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The paper presents a feasibility study for the hybrid system operation of a hydroelectric power plant and a floating photovoltaic plant. Using the database of government agencies, the daily production of electrical energy and the corresponding water flow of the Ilha Solteira hydroelectric power plant in São Paulo, Brazil. The PVsyst software simulated the potential of 480 MWp of a floating photovoltaic plant in the hydroelectric power plant lake. The MATLAB software performed the mathematical modeling, analyzing 12 scenarios of weather conditions on hybrid electricity generation between the hydroelectric power plant (HPP) and the floating photovoltaic plant. The data obtained in the analyzed scenarios show an average monthly reduction of 6% in hydroelectric generation and 7% in the volume of water in the turbine, allowing the generation of electric energy from a floating photovoltaic plant and improving the reserves of water-energy stock, reducing the production of greenhouse gases (GHGs), and avoiding the emission of 55,000 tCO₂ year-1. The financial evaluation shows a cost of US$ 0.73 Wp-1, and 13 years for the floating photovoltaic plant system to start producing a profit. Yet the FPVP is advantageous because it shares the power transmission system of the hydroelectric plant (HPP), and it is not necessary to acquire large land areas.

The paper presents a feasibility study for hybrid system operation of a hydroelectric power plant and a floating photovoltaic plant. Using the database of government agencies, it established the daily production of electrical energy and the corresponding water flow of the Ilha Solteira hydroelectric power plant in São Paulo, Brazil. The PVsyst software simulated the potential of 480 MWp of a floating photovoltaic plant in the hydroelectric power plant lake. The MATLAB software performed the mathematical modeling, analyzing 12 scenarios of weather conditions for hybrid electricity generation at the hydroelectric power plant and the floating photovoltaic plant. The data obtained in the analyzed scenarios show an average monthly reduction of 6% in hydroelectric power generation and 7% in the volume of water in the turbine, allowing the generation of electric energy from a floating photovoltaic plant, improving the reserves of waterenergy stock, reducing the production of greenhouse gases, and avoiding the emission of 55,000 tCO2/yr. The financial evaluation shows a cost of US$ 0.73/Wp, and 13 years for the floating photovoltaic plant system to start producing a profit. Yet the Floating Photovoltaic is advantageous because it shares the power transmission system of the hydroelectric plant, and it is not necessary to acquire large land areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 21st century, tackling climate change is an important challenge, and the absorption of CO2 via urban greening employing photosynthesis offers a potential answer to the climate issue. Within this work, the city of Nador is chosen as a case study. The initiative in question proposes an enhanced technique focused on estimating the advantages of urban greening in terms of carbon storage and sequestration. This technique combines the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools and the InVEST model, enabling the study of land use and land cover (LULC) scenarios within the location. These scenarios contain numerous alternatives, ranging from the adoption of intense and extensive green roofs to the establishment of gardens and woodland areas. The carbon storage modeling technique depends on the exploitation of land use maps, reinforced by a bibliographic examination of the key carbon reservoirs. The analysis of results from biophysical modeling indicates a considerable increase of over 45.36 % compared to the existing condition when the option of extensive green roofs is chosen. In the setting of extensive green roofs, this rise reaches a rate of 64.20 %. Furthermore, the restoration of the Gourougou forest north of the city leads to an increase of 70.30 %. The adoption of diverse combinations, such as the integration of green roofs with urban vegetation, greatly helps to further enhancing carbon storage. From a financial perspective, the additional value can range from $2,012,825.16 to $3,601,025.53, depending on the chosen scenario. This financial assessment highlights the possible advantages that might be converted into carbon credits in return for emission reduction, partially offsetting the expenses associated with the adoption of each greening solution. Ultimately, these findings give a chance for urban planners and green architecture professionals to perform in-depth planning analyses.

Background: Corporate social responsibility (CSR), which includes the healthcare industry, has now taken a significant place within commercial practices. Multispecialty tertiary care hospitals, being major healthcare providers in their communities, have a significant role to play in fulfilling their philanthropic responsibilities and giving back to society. One crucial way in which these hospitals can make a positive impact is through the implementation of financial assessment programs. Objective: This study focused to investigate the significance and impact of financial assessment as a component of CSR in the context of a multispecialty tertiary care hospital. The research explores the hospital’s philanthropic responsibilities towards providing financial aid and support to patients in need. Materials and Methods: The study used a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data collection methods to gain comprehensive insights. Interviews from 5 departments with beneficiaries (n = 40), surveys, and financial data analysis were used to assess the hospital’s CSR initiatives, focusing on financial assessment programs. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 20.0. Results: The philanthropic variables taken into account in the current study were socioeconomic status, help from external sources, ownership factors, income, and liabilities of beneficiaries. These socioeconomic characteristics were examined using the data gathered, and a significant correlation with the discount percentage was found with a P < 0.05. Conclusion: The findings concluded that financial assessment programs in the multispeciality tertiary care hospital are playing an effective role in ensuring equitable access to healthcare and fulfilling its philanthropic responsibilities of CSR.

