and Morocco (1.73 €/kg to 3.28 €/kg). Consequently, for economically favorable import options, Germany is advised to prioritize PV-based hydrogen imports from these countries. Additionally, hydrogen derived from onshore wind in Norway (2.24 €/kg to 3.73 €/kg) offers a feasible import alternative. To ensure supply chain diversity and reduce dependency on a single source, a mixed import strategy is advisable. Despite having the lowest electricity cost, Egypt shows the highest Levelized Cost of Hydrogen, primarily due to a significant Weighted Average Cost of Capital. • LCOH projections for 2050 were determined through Monte Carlo Simulation. • PV-based hydrogen is the most cost-effective option in all countries except Norway. • Spain exhibits the lowest LCOH, followed by Algeria and Morocco. • Country-specific WACC variations significantly impact the LCOH. • Importing from Spain, Algeria, Morocco (PV), and Norway (onshore) is advised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morocco's commitment to the Marrakech and Paris Agreements' sustainability goals necessitates the implementation of Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB) initiatives to mitigate climate change and promote sustainable development for the built environment industry. Utilizing Morocco's abundant solar resources, NZEBs aim to minimize energy use and carbon emissions in buildings, aligning with global climate objectives and enhancing economic stability through reduced energy costs. This approach aids Morocco in adapting to climate change and achieving international financial and environmental targets. This paper explores Morocco's energy strategy and the regulatory framework for Nearly Zero Energy Buildings, providing a NZEB definition, assessment metrics, and performance indicators, while addressing the challenges posed by existing laws on energy-efficient buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with the growing demand for energy worldwide, fossil fuels, like any other resource available in finite quantities, are in the process of disappearing since their production cannot increase indefinitely. On the other hand, Russia's war with Ukraine is driving up fossil fuel prices, which in turn is impacting price increases at several levels. Added to this is the need to limit global warming, which is largely due to CO2 emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels. Faced with all these constraints, it is essential that the world looks to other sources of energy and that Morocco, in particular, can limit its energy dependence on fossil fuel imports by ensuring an internal energy supply; the best solution appears to be the development of biofuel and in particular, biodiesel. Due to their high energy content and compatibility with gasoline supply infrastructure, biodiesel may be utilized in motor vehicles. To achieve the optimal utilization of biodiesel in internal combustion engines, it is first required to choose the best feedstock that will provide both increased engine performance and economic viability. In this perspective, this paper provides a summary of the climate and energy situation in the world and in Morocco in particular, and then addresses the interest of biodiesel and its production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the role of informality in the spatial and institutional development of post-colonial cities. The study uses a historical institutionalist approach to trace the historical evolution of Morocco's Fes and Oujda as two former French colonies. It analyzes the historical urban growth of both cities through archival research, policy analysis, and complements its findings with semi-structured interviews. This study explores the different interactions between formal policies and the informal spatial and institutional urban practices, and discusses the processes of incremental institutional change that informal institutions introduce and sustain without disrupting the status-quo. This paper argues that in post-colonial contexts, informality prevails over formality as a stronger feedback mechanism to path dependence. Finally, the paper makes the case for the importance of mapping informal practices within and in relation to formal planning institutional structures for more comprehensive understandings of the role and the impact of spatial planning as a practice. • Urban informality guides urban development in Morocco. • Institutional informality is very visible as a mode of planning governance in Morocco. • Formalized institutional actors often engage in informal planning practices. • Conceptualizing the link between formality and informality can inform post-colonial spatial planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen has the potential to be considered almost the cleanest fuel of the future and a key contributor toward a low-carbon economy. This latter can be achieved through the production of green hydrogen by electrolysis using renewable energy sources. This work investigates the production of green hydrogen using solar PV-electrolysis configuration. Three different photovoltaic technologies including monocrystalline (m-Si), polycrystalline (p-Si) and amorphous (a-Si) have been used in this study. The aim of this paper is to identify the most suitable PV system for hydrogen production in mountain temperate climate conditions. Therefore, a performance assessment of the aforementioned PV systems has been conducted using data collected for an operation period of 6 years. In addition, the rate of degradation of each technology has been determined, and its effects on hydrogen generation and cost have been examined. The obtained results have shown that p-Si technology has the lowest degradation rate of (0.28%), followed by m-Si (0.41%), and a-Si (0.75%). In addition, key metrics including the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) as well as the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) have been calculated. The findings indicate that the lowest LCOE and LCOH are achieved by p-Si (0.021 $/kWh, 3.59 $/kg), followed by a-Si technology (0.027 $/kWh, 4 $/kg), and m-Si (0.032 $/kWh, 4.34 $/kg). Therefore, the results demonstrates that p-Si is the most cost-effective and favorable technology for hydrogen production in the considered temperate climate. • Hydrogen production of 3 PV technologies under mountain climate of Morocco. • Performance evaluation under real weather conditions over an operation period of 6 years. • PV Degradation impact on hydrogen production. • The most cost-effective PV system for hydrogen production is p-Si. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Use of a new tool to assess waste management systems through a stage concept. • Holistic approach can evaluate 54 waste related system sub-components. • Identification of Circular Economy potentials for the city of Marrakech (Morocco). • Applicability proofed for waste management systems of the Global South. • Derivation of 33 recommendations for action to make Marrakech more circular. Waste management is essential for the safety and wellbeing of any society; it also helps to tackle global problems, such as climate change and resource scarcity. To support the evolution of waste management systems (WMSs) towards a circular economy (CE), assessment methods are applied. This paper shows, using the case of Marrakech (Morocco), how a novel holistic approach called WMS development stage concept (WMS-DSC) is applied to assess WMSs and determine measures promoting a CE. The approach enables a simplified derivation of measures that are useful to municipal decision makers and consists of five stages; stage 1 is equal to a WMS lacking essential WM elements and stage 5 describes a functioning CE. The approach was specifically designed to be transferable to other Global South cities through the categorization into these universal stages. The results from the WMS-DSC show that components related to energy recovery and waste recycling are classified in stage 1. For the latter, a slight development towards stage 2 can be assumed due to the planned activities in Marrakech. The components "collection and transport" and "prevention and reuse" are mainly in stage 2. Nevertheless, the components "governance", "sector and market" and "waste disposal" are assigned to stages 2 and 3 with a stronger trend towards stage 4. The results show that in Marrakech and Morocco, CE is still in its infancy, and with this current state, it is hard to achieve. However, 33 measures were determined to improve the WMS of Marrakech and promote a CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanofluids are reported in the literature as advanced heat transfer fluids that improve significantly the thermo-physical properties of base fluids and, thus, enhance the performance of the solar systems. However, despite their great potential to improve the thermal and rheological properties when combined with a base fluid, it has been proven in this paper that they have a major limit that makes their integration in commercial scale CSP plants questionable. Indeed, based on various numerical simulations of three different nanofluids (MgO-VP1, Al 2 O 3 -VP1, Fe 2 O 3 -VP1), the results have revealed that when the base fluid (Therminol VP1) is doped with a certain volume fraction of nanoparticles, its circulation through the CSP's canalization becomes more energy-intensive. Accordingly, the pumps' electrical energy consumption increased proportionally with the nanoparticles' concentration ratio. Consequently, when the nanofluids are used, the net energy production of the studied CSP plant (Noor I, Morocco) decreases compared to the reference case when the base fluid is used. From an environmental point of view, the use of nanofluids in CSP plants aggravates the negative environmental impact by increasing the GHG emissions related to the pumps' operating process during the life cycle of the CSP plant. Thus, this article has a dual interest; on the one hand, it confirms the benefits of nanofluids on a thermo-physical level and, on the other hand, it highlights their major limitation from an energetic and environmental point of view, when used in CSP plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skill mismatch is worldwide issue as it can be effect job satisfaction, wages and multiple other factors. Analyzing selft-reported skill mismatch is highly studied in prior work. In this paper we study evidence of skill mismatch between three categories: Professionals, Students and Faculty member. We collect data from a survey. In this paper we use the Chi-Test to find evidence of skill mismatch between Professionals, Faculty members and students. We suppose that the three proportions are equals which means they agree on the importance of skills. If the hypothesis in not true we use the Marascuillo procedure to make comparisons between all pairs of groups Results of our paper shows that categories agree on the importance of skills categories especially programming languages; However, we find evidence of a mismatch between skills types especially Databases and Audit and risk analysis. We also find agreement between groups for some skills such as C++, as participants agree that this skill is not highly used in the cybersecurity job market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Producing electricity from a renewable source is a major challenge in Morocco nowadays and high concentrated photovoltaic (HCPV) is becoming an attractive solution to ensure clean energy generation due to its high efficiency. The aim of this paper is to estimate the « Energetic, economic, and environmental » performances of large scale HCPV power plants in the major Moroccan climatic zones and to compare their feasibility to PV plants. The mathematical model for estimating the energetic, economic, and environmental performances of large scale HCPV plants is shown, sensitivity and comparison analysis are exhibited. Another goal of the paper is the optimization of the performances of the algorithm through the study of the effect of different parameters. Our major finding is that the large scale HCPV plants are more competitive than PV plants in Errachidia climatic zone where the (capacity factor, LCOE) take the values (26.07%,8.57c$/kWh). Moreover, the capacity factor of large scale HCPV power plants is the most sensitive to the temperature coefficient while the (LCOE nominal , LCOE real , NPV) are the most sensitive to the analysis period. The quantity of CO 2 mitigated reaches a maximal value in the Errachidia zone with 2.59 × 105 tons of carbon per year avoided, and the cost of carbon gained there is estimated to be 10.4 M$. Innovative GIS maps of energetic, economic, and environmental performances of large scale HCPV power plants for all Morocco are given. Image 1 • Mathematical model for assessing the performances of HCPV plants. • Optimization of performances of large scale HCPV plants in Morocco. • Sensitivity study is conducted. • Large scale HCPV plants are more competitive than PV plants in Errachidia zone. • Innovative GIS maps are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses which sources of low-carbon hydrogen for the Northwest European market are most competitive, taking into account costs of local production, conversion and transport. Production costs of electrolysis are strongly affected by local renewable electricity costs and capacity factors. Transport costs are the lowest by pipelines for distances under 10,000 km, with costs linearly increasing with distance. For larger distances, transport as ammonia is more efficient, with less relation to distance, despite higher conversion costs. The most competitive low-carbon hydrogen supply to the Northwest European market appears to be local Steam Methane Reforming with Carbon Capture and Storage when international gas prices return back to historical levels. When gas prices, however, remain high, then import from Morocco with electrolysis directly connected to offshore wind generation is found to be the most competitive source of low-carbon hydrogen. These conclusions are robust for various assumptions on costs and capacity factors. • The competitiveness of hydrogen supply depends on production and transport costs. • At historical gas prices, hydrogen produced by SMR with CCS is most competitive. • With higher gas prices, import of renewable hydrogen is favourable. • Import is also competitive when electrolysis is less capital intensive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The chemical profile and biological properties of Thymus atlanticus essential oil were evaluated. • The essential oil of T. atlanticus was rich in phenolic volatile compounds (thymol 23.7% and carvacrol 22.8%). • The essential oil of T. atlanticus is not toxic at 2 g/kg bw. • The essential oil of T. atlanticus exhibited important antioxidant, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory activities. Aromatic and medicinal plants are an important source of natural products, including essential oils. These volatile oils are endowed with large spectra of biological and pharmacological properties. The species of Thymus genus belonging to Lamiaceae family produce significant amounts of essential oils with high bioactivity. Thymus atlanticus (Ball) Roussine. (T. atlanticus) is an endemic thyme species that grows in the Moroccan High Atlas Mountains. T. atlanticus, along with other Thymus species, have numerous traditional uses and therapeutic applications in Morocco. Regardless, toxicity, antioxidant, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory properties of the essential oils of this thyme have never been studied before. In this paper, the chemical composition, acute toxicity, antioxidant, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory activities of T. atlanticus are investigated. The results of the chemical composition using GC/MS analysis showed that thymol (23.7%) and carvacrol (22.8%) are the major volatile constituents of this thyme. Moreover, the acute toxicity assessment showed that the essential oil of T. atlanticus is not toxic at 2 g/kg bw. In addition, the oil of this thyme has an important amount of phenolic compounds (6.06 GAE mg/g EO) and a good antioxidant activity (IC50 DPPH = 0.21 mg/ml). The analgesic tests showed that the volatile oil of this thyme induced analgesic effects, suggesting anti-nociceptive actions in both chemical and thermal models of nociception. In addition, T. atlanticus essential oil produced a significant anti-inflammatory effect, as demonstrated by inhibition of ear edema induced by phenol (% of edema was 19.39% for essential oil treatment group compared to 77.59% for edema control group). These findings provide support for the traditional use of T. atlanticus in the Moroccan High Atlas folk medicine. Further investigations are recommended for the possible development of natural antioxidant, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory products from the essential oils of T. atlanticus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global Sea Surface Temperature (SST) trends have garnered significant attention in several ocean-related domains, including global warming, marine biodiversity, and environmental protection. This involves having an accurate and efficient forecast of future SST to ensure early detection and response in time to these events. Deep learning algorithms have become popular in SST prediction recently, although directly obtaining optimal prediction results from historical observation data is not simple. In this paper, we propose STA-SST, a new deep learning approach for forecasting SST, by combining the temporal dependencies of SST using the Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) model, spatial features extracted from the convolution layer, and relevant information from the attention mechanism. To assess how well the Attention-BiLSTM with convolution layer predicts SST, we conducted a case study in the Moroccan Sea, concentrating on five different areas. The proposed model was compared against alternative forecasting models, including LSTM, XGBoost, Support Vector Regression (SVR), and Random Forest (RF). The experimental results show that STA-STT produces noticeably the best prediction results and is a solid choice for field implementation. • STA-SST combines BiLSTM, Conv1D, and attention mechanism for accurate SST forecasting. • Spatial features enhance the prediction of time series data. • STA-SST outperforms traditional models in SST forecasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Redundancy aspects related to covering facility location problems are of extreme importance for many applications, in particular those regarding critical services. For example, in the healthcare sector, facilities such as ambulances or first-aid centers must be located robustly against unpredictable events causing disruption or congestion. In this paper, we propose different modeling tools that explicitly address coverage redundancy for the underlying service. We also evaluate, both theoretically and experimentally, the properties and behavior of the models, and compare them from a computational and managerial point of view. More precisely, by starting from three classical double-covering models from the literature (BACOP1, BACOP2, and DSM), we define three parametric families of models (namely, K -BACOP1, K -BACOP2, and K -DSM) which generalize the former to any possible K th coverage level of interest. The study of such generalizations allows us to