This case study delves into the business trajectory and evolution of Prona-grad Ltd., a civil engineering firm founded in Zagreb, Croatia in 2010. Initially focused on the legalization of unauthorized building constructions, the company rapidly expanded its services to encompass energy certification, property valuation, design, project supervision, and completion works, all underpinned by a functional organizational structure. Specializing in high-rise constructions and infrastructure projects, Prona-grad employs advanced software and a collaborative approach to deliver secure and economically viable homes that satisfy investor's comfort and aesthetic needs. Prona-grad's financial assessment showcases consistent revenue growth, with funds strategically invested in the company's expansion and development. The company's success story presents a promising case for practitioners and researchers in the field of civil engineering, exemplifying a commitment to excellence and innovative solutions that generate value for real estate stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The offshore wind industry is advancing with larger turbines (10 MW+) into sites in deeper waters (>60 m), necessitating innovative floating substructures. However, Floating Offshore Wind (FOW) must still be proven to be cost-efficient, with special attention paid to developing installation, Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and decommissioning strategies that will ensure FOW is competitive. Simulation is an efficient way to assess the viability of new technologies and the innovative operations required to install and maintain them. This paper presents a novel tool that simulates the installation of fixed/floating offshore wind farms across an hourly time-series of Metocean data, producing a total estimation of costs as part of the total capital expenditure (CAPEX). The paper validates the model by simulating installation of Hywind Scotland, the FOW farm, and comparing results with published data. Given the lack of real-world cost data and experience, this paper then seeks to provide a well-defined case-study for future researchers to develop further in other regions and with different technologies. The tool is applied to a theoretical large commercial 1GW FOW farm commissioned in 2035 at a representative site in the Celtic Sea. This considers a promising location for FOW development outside the existing demonstration/early commercial FOW projects, which are primarily focused on the North Sea. Results indicate a CAPEX (including installation) of €3492/kW, which is in line with industry expectations. Sensitivity analysis applies a learning rate to reduce platform costs, and varies farm capacity, demonstrating the potential economies of scale when increasing farm size. Simulation identifies weather operational limits and cable installation duration as key contributors to installation time and costs. This quantifies where cost-savings can be found and optimisation should focus. Further modelling considers the scale of their impact on results. A final Levelised Cost of Energy assessment estimating an LCoE range of €52.3–64.59/MWh, placing the FOW farm in the context of global economic targets. • Novel installation tool for fixed/floating offshore wind farms. • Tool validated for floating wind against installation data for Hywind Scotland. • Provides reference case-study with full input details to promote re-use. • Installation costs are sensitive to weather operational limits and durations. • Results: LCoE of €52.3–64.59/MWh for floating wind farms in the Celtic Sea, 2035. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a model for the selection of investment portfolios is proposed with three objectives. In addition to the traditional objectives of maximizing profitability and minimizing risk, maximization of social responsibility is also considered. Moreover, with the purpose of controlling transaction costs, a limit is placed on the number of assets for selection. To the best of our knowledge, this specific model has not been considered in the literature to date. This model is difficult (NP-Hard), and therefore, only very small instances may be solved in an exact way. This paper proposes a method based on tabu search and multiobjective adaptive memory programming (MOAMP) strategies. With this method it is possible to obtain sets of nondominated solutions in short computational times. To check the performance of our method it is compared with adaptations of the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II), strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm (SPEA-II) and multiobjective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO). The results of different computational experiments show that our tabu search-MOAMP method performed best. The quality of the sets of solutions that were obtained and the speed of execution mean that our tabu search-MOAMP can be used as a tool for financial assessment and analysis (including online services). This tool, as we can see in this work with some examples, can take into account the social concerns of many clients and their overall risk profile (very conservative, conservative, moderate, or fearless). This approach is also in line with current legal regulations that oblige financial advisors to take the client profile into account to provide greater protection and propose good financial advice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy has been actively researched and developed in many countries to replace the conventional energy resources that come from fossil fuels. As social and environmental awareness of the renewable energy has grown, it is essential to address both quantitative factors and qualitative factors in determination of the optimal renewable energy portfolio. This paper proposes a novel approach to integrate a financial model and a fuzzy model to analyze both quantitative and qualitative factors. The financial model is utilized to calculate the quantitative factors, thereby assisting experts make judgments more accurately in the fuzzy model. The fuzzy model is utilized to evaluate the qualitative factors based on the expert judgements. Moreover, this paper proposes multi-segment judgment model that analyzes the evaluation of different groups, including government, investor and user groups. The results show that each group has different priority order. For example, the highest-priority factor of Government, Investor and User is environmental (with a score of 0.665), economic (with a score of 0.854), and technological criteria (with a score of 0.771), respectively. The results also indicated that small-scale onshore wind energy, large-scale onshore wind energy and solar energy is the best option for Government, Investor and User, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides a perspective on the way companies that carry out artistic activities in Constanta County manage their performance in terms of fulfilling their objectives. These companies focus on socio-cultural objectives, while at the same time, according to the instruments used in business, they carry out income-generating activities for their sustainability in the community in which they operate. The use of the profitability ratios method gave us the possibility to obtain different types of information and allowed the possibility to make a comparison regarding the economic-financial activity of an endeavor.