derive interesting managerial insights on location decisions at the strategic level. The CPU performance and the quality of the solutions returned are assessed through ad-hoc KPIs collected over many representative instances with different sizes and topological characteristics, and also by dynamically simulating scenarios involving possible disruption for the located facilities. Finally, a real case study concerning ambulance service in Morocco is analyzed. The results show that, in general, K -BACOP1 performs very well, even if intrinsic feasibility issues limit its broad applicability. Instead, K -DSM achieves the best coverage and equity performances for lower levels of redundancy, while K -BACOP2 seems the most robust choice when high redundancy is required, showing smoother and more predictable trends. • Covering facility location models, focusing on service redundancy aspects. • Generalization of BACOP1, BACOP2, and DSM to encompass any level of coverage. • Theoretical comparison of the three parametric families of generalized models. • Simulation–optimization framework to empirically compare the models via ad-hoc coverage and equity KPIs. • Experiments over artificial instances and an ambulance service case-study in Morocco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phosphate mining industry produces large amounts of waste rocks during the open-pit mining operation. In the present paper, phosphate waste rocks, abundant in different regions of Morocco, are investigated as a candidate material for partial/entire replacement of conventionally used industrial minerals. Several recipes for the production of tiles are tested, based on raw materials from five representative phosphate waste rocks mine sites and a raw clay from Safi's region in Morocco. The phosphate waste rocks are shown to be mainly composed of phyllosilicates (smectite, sepiolite, and palygorskite), carbonates (dolomite and calcite), and silica frameworks (quartz, tridymite, and cristobalite) as major phases. The raw samples and calcined mixtures were characterized by using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Properties analyses revealed that the produced ceramic tiles can be classified as porous bodies. The tiles based on 100% of phosphate waste rocks have shown excellent mechanical properties (∼55 MPa) in terms of compression and they can be used in the traditional wall tiles called "Zellige" in Morocco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small mammal remains have been discovered in three new outcrops from the Afoud locality. This site is significant from a paleontological point of view because it has yielded fauna of European affinities (Castillomys , Occitanomys , Stephanomys, Eliomys, and Prolagus). The presence of two different species of Arvicanthis from the Afoud locality represents the oldest record in North Africa. The association of small mammals from the AF12-2 deposits provides an approximate view of the local environment and climate at the time of the formation of this locality. This faunal assemblage indicates a warm, temperate, semi-arid climate and an open vegetation cover of wooded savannah. Fossil assemblages documented in this paper expand our knowledge on the Late Miocene–Early Pliocene small mammal communities of the Aït Kandoula Basin. This study provides useful data for understanding the paleobiogeography of the Mediterranean region and faunal exchanges between North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula that took place before the Messinian Salinity Crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a continuity of experimental measurements of soiling over a period of two years of exposure in Rabat-Morocco which is characterized by semi-arid climate (according to the aridity index of De Martonne). Based on an appropriate approach, the soiling rate has been calculated directly via the transmitted and the received irradiance and it has given the average annual soiling rate of 4%. The energy production loss has been calculated considering the effect of soiling and it has reached 2 Wh/W p.day during the dry period. The approach presented in this paper is based on using solar front-glass which is quite efficient, since it presents the advantage of limiting losses that can occur. Strongly depending on the climatic conditions, the soiling ratio has been also investigated with rainfall, wind speed and wind direction in both Rabat (semi-arid climate) and Errachidia (hyper-arid climate). Through this study, several hypotheses have been deduced for the definition of the appropriate type of cleaning of photovoltaic installations; in semi-arid climate (Rabat), humid cleaning is highly required with limited frequency, while in hyper-arid climate (Errachidia) a frequent dry cleaning can be well sufficient. • Average annual soiling rate has been determined based on a solar glass exposed in Rabat, Morocco. • The energy production of photovoltaic modules has been calculated with the effect of soiling. • Humid cleaning and dry cleaning have been defined respectively for the semi-arid and hyper-arid climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the macroeconomic and welfare effects of fundamental tax reforms in an emerging/developing economy. We develop a dynamic general equilibrium model with structural and institutional characteristics of non-oil emerging and developing economies and apply the model to Morocco. The model's simulations suggest that tax reforms imply complex trade-off between growth, government revenue, and equity. A comprehensive approach associated with better targeted social programs, broadens the tax base, removes tax distorsions, better distributes the tax burden, and mitigates adverse distributional effects (that is improves welfare) by making the tax system more progressive and reducing inequalities. For Morocco, a comprehensive tax reform package would involve (i) reducing tax exemptions, (i i) a broader-based property tax, (i i i) a lower corporate tax rate, (i v) aligning the VAT rate on exempted goods and services to the standard rates, and (v) a better targeted social safety net. The paper indicates that such a reform package is growth-friendly, broad-based, progressive and has implications for existing gender biases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a Multi-stage Energy Management System (MS-EMS) for power distribution in a smart microgrid comprising a photovoltaic system (PV), an Energy Storage System (ESS), and connected to an Electrical Power Grid (EPG). The proposed MS-EMS consists of two layers, the Anticipative Layer (AL) and the Reactive Layer (RL). The AL uses a Multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) algorithm to determine the optimal power setpoints for each source over the next 24 h based on predicted energy demand and solar power generation. The RL utilizes real-time data collection and Extremum-Seeking optimization (ES) to compensate for prediction uncertainties by adjusting the ideal power setpoints in real-time. In addition, this paper addresses both the issues of management and prediction. It introduces a forecasting system that effectively predicts the next 24 h of load demand and PV power generation using actual data, by integrating a physical model with artificial neural networks (ANN). The efficiency of the proposed MS-EMS is highlighted using experimental data collected in real-time on a physical bench in Morocco. The performances of the proposed MS-EMS system are compared with those of existing EMS strategies, including an existing industrial solution. The comparison shows that the proposed MS-EMS substantially overperforms in terms of three criteria: energy bill, battery degradation cost, and peak-to-Average Ratio (PAR). Despite forecasting uncertainties, the experimental test shows a remarkable 6% gain in the reduction of the energy bill and PAR compared to an offline strategy (where uncertainties were not considered). Furthermore, it achieved a 5% and a 3% gain in the reduction of the energy bill and PAR, respectively compared to an online strategy (focused on real-time optimization). Additionally, compared to an existing industrial solution, the MS-EMS achieves a reduction in energy bill and PAR of 9% and 56% respectively while taking into account battery degradation constraints described in this study. • Multi-stage approach for Multi-Objectives Grid Management with Forecast Uncertainties. • Extremum Seeking approach for real-time energy management problem solving. • Artificial Intelligence for electrical load and PV power forecasting. • Experimental comparison of the proposed strategy with an existing industrial solution. • Experimental test shows a reduction in energy bill and PAR of 9% and 56% respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• First assessment of anti-soiling coating performance for CSP in arid region. • Comparison of cleaning and soiling mitigation by the studied coating. • Size analysis of particles deposited on the coated and uncoated mirrors surface. • Cleanliness gain achieved 7 pp manifesting the positive performance of the coating. • Significant reduction of particles deposited on the coated mirrors by 75.5%. Soiling of solar reflectors is a great challenge in regions with high aerosol concentrations and little rain such as arid and semi-arid climates. Actually, cleaning operations of the solar field in the CSP plants take a crucial part in the O&M costs. Coating is among the preventive mitigation methods, aiming to repel the dust from the solar collector's surface. This approach based on the treatment of surface properties, has seen a great technological development in the last few years. In this paper, the performance of an anti-soiling coating applied on several sets of mirror samples has been evaluated in real outdoor conditions on different heights at the arid site in Ouarzazate. Systematic measurements of the cleanliness factor during a year of exposure have been analyzed, taking into account the nature of the surrounding environment. Through this work, many findings have been obtained, which are considered very promising for the studied anti-soiling coating. The coated mirrors have shown a positive performance during the whole period of exposure, where the maximum cleanliness gain has achieved 7 pp. It was found that a maximum soiling rate of 2.54 pp/day was attributed to uncoated samples. This coating has significantly reduced the number of soiling particles deposited on the mirrors surface by 75.5%. This result is considered very valuable for the anti-soiling coating, enhancing its application in sites characterized by high levels of soiling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Investigation of three modeling techniques for PV characteristic generation. • Operation of experimental data to evaluate the investigated models for three module technologies. • Development of a PV model selection mechanism according to three criteria. • Design of PV emulator based on SMPS and PV characteristic generator. • Implementation of the control and the model selection mechanism on the designed emulator. The increasing interest in the testing of photovoltaic systems and conversion components, resulted in the growth of PV emulators development, especially the power converter based ones. These emulators allow the characteristics reproduction of PV modules and panels in a well-controlled environment, by using different PV modeling methods. In this paper, three modeling techniques are investigated for three PV technologies (Amorphous, CdTe and Mono-Si). The investigation of the models is done using experimental data from Green Energy Park in Morocco according to proposed evaluation criteria. The criteria themselves are based on the coefficient of determination, the Root Mean Square Error and the required computational time. The analysis results in a mechanism allowing the selection of the best modeling approach for each PV module technology. Afterwards, simulation work is carried out in order to design the control scheme of the PV emulator power supply. Then, the control and modeling method selection mechanism based on module technologies is implemented experimentally on the designed PV emulator system. Hence, the PV emulator along with its control and modeling method is validated for an example of Amorphous technology module. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The HIV epidemic in an heterosexual population is a multidimensional SIR model. • The dynamic of HIV is formulated by a stochastic diffusion process. • The posterior distributions for the parameters are generalized inverse Gaussian. • Methods and results are Illustrated by simulations and real application. A model of the HIV dynamic in a heterosexual population of fixed size is considered in this paper. We represent the dynamic by a multidimensional SIR model. We formulate the stochastic diffusion approximation process to describe the dynamic of HIV by using strong approximation theorems for density-dependent Markov chains. Our aim is to estimate the parameters of this model; to reach this goal, we use Bayesian inference with Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulations. We prove that the posterior distributions of the parameters are shifted Generalized Inverse Gaussian (GIG). The obtained results are well illustrated by simulations and real application of Morocco's case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing level of carbon emissions is one of the most serious concerns in human history facing in today's world. Different countries adopt different policies and approaches to mitigate climate change severity. The current study evaluates the effect of carbon emissions, renewable energy sources, ICT, governance, and GDP in Morocco employing a time-series dataset over the period of 1985–2020. In this paper, we utilized the dynamic ARDL simulations model to explore the association among carbon emissions, renewable energy sources, ICT, governance, and GDP. The ARDL bounds test reveals a long-run connection among the variables. The findings suggest that renewable energy sources (i.e. solar, wind, hydroelectric), ICT, and effective governance are the key indicators to reduce carbon emissions. In addition, we utilized the Granger causality test to probe a causal connection between the study variables. The outcomes have long-run implications for carbon emissions degradation and Morocco's policy towards the fight against climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2) re-analysis to identify long-term Mediterranean Sea Offshore Wind (OW) classification possible locations. In particular, an OW classification based on the last 40-years period OW speeds highlighted the best areas for potential Offshore Wind Turbine Generators (OWTG) installations in the Mediterranean basin. Preliminary, long-term OW classification results show that several Mediterranean basin zones in the Aegean Sea, Gulf of Lyon, the Northern Morocco and Tunisia regions have attractive OW potential. Secondly, a combined forecasting model based on the wavelet decomposition method and long-term memory neural network has been developed to predict the short-term wind speed considering the last ten years of hourly data for Mediterranean areas. The results of the proposed model for wind speed prediction have been compared with other single models, Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), highlighting a higher level of accuracy. Finally, three Weibull fitting algorithms have been provided to analyze the wind energy potential in the Mediterranean basin. • Offshore wind classification using 40 years of re-analysis data and learning models. • Offshore wind speed assessment and mapping of the Mediterranean Sea hot region's. • A prediction model based on wavelet transform and long short-term memory network. • The evaluated model based on re-analysis data for offshore wind hot region's. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Saghro inlier in the Anti-Atlas belt of Morocco comprises several granitoids dating from 600 to 550 million years ago (Ma), which are overlain by a volcano-sedimentary series. In particular, the granodioritic plutons exhibit widespread enclaves, which is a tool for emplacements mode and magma interaction processus during the Ediacaran evolution of the Anti-Atlas belt. This paper presents a detailed field mapping, petrographic analysis, and deformation quantification of the mafic microgranular enclaves (MMEs) and their host granitoids to characterize the emplacement mode of the plutons and the origin of MMEs. Macroscopically, the MMEs are rounded to ellipsoidal shapes and characterized by sharp, crenulated contacts, fine-grained textures, and some of them include fragments of host rock and feldspar xenocrysts. Petrographically, the MMEs exhibit a range of compositions from gabbroic to quartz diorite, and they are characterized by the presence of acicular apatite, quartz-feldspar ocelli, poikilitic and zoned plagioclases, which are the result of mixing/mingling of mafic and felsic magmas during the genesis of MMEs. The magmatic structures and enclave's organization in Saghro granitoids indicate two styles of emplacement. The c. 600 Ma Iknioun granodiorite exhibits an S-sigmoidal structure, representative of a syntectonic emplacement model within a transpressive dextral movement along E-W shear zones. While, in the 580-560 Ma Oussilkane, Tagmout, Igoudrane, and Bou Teglimt plutons, the organization of magmatic flow and orientations of enclaves suggest that the magma was emplaced as a post-tectonic dome. The variation in emplacement mode and the decrease in deformation intensity from the c. a. 600 Ma in the Iknioun pluton to the 580-560 Ma for the others plutons indicate a progressive shift in deformation regime from transpressive during the middle Ediacaran to a transtensive regime in the late Ediacaran, highlighting the progressive transition from Pan-African/Cadomian orogeny to Cambrian rifting. • Detailed field mapping, petrographic analysis, and deformation quantification of the MMEs and their host granitoids in saghro inlier are presented. • The MMEs indicate the magma interaction processes during the Ediacaran evolution. • A syntectonic emplacement model within a transpressive dextral movement in E-W shear zones for the c. 600 Ma pluton, and post-tectonic dome emplacement for the 580-560 Ma plutons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Proposing an new evolutionary forest forecaster for global solar irradiance. • Forecasting six steps ahead simultaneously using the evolutionary forest. • Evaluating the generalizability of the proposed model under six climatic sites. • Examining the proposed approach using endogenous, exogenous and hybrid inputs. • Comparing the proposed approach with benchmarking models and the naive model. The increasing integration of solar sources into the energy mix presents significant challenges, particularly in short-term energy management. Accurate solar irradiance forecasts can greatly assist solar power plant operators and energy network managers in making informed decisions about energy production and consumption. This paper aims to develop a new accurate forecasting model for short-term global solar irradiance based on an innovative evolutionary forest approach. Our model, baptized EFITS, performs incremental tree selection through appropriate evolutionary operators maintaining a good tradeoff between accuracy and diversity, generating progressively near-optimal decision