Options for improving methods of financial assessment at aviation enterprises are considered. A systematic approach to the analysis of financial performance is proposed. The system components relevant to aviation enterprises are identified. In the integrated financial assessment of aviation enterprises, indices characterizing income, expenses, profitability, customer loyalty, and innovation are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Projects of various sizes and types contribute to the success of the economic development plans in general. Agricultural industrial projects are the basis for agricultural development in the economies of many countries, so this research aims to identify the economic feasibility of one of the productive activities in the New Valley governorate, On the efficiency of the work in the manufacturing units and the possibility of expansion in the future establishment in addition to identify the implications of the establishment of those units. The problem of research is that the packaging industry is very important because of its ability to absorb a large proportion of the labor force by creating many direct and indirect employment opportunities, from agriculture to storage of agricultural and industrial products that are produced to distribution to complementary industries such as Packaging The focus was on date factories as the main product of the New Valley Governorate. However, the expansion of these units has led to an imbalance between the production capacities and the availability of commodity inputs on the one hand, and the extent to which the revenues and investment profits of that unit. The research aims to identify the current status of agricultural processing in the New Valley Governorate by identifying the number of factories, their relative importance and the activities of agroindustries, focusing on the most important activities of agro-industries and the importance of agricultural processing, especially in the field of date industry. In addition to trying to identify the most important problems and obstacles that hinder the development of the industry of processing and preserving dates in the New Valley Governorate for the development of this sector by evaluating the factories that rely on agricultural products as raw material. The questionnaire was prepared and completed by (16) establishments working in the field of packing dates, semi-automatic, The research data were collected in 2019 through a personal interview with the factory managers, The questionnaire included data on production values, raw materials, wages, commodity and service inputs, number of workers, … etc., These data were analyzed using financial and economic criteria. As it achieves an annual trading profit ranging between ( 9.6–092.61) million pounds, which represents a commercial profitability ratio ranging from (1.50 - 2.59) pounds, which is a high percentage reflecting the profitability of this productive activity, while the income of the investor invested between (0.50 - 1.59) pounds Which indicates the efficiency of this industry economically, while the value of the break-even point ranged from (6.77-104.94) million pounds, while the percentage of the margin safety of production ranged between (32.18 - 61.16)%showed the ability of these manufacturing units to cope with the potential risk conditions of lower production. Or lower product price.

This paper presents the draft methodology to be applied for evaluating the financial health of airlines. In the introductory part, specific attributes, regarding the individual types of airlines, are described. Subsequent parts of the manuscript outline advantages and disadvantages to measure airlines performance when implementing financial indicators, as well as a general procedure to evaluate the financial situation of a company operating in the aviation industry. The most important part of the paper includes the proposal of the specific functional system to evaluate the economic performance of airlines. Financial evaluation itself (evaluation of financial indicators of the enterprise's economic performance) is performed through a particular case study when comparing several existing airlines.