trees to construct the final evolutionary forest forecaster. This new evolution process also automatically selects near-optimal input parameters, enhancing the overall model accuracy and generalization ability. Six climatically diverse locations in Morocco and three types of inputs (endogenous, exogenous, and hybrid) are used to assess the performance of the proposed. The results demonstrate that our proposed model exhibits excellent performance across all studied sites and horizons. Among all input types, hybrid inputs delivered the best forecasting accuracy across all studied sites and horizons. Notably, the continental climate site (Bni Mellal) achieved the highest accuracy, with nRMSE ranging from 4.94% to 7.54% and nMBE from 0.71% to −0.46% for 1 to 6 h forecasts. Conversely, Ifrane city, characterized by a humid temperate climate, showed the lowest accuracy, with nRMSE ranging from 10.34% to 18.94% and nMBE from 1.21% to −1.54%. Finally, a detailed comparison with benchmarking models (random forest, bagging, gradient boosting, single decision tree, bidirectional long short-term memory network, and scaled persistence models), revealed that our model consistently outperforms them across all tested scenarios, locations, and forecasting horizons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy complementarity is a promising approach in the realm of renewable energy systems, enabling the integration of multiple energy sources to achieve a stable and sustainable power supply. This paper presents a comprehensive solar-wind complementarity study encompassing all regions of Morocco. A novel method for assessing complementarity is introduced, utilizing a fluctuation approach that classifies the power output of each source based on the median and the standard deviation. The classifications of both solar and wind sources are then combined to establish a basis for complementary classification, categorizing each day as complementary, non-complementary, low-complementary, or concurrent for both sources. An innovative complementarity index is proposed, ranging from 0 to 1, with values closer to 1 indicating high complementarity. This index is applicable to any location and is used to generate maps illustrating solar-wind complementarity. Additionally, dominance metric is derived from this approach that indicates which source is most likely to complement the other source. The results reveal that temporal complementarity is high in the internal Northern regions reaching indices above 0.7, followed by the Northern coastal regions with indices that range between 0.6 and 0.7. The lowest complementarity occurs in the South with indices below 0.6. Additionally, the complementarity plots that displays the monthly indices reveled, for most regions, that complementarity maintains certain level except in the summer where it peaks or drops. The solar dominance is higher in the South reaching above 60 %, even though the wind potential is important in those regions. For spatial complementarity, two locations were considered and the method is applied for four scenarios: solar-wind, wind-solar, solar-solar and wind-wind. Results favor all the combinations except for the solar-solar scenario. The suggested index yields similar results to Kendall's tau correlation. The negative correlation index indicates high complementarity when positive and a low complementarity when close to −1. For this approach, it is not limited to the degree complementarity but can describe other states of complementarity and its frequency of occurrence compared to other states. This provides additional insights compared to the commonly used correlation methods. The proposed method contributes to a more profound understanding of complementarity between two energy sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an in-depth city profile analyzing Martil—an emerging coastal satellite urban center in northern Morocco. Situated within a rapidly urbanizing context, Martil exemplifies organic satellite city dynamics in the Global South. The analysis tracks Martil's demographic, spatial, economic, social, environmental, and planning transformations since the 1970s. Accelerated rural-urban migration fueled unstructured peripheral expansion, straining infrastructure and producing socioeconomic disparities. Unregulated construction encroached on floodplains and coastal habitats, increasing climate risks and environmental degradation. Recent urban development plans aim to balance growth priorities with sustainability concerns through zoning, partnerships, and critical projects. However, persisting governance gaps between ambitions and on-ground outcomes continue to hinder equitable development and ecological resilience. The study situates Martil locally and comparatively, underscoring mismatches between prevailing models and satellites' distinct realities. Satellite urbanism's complexities validate calls for fundamental paradigm shifts prioritizing social welfare, climate adaptation, economic diversity, and participatory planning essential for sustainable urban development. This multi-dimensional analysis of a rapidly evolving coastal satellite city on the Mediterranean contributes an original perspective to urban studies scholarship while offering integrated recommendations for practitioners and policymakers. • Rapid coastal satellite urbanization trends unpacked through Martil city case profile • Population influx and unstructured peripheral expansion fuel socioeconomic and ecological pressures • Environmental hazards and groundwater risks analyzed vis-à-vis uncontrolled construction • Intent and implementation gaps in balancing urban growth with sustainability surface • Comparative insights on coastal satellites inform adaptive planning and policy pathways [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a geostatistical study of structural lineaments acquired from satellite data processing (L8: Landsat 8 OLI and AD: ASTER DEM) of the Zat area (High Atlas, Morocco). The lineaments are identified by their metric parameters, by defining three relationships (R1: length-spacing, R2: number-spacing, and R3: number-length) measured with linear regression analysis. The relations R1, R2, and R3 of the L8 set have respective relational weights of β1 (−0.079), β2 (−0.045), and β3 (0.083), giving a relational cascade with a mediating effect (Number → Length → Spacing). According to this model, the number and length grow proportionately, whereas the spacing varies inversely. However, the relations R′1, R′2, and R′3 of the AD set manifested the respective relational weights of β′1 (−0.043), β′2 (0.11), and β′3 (0.037) by materialising a different relational cascade (Number → Spacing → Length). This model shows that the number and spacing vary proportionately, while the length changes inversely. We illustrated that the L8 model matches the tectonic logic of the studied area better than the AD model. As a result, L8 data outperform AD data in structural mapping using remote sensing. • The application of statistics in the study of structural geology remains traditional to this day. • Lineaments are distinguished by their metric parameters (length, number, and spacing). • We propose a new statistical sense dedicated to the analysis of relationships between metric parameters. • The integration of digital mapping with appropriate statistical analysis has generated a comprehensive fracturing map. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morocco has launched several e-government programs to develop efficient public e-services which meet the needs of users. However, while digitizing public services processes for Moroccan administrations, the designers of information systems record the entered data in databases, without being too interested in the meaning of the entries made by citizens nor on the benefit of exchanged information between public administrations. This causes inconsistency and lack of interoperability between public administration systems. Moreover, the systems require information collection and shared knowledge based on a common vocabulary of public services in Morocco. For this purpose, this paper presents an ontology model based on the 5w1h Method for defining the public services domain. This PSOM ontology is based on the referential defined by the Moroccan Ministry of Administration Reform and Public service. Indeed, we have collected the different concepts related to this field and all possible relationships between them in order to ensure interoperability between all government entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tourism industry has particularly evolved in the era of social media, and due to the huge amount of data available on the web, tourism forums have become spaces for exchanging information about many topics concerning a country's tourism and hospitality, which has helped to establish a bank of knowledge that might encourage artificial intelligence researchers to follow some research tracks that could lead to interesting insights for decision makers in the sphere of tourism. This paper is an application of artificial intelligence within the tourism industry in the context of Morocco, whereby we carried out natural language processing transformers to classify entities (i.e., Named Entity Recognition) in text that was collected from the Moroccan forum in TripAdvisor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for water is steadily increasing and water supplies are rapidly depleting, leading to a global water scarcity crisis. To bridge the gap between water availability and human needs, unconventional solutions such as solar desalination have been proposed. This technique makes use of the two most abundant resources on the planet – salt water and solar energy – to create fresh water. To evaluate the global scientific output on solar desalination research, a bibliometric approach was adopted. Data from Scopus revealed 6374 publications related to solar desalination up until 2021, with 70 % of them being articles. Most of these publications were produced in the last 12 years (period studied in this paper). The largest numbers of publications were found in the fields of "Engineering" (21 %) "Energy" (18 %) and "Environmental Science" (16 %). India had the highest number of publications (1080), but China had the most influential research, with 895 papers cited 30,114 times (h-index = 83) — more than the Indian corpus (23,634 citations and h-index = 78). The average international collaboration rate was 26.2 %. In Morocco, the interest in solar desalination research only began after 2000, yet the country quickly rose to the top 25 most productive countries in the field, with a high quality of publication. • This review portrays an attempt to characterize the scientific potential on solar desalination using a bibliometric method. • The number of publications in this booming field has increased by 133 % between 2010 and 2021. • The most productive countries are India, China and Egypt. • The largest number of publications were indexed respectively in "Engineering", "Energy" and "Environmental Science" • Thermal processes arouse more interest (in terms of research) than membrane processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oases are considered as environmental bulwarks. The growing tourist demand for cultural ecosystem services as provided by oases has encouraged policymakers to develop economic instruments for their protection. Thus, this paper aims to economically evaluate the cultural services produced by the Todgha Oasis (southeastern Morocco), using the contingent valuation method. The average willingness to pay) estimated for oasis is €11.09/visit. The average non-market value estimated for oases reach €188.700/year. The main contribution of this paper relies on the first estimation of the economic value of tourist demand for the oasis cultural ecosystem services in North Africa. Results could guide policymakers for designing conservation policies aimed to internalise positive externalities to improve the quality of the cultural services provided by oases and provide a win–win solution for farmers and tourists alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a quantitative and qualitative diagnosis of the current state of marine litter along the northern coastline of Agadir, located on the central Atlantic coast of Morocco. For this, three beaches were surveyed: Taghazout beach, Aourir beach, and Anza beach. Litter densities were highest at Anza beach (D = 1.041 items/m2), followed by Aourir beach (D = 0.339 items/m2), and then Taghazout beach (D = 0.226 items/m2). Plastics represent 79% of all collected items, and they are mainly composed of caps/lids, food containers, other plastic, cigarette butts and filters, polystyrene pieces, small plastic bags, and drink bottles. Metal is the second litter item in number, followed by paper/cardboard, rubber, cloth/textile, wood, and glass/ceramic. The Clean Coast Index (CCI) shows a clean and moderately clean state in the Taghazout and Aourir beaches, while Anza beach is more polluted. The EA/NALG classification showed that all three beaches are classified as "D," i.e., dirty or poor-quality beaches. Dendrogram analysis showed very highly polluted areas (Anza 1), highly polluted areas (Taghazout 4 and 5; Anza 2; Aourir 3), moderately polluted areas (Taghazout 1 and 2; Aourir 1), and lightly polluted areas (Taghazout 3). Based on the obtained results, we can conclude that tourism and recreational activities were the primary source of marine litter (over 50%), followed by fishing activity (25%). Efforts are necessary to improve the quality of beaches located on the central Atlantic coast of Morocco. The typology of solutions suggested in this work can be divided into four approaches: cleaning, prevention, mitigation, and the most important ... behavior change. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agri-industrial production is supported by the agriculture–migration nexus, in which industrial-scale horticultural production relies on migrant workers. In this article I consider the time-related pressures on workers who are internal migrants from rural regions of Morocco. My account illustrates how workers are impacted by the demands from consumers for fresh food, year round, as well as by the rhythms of nature, and of social reproduction. I use concepts from EP Thompson's depiction of the transition from rural to factory work to describe the tensions in agricultural production at industrial scale for foreign markets. The concepts used are nature's time (related to seasonality, weather, daylight) and industrial time (of the market), and I adjoin to this the category of social-reproductive time in order to show these three time-related pressures function together. The identification of this threefold time-pressure on migrant workers in agri-food production builds on the recent attention of scholars to seasonality as a conceptual lens, and the identification of rhythms to highlight intersectional inequalities in the everyday. The paper is based on ethnographic and interview data from the Moroccan region of Chtouka Aït Baha, from which tomatoes and other crops are produced at industrial scale for export. I find that, together, the three temporal pressures lead to workers suffering exhaustion and finding themselves far from mobile and available to move with the seasons; rather, they are 'locked in' to this low-wage sector. • EP Thompson's theory of time and work-discipline is developed to include social reproductive time. • In Morocco, tomatoes are produced intensively by internal migrant workers for the out of season market in the Global North. • Agri-food workers simultaneously face time pressures from industry, from nature and from the social reproductive sphere. • Women workers form the majority of the labour force and are disproportionately affected by time pressures. • A connection is established between retailer 'demands' and time pressures experienced by workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the potential of wind energy in six coastal locations in the Kingdom of Morocco, namely Al Hoceima, Tetouane, Assila, Essouira, Laayoune and Dakhla. First, a literature review of recent wind energy potential studies in different locations worldwide has been conducted. Thereafter, the status of wind energy development in Morocco along with its achievements and challenges has been reported. A comprehensive literature review of the mathematical distributions used to fit wind data and procedures employed to estimate the shape and scale parameters of the Weibull distribution is as well presented. The second part of this paper investigated the statistical analysis of wind data based on hourly wind speeds and directions considered for a period of five years between 2011 and 2015. The analysis has shown that the Weibull model independently of the used algorithms for estimation scale and shape parameters, presented an accurate description of the frequencies of actual wind data. By the end, annual energy outputs and capacity factors were derived for wind turbines of various sizes between 225 and 900 kW. The results showed that Dakhla is the most suitable location for harnessing the wind power, while Laayoune has been identified as the second most suitable site. Both Dakhla and Laayoune were found to be suitable for the grid-connected wind energy conversion system while Assila and Essouira have been categorized to be appropriate for the stand-alone wind power applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Three photovoltaic technologies are tested in two different regions in Morocco. • Climatic and environmental stresses of each site are evaluated. • PV devices are more aged in mountain and semi-arid environment. • PV devices are more soiled in desert environment. • Poly-crystalline Silicone device is more resistant to stress than CdTe and CIGS devices in both sites. Morocco is a country which enjoys an important potential of sunshine in many of its regions. MASEN (Moroccan Agency for Sustainable ENergy) is aiming to achieve the Kingdom objective to reach 52% energy needs through renewable energy by 2030. In this approach, the agency is launching many plants using different technologies, and especially Photovoltaic (PV) and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP). In this paper, a study of the durability of three different PV panels in two regions is presented. The study focuses on aging and soiling of these panels in two distinguished climatic stresses. Two types of comparison are made; the first one is between the behaviors of the three different panels, while the second one is between the different sites. Influence of soiling appears to be an important factor to study and a drop of 29% in maximal power was noticed after one month outdoor exposure. The aging is also studied during around 1000 days exposure. An annual loss between 0.44% and 1.1% is recorded in one site while in the other it is between 1.8% and 5.9% for the three devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) from a parabolic trough collector power plant is influenced directly by its design parameters. In the present paper, the impact of five design parameters (solar multiple, direct normal irradiation, cycle efficiency, mirrors efficiency and absorber efficiency) is investigated in order to minimize the LCOE for a 1 MWe power plant. The artificial neural networks (ANN) and the response surface methodology (RSM) are used to model the LCOE