The article considers the relevant problems concerning the correlation between the development of priority economic sectors and sustainable economic growth in Ukraine. The assumption is made that development at the macroeconomic level can only be achieved when the positive dynamics of material production sectors is observed. The resource potential of Ukraine allows to distinguish two main sectors: agriculture and industry.Many scholars have repeatedly considered ways of achieving positive economic dynamics at the level of the national economy. But despite the existing research on the problems of economic growth, its’ financial assessment and modelling, as well as the dominant factors of influence, remain unsolved. The aim of the article is to identify the factors of economic growth and assess their influence on the overall economic dynamics within two main material production sectors of Ukraine: industry and agriculture. In order to achieve this, the influence factor model of economic growth has been composed, where GDP growth was selected as a result indicator. The choice of influencing factors is substantiated by: quantity of goods and services sold, number of employees in the industry, investments, fixed assets value and the consumer price index. The most influential factors that significantly impact the overall economic dynamics have been revealed in the article.

Offshore wind energy has been identified as one of the most promising and increasingly attractive sources of energy. This technology offers a long-term power-generation source, less environmental impact, and fewer physical restrictions. However, given the complexity of this technology, economic feasibility studies are essential. Thus, this study aims to identify the main trends and criteria or the methods used in the economic feasibility studies of offshore wind energy, providing a review of the state of the art in this literature. For this, a Systematic Literature Review was carried out. The article shows the growing interest in offshore wind power generation and highlights how recently the interest in the studies that assess the technical–economic feasibility of this source has grown; it presents the main milestones of the topic. Based on a structured literature review, this article identifies the main trends in this topic: (i) wind farms, (ii) risk, (iii) floating offshore wind farms, (iv) decommissioning and repowering, (v) net present value, (vi) life cycle cost, and (vii) multi-criteria decision-making; it provides a broad view of the methodological possibilities and specificities for investors and researchers interested in conducting studies on the economic feasibility of offshore wind generation. In addition, finally, a research agenda is proposed.

This study provides a perspective on the way companies that carry out artistic activities in Constanta County manage their performance in terms of fulfilling their objectives. These companies focus on socio-cultural objectives, while at the same time, according to the instruments used in business, they carry out income-generating activities for their sustainability in the community in which they operate. The use of the profitability ratios method gave us the possibility to obtain different types of information and allowed the possibility to make a comparison regarding the economic-financial activity of an endeavor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The snail Pomacea patula catemacensis is an endemic mollusk from the southeast Gulf of Mexico, which is commercially exploited and in decline since 2010. This decline is associated with an increasing market demand and illegal capture. We designed a small-scale production system for P. p. catemacensis and determined its financial feasibility for a base scenario. We used information gathered from stakeholders and stochastic modeling to predict the impact of uncertain variables on the economic indicators to assess the financial viability under varying conditions. The small-scale intensive production system, designed to yield 3.9 tons/year of unshelled product, requires an investment of about US $65,000. The production unit was financially assessed using the Modified Internal Return Rate and The Net Present Value of cash flow, considering a 14% discount rate and a 7% reinvestment rate. We obtained a Net Present Value of $67,000 and a Modified Internal Return Rate of 20% for the base scenario, which indicates the viability of the project. A Monte Carlo simulation was run to assess the robustness of the project to variability of three parameters: labor cost, energy cost, and market price; with random and simultaneous variation, resulting in 95% probability of getting a Modified Internal Return Rate larger than the current interest rate (8%) and a low probability (2.8%) to be financially unviable. This production system is worthy of consideration as an option to reduce the fishing pressure on the tegogolo natural populations of the Catemaco Lake while satisfying the market demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultivation of species of high growth rates is a key achievement of sustainable aquaculture development, with the aim of increasing animal protein per capita, maintaining food security and preserving freshwater usage. The present study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of monoculture and polyculture of striped catfish, Pangasianodon hypophthalmus, and Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, in different proportions and their effect on growth performance, survival, productivity, feed utilization, body composition, and financial revenue. Five experimental treatments were designed as follows: monoculture of striped catfish (100%), Nile tilapia (100%) and polyculture in different proportions of striped catfish and Nile tilapia (25%:75%; 50%:50%; 75%:25%, respectively), each in three replicates. The fish feeding regime consisted of isonitrogenous (307.80 g kg−1) and isocaloric (19.27 kJ g−1) diets for 14 weeks. The results revealed that the highest growth performance, feed utilization, survival of striped catfish were obtained in monoculture, followed by polyculture of striped catfish and Nile tilapia (in low proportions) (75%:25%). The total production per m3 reached 5.41 kg m−3 in the monoculture of striped catfish, this production decreased in polyculture by 52%, 46% and 23% with 25%; 50%; 75% of striped catfish. The gross margin significantly increased, in case of striped catfish farmed in monoculture, compared to other polyculture proportions. While the gross margin per m−3 of water was 6, 0.5, 1 and 3 $ in monoculture and different polyculture proportions, respectively. Moreover, the feed cost per kilogram of protein gain significantly decreased in the monoculture of striped catfish compared to other polyculture treatments. The growth performance and survival of tilapia showed no significant difference among different treatments. In addition, the proximate chemical composition did not differ in respect to species in different studied treatments. Monoculture of striped catfish is recommended to achieve high production and improve financial revenue per water unit (m−3), for better sustainable development of aquaculture.