as function of these five parameters. The methodology is applied to six cities of Morocco, and the results show that the ANN is the best model to predict the LCOE using the best topology of 5-7-1 neurons. This structure allows satisfactory prediction of LCOE obtained with Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of about 2% and Maximum Error (ME) of 9%. A minimal cost of 8.74 cents is obtained for Tata city with a direct normal irradiation of 7.09 Wh/m2/day, by coupling ANN model to desirability function. The optimal plant design point is 1.94 for the solar multiple, 20.88% for the cycle efficiency, 0.8673 for the mirror efficiency and 0.8537 for the absorber efficiency. • Two methodologies are applied to optimize design parameters of a CSP plant. • Response surface methodology and Artificial Neural network are used to optimize the parameters. • The choice of design parameter impacts the levelized cost of energy directly. • An optimum cost is calculated for each studied site in Morocco as function of five design parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have shown that radar temporal coherence over tropical and boreal forests undergoes a diurnal cycle as a result of a combined effect of the wind-induced motion of scatterers and of the change and displacement of water within the plant in response to the transpiration process. Within this context, the objective of this paper is to investigate, for the first time, the diurnal cycle of temporal coherence over wheat crops in relation to its development and physiological functioning throughout the agricultural season. A ground-based experiment was installed in Morocco, targeting a wheat field during the 2020 agricultural season. The radar system, essentially based on a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) connected to 6C-band antennas installed at the top of a 20 m tower, has enabled quad-polarimetric acquisitions every 15 min. In parallel, evapotranspiration, soil moisture and meteorological variables are automatically measured in addition to above-ground biomass and vegetation water content collected during field campaigns. The results show that the temporal coherence with a 15 min baseline follows a marked diurnal cycle characterized by variable amplitude according to the phenological stage, with high values during the night, a significant morning drop to reach the lowest values in the late afternoon followed by an increase to recover the high nighttime values. The rate of the drop at dawn is shown to be related to the increase of evapotranspiration (r = 0.80 at VV polarization) when the wheat is covering the soil and the transpiration dominate the evapotranspiration process. This supports the assumption of a physiological effect related to water movement entailing a decorrelation. By contrast, the daily minimum of temporal coherence occurring in the late afternoon correlates well to the daily maximum of wind (r = 0.7). Interestingly enough, the amplitude of the diurnal cycle exhibit a marked seasonal evolution characterized by an increase of 85% from tillering to maturity in relation to the wheat development. At the early start of the season when the soil is almost bare, irrigation events impact slightly the diurnal cycle of temporal coherence. Likewise, it is shown that the presence of dew in the early morning has led to a decrease of the decorrelation rate. Temporal coherence dynamic has also been investigated for longer baselines up to 22 days. Results indicate a stronger decorrelation than what has been observed on tropical and boreal forests by previous studies with values below 0.4 for baselines above 2 days. Taken together, the results of this work demonstrate the unique potential of sub-daily C-band data for monitoring crop water status by future geostationary radar missions such as Hydroterra. • Diurnal cycles of 15-min C-band temporal coherence over wheat crops are analyzed. • The morning drop of the temporal coherence is related to the transpiration process. • Temporal coherence exhibits a marked seasonal dynamic according to phenological stages. • Irrigation events and morning dew have an impact on sub-daily temporal coherence. • Early morning hours showed potential for monitoring the vegetation physiological functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Africa, Morocco is the 10th largest producer of plastic. The severity of this plastic has attracted increasing amounts of attention in the Moroccan Atlantic and Mediterranean in recent years. However, at the national level, there is limited knowledge of plastic pollution. To obtain an exhaustive and comprehensive evaluation of plastic pollution levels in Morocco, large-scale monitoring is needed on all the coasts of the country. In this context, this paper examined the composition, abundance, distribution, source and quality of beaches on two Moroccan coasts using four beach quality indices along 29 beaches. During two seasons, a total of 72,105 items were counted. The mean litter abundance was 0.31 items/m2, and the Mediterranean beaches were more dense than the Atlantic beaches. In particular, litter density was greater in spring (0.35 items/m2) than in summer (0.29 items/m2). The data indicate considerable differences in the density of marine debris according to the seasonality, beach typology and presence of rivers. Hazardous litter items were collected along both Moroccan coasts, constituting 8.41 % of the total collected items, with a mean of 0.026 items/m2. The use of environmental indices allowed us to classify Moroccan beaches as "moderate cleanliness", "moderate abundance" of plastics, "moderately safe" presence of hazardous litter and "mediocre" environmental status. The findings of the present study indicate that the sources of litter on both Moroccan coasts come mainly from recreational activities and dumping. The waste management practices recommended for Moroccan beaches include reducing sources, mitigating mitigation measures and changing littering behavior. • Plastic pollution assessed along the Moroccan Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts • The mean density of litter found along the study area was 0.31 items/m2. • The percentage of hazardous litter represented 8 % of the items collected. • Marine litter sources mainly from recreational activities and dumping • Beach quality indices could serve as a tool for beach management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving carbon neutrality is probably one of the most important challenges of the 21st century for our societies. Part of the solution to this challenge is to leverage renewable energies. However, these energy sources are often located far away from places that need the energy, and their availability is intermittent, which makes them challenging to work with. In this paper, we build upon the concept of Remote Renewable Energy Hubs (RREHs), which are hubs located at remote places with abundant renewable energy sources whose purpose is to produce carbon-neutral synthetic fuels. More precisely, we model and study the Energy Supply Chain (ESC) that would be required to provide a constant source of carbon-neutral synthetic methane, also called e-NG (electric Natural Gas) or e-methane (electric methane), in Belgium from an RREH located in Morocco. To be carbon neutral, a synthetic fuel has to be produced from existing carbon dioxide (CO 2) that needs to be captured using either Direct Air Capture (DAC) or Post Combustion Carbon Capture (PCCC). In this work, we detail the impact of three different carbon sourcing configurations on the price of the e-methane delivered in Belgium. Our results show that sourcing CO 2 through a combination of DAC and PCCC is more cost-effective, resulting in a cost of 146 €/MWh for e-methane delivered in Belgium, as opposed to relying solely on DAC, which leads to a cost of 158 €/MWh. Moreover, these scenarios are compared to a scenario where CO 2 is captured in Morocco from a CO 2 emitting asset that allow to deliver e-methane for a cost of 136 €/MWh. • Model energy supply chain from Morocco to Belgium for electric methane; • Explore three CO2 sources for electric methane synthesis; • Analyse the pros and cons of each CO2 source on price and energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the study of the floodplain and low terrace deposits of the Middle Sebou Valley, which crosses the south-rif corridor and constitutes the eastern limit of the Saïss Basin. The study includes the identification of facies, the determination of architectural elements, the reconstruction of paleoenvironments, and the proposal of a model for deposit formation. The work is based on detailed sedimentological analysis of the deposits, focusing on lithology, grain size, primary sedimentary structures, and the types of contact between facies. Facies analysis identified 21 facies grouped into three associations corresponding to nine architectural elements whose identification was based on the study of their lateral and vertical profiles. The architectural elements identified include the channel (CH), gravel bars and bedforms (GB), sandy bedforms (SB), downstream accretion (DA), lateral accretion (LA), sediment gravity flows (SG), natural levee (LV), floodplain (FF), and abandoned channels and meanders (FF (CH)). The alluvium is organized into rhythmic and fining-up elementary sequences reflecting its deposition in different fluvial environments: alluvial fan, straight to slightly sinuous and braiding-tending fluvial environment, and meandering fluvial environment. Alluvial deposition is controlled by lithology, climate, and tectonics. Lithology and tectonics controlled the slope, the degree of valley confinement, the accommodation space, and the alluvial fan development. Climate controlled the flow regime, sediment dynamics, and the formation of paleosol and calcrete. • Twenty-one defined facies types grouped into three facies associations. • Facies associations correspond to nine architectural elements. • Lithology, tectonic, and anthropic activity afforded the Middle Sebou River deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the next decades, solar energy power generation is anticipated to gain popularity because of the current energy and climate problems and ultimately become a crucial part of urban infrastructure. Furthermore, in order to facilitate the rapid deployment of solar production in sustainable cities, solar technologies must be digitalized and smart. This will increase their reliability and ensure their optimal performance. This work fits into this perspective and focuses on the effectiveness of processing data using the Digital Twin (DT) framework as a state-of-art information technology for urban distributed solar PV systems. Accordingly, the present paper deals with the DT of five Building-added Photovoltaic (BAPV) systems installed at the solar village in Benguerir city, Morocco. The 3D models were generated in the Rhinoceros platform, the solar AC electrical production of each photovoltaic system is calculated by the ladybug-plugin-integrated statistical model, within the grasshopper environment. Additionally, data assessment and visualization are processed through Python. Then, a hybrid model-based and data-driven fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) approach is proposed to identify and isolate anomalies for decentralized solar PV systems at the urban scale using monitoring and inspection techniques, namely Remote Sensors (RS) and real-time solar production monitoring system. The application of the DT concept for complex dynamic systems has shown its effectiveness in ensuring optimal operating conditions for the energy systems by measuring the spatiotemporal energy performance of distributed solar PV systems at an urban scale, evolving with the changing environment, and identifying degradation based on anomalies occurrence; Only then when the physical models need to be amended. Therefore, the main goal behind this work is to advance knowledge regarding research on condition monitoring of solar systems in cities while considering issues related to anomalies like the degradation phenomenon in PV modules over time. The findings of this study have proved that the state of health and monitoring of PV systems could be successfully detected and efficiently monitored using the combination of real time monitoring and remote aerial sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study focused on the analysis of phytosanitary treatment sales in the Souss Massa region of Morocco. The objective of the study is to predict the sales of agricultural products, particularly crop protection solutions, aiming to optimize supply chain operations and meet customer demand effectively. Data for this study are collected from multiple sources, including the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system called Microsoft Dynamics AXAPTA used by a leading agricultural company operating in the region. Information such as the date of sale, farming type, climate, and specific sales locations within the Sous Massa region is gathered. Machine learning techniques are applied for forecasting. Various regression models, including the Gradient Boosting Regressor algorithm, are employed to determine the most accurate predictor. Evaluation of the models reveals promising results, with a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 0.0035 and a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 0.0066. The results obtained by applying various regression models, including the Gradient Boosting Regressor algorithm, demonstrate promising prediction scores. These findings contribute to the field of sales prediction in the agricultural industry while considering the impact of climate conditions, farming practices, and regional factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flood, is a constant phenomenon, especially in semi-arid and flood plain regions are one of the most destructive natural hazards endangering a people's life, property, and physical and economic well-being. This paper focuses on hydraulic modelling using the HEC-RAS model in combination with the Watershed Modeling System (WMS) tools and compares the results to the Flood Hazard Index (FHI) method using GIS in the Seyad Basin situated in the southwestern region of Morocco with an area of 1512.85 km2. The goal of the study is to evaluate flood hazards in the Seyad Basin in which the cities of Taghjijt, Aday, Amtoudi, and Tagriante are located. The HEC-RAS approach combines the hydraulic surface water flow model and the digital terrain model data. This combination allows the mapping of the flood zones by using the WMS tools. This approach predicts flood occurrence probability for different times and determines the intensity of the flood (depth and velocity of floodwater) using the existing hydrological data. On the other hand, the Flood Hazard Index method (FHI) presents a multi-criteria index to assess areas prone to flood hazards, using six physical parameters: permeability, slope, distance from rivers, land use, drainage density, and flow accumulation. A weight is calculated from the analytic hierarchy process method and applied to each parameter. HEC-RAS method allows the mapping of a flood with a flood water surface profile that shows the flood depth for Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP). At the same time, FHI permits establishing flood hazard levels without showing the water depth. In both approaches, six simulations were performed with the return periods of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 years. The simulation revealed that the most susceptible areas to flooding are the areas along the Wadi Seyad. • Flood hazard mapping of the Seyad basin, Morocco, is done in this study. • HEC-RAS/WMS and Flood Hazard Index methods were utilized for flood zonation. • A total of six environmental parameters were integrated with this study. • 31.12% of the total study area was found to be highly susceptible to floods. • Comparison between the HEC-RAS/WMS and Flood Hazard Index methods in Seyad basin floods was deciphered through this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While on a global scale the majority of farming is still organized around families, a sweeping observation across regional differences is that family farming takes on increasingly diversified forms. Within this context, hybrid concepts that bridge traditional notions have been suggested while research has also indicated an important interface between family farm businesses and multi-family farm structures. Drawing on this emerging body of literature, this paper develops the notion of ‘multi-family farm entrepreneurs’ to investigate the origin, background, and current organization of the families involved in agricultural export in Morocco. Based on extensive qualitative research, it is argued that the establishment of stable multi-family structures, which rely on active ‘cohesive work’, is key to understanding their success in the highly competitive and internationalized fruit and vegetable export sector. The paper demonstrates how family farm differentiation in the global South also takes place within the ‘upper’ level, with some family farmers developing entrepreneurial skills and becoming globally interconnected while contributing to a better understanding of the internal dynamics of this kind of farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to assess thermal performances of the solar field of the Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC) power plant at Aïn Beni Mathar (ABM) in Morocco for the year of 2015. Thus, mathematical modeling of the Schott PTR-70 2008 solar receiver consists of energy balance equations which were solved using COMSOL Multiphysics software. Next, the model was validated with empirical data from the literature, so the comparison is satisfactory. Results analyze daily and annual thermal performances of the plant, and also comparison between simulated and actual plant operating results. Indeed, for selected typical days, it was concluded that the model's predictions seem to be adequate except at the beginning and end of each day. On the other hand, the estimates of cumulative thermal productions for selected ten days of each season were also carried out. Accordingly, the actual operating thermal energy is very close to simulated one for all chosen days since the relative error does not exceed 3.27% in the worse case. Unlike summer season (25.86 GWh in July), the monthly average thermal production is low in winter (about 6.0 GWh), as expected. In conclusion, the annual operating thermal production is about 172.5 GWh/year versus 176.3 GWh/year estimated value. • Thermal modeling and simulation of the Schott PTR-70 2008 solar receiver. • Daily and annual thermal performances of Aïn Beni Mather (ABM) power plant. • Annual operating thermal production of ABM is about 172.5 GWh/year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jean Rodier (1920–2003), distinguished researcher and scientist, directed the Toxicology Department of Hygiene Institute of Rabat under the French Protectorate. From 1946, he developed numerous lines of research in occupational health, in particular on Manganism, a neurological disorder that impacted miners in his home country of Morocco. His many papers on Manganism, only one of which was published in English, describe field and laboratory research studies that focused its prevention and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]