In general, projects of table eggs production in Iraq faced technical and economic problems, So it was necessary to carry out a financial analysis of these projects to know the performance of the producers, Diyala province has chosen as a case study, The study used cross-section data according to the comprehensive inventory method consist (44) of farmers from Diyala Province for the 2018 agricultural season, the study aimed calculation of economic criteria to assess the efficiency of the financial performance of the projects and measurement investment risk, and the sample divided into two, the large scale and small scale dichotomy of the farms is included. large farms are those with more than 10000 birds while small farms have 10000 or less birds. The results of the study of the criteria for financial performance assessment indicated that the large scale achieved more economic efficiency than small scale and the study community as a whole, as the economic profit and net cash income increased with increasing the productive scale (number of birds) and large scale ranked the first for the criterion of the invested dinar turned and profitability percentage has achieved 1.33, 0.33 Iraqi Dinar (ID) receptivity, the criterion of money refund and the operating ratio for the large scale about 3.06 years, 75% receptivity, the study found by analysis of neutralization a positive relationship between the net return (profit) with investment risk. In general, the study indicates that increasing the productive scale of table egg production projects led to increases their economic efficiency, which. the optimal use of the resources used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Projects of various sizes and types contribute to the success of the economic development plans in general. Agricultural industrial projects are the basis for agricultural development in the economies of many countries, so this research aims to identify the economic feasibility of one of the productive activities in the New Valley governorate, On the efficiency of the work in the manufacturing units and the possibility of expansion in the future establishment in addition to identify the implications of the establishment of those units. The problem of research is that the packaging industry is very important because of its ability to absorb a large proportion of the labor force by creating many direct and indirect employment opportunities, from agriculture to storage of agricultural and industrial products that are produced to distribution to complementary industries such as Packaging The focus was on date factories as the main product of the New Valley Governorate. However, the expansion of these units has led to an imbalance between the production capacities and the availability of commodity inputs on the one hand, and the extent to which the revenues and investment profits of that unit. The research aims to identify the current status of agricultural processing in the New Valley Governorate by identifying the number of factories, their relative importance and the activities of agroindustries, focusing on the most important activities of agro-industries and the importance of agricultural processing, especially in the field of date industry. In addition to trying to identify the most important problems and obstacles that hinder the development of the industry of processing and preserving dates in the New Valley Governorate for the development of this sector by evaluating the factories that rely on agricultural products as raw material. The questionnaire was prepared and completed by (16) establishments working in the field of packing dates, semi-automatic, The research data were collected in 2019 through a personal interview with the factory managers, The questionnaire included data on production values, raw materials, wages, commodity and service inputs, number of workers, … etc., These data were analyzed using financial and economic criteria. As it achieves an annual trading profit ranging between )092.61–9.6( million pounds, which represents a commercial profitability ratio ranging from (1.50 - 2.59) pounds, which is a high percentage reflecting the profitability of this productive activity, while the income of the investor invested between (0.50 - 1.59) pounds Which indicates the efficiency of this industry economically, while the value of the break-even point ranged from (6.77-104.94) million pounds, while the percentage of the margin safety of production ranged between (32.18 - 61.16)%showed the ability of these manufacturing units to cope with the potential risk conditions of lower production. Or lower product price. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Al-Quds Open University for Administrative & Economic Research is the property of Al-Quds Open University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents the draft methodology to be applied for evaluating the financial health of airlines. In the introductory part, specific attributes, regarding the individual types of airlines, are described. Subsequent parts of the manuscript outline advantages and disadvantages to measure airlines performance when implementing financial indicators, as well as a general procedure to evaluate the financial situation of a company operating in the aviation industry. The most important part of the paper includes the proposal of the specific functional system to evaluate the economic performance of airlines. Financial evaluation itself (evaluation of financial indicators of the enterprise's economic performance) is performed through a particular case study when comparing several existing airlines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexibility is a central element for the successful development and operation of infrastructure. In particular, it is important regarding the possibilities of modifying investment decisions through time as both the project's internal and external conditions evolve. Therefore, flexibility opens new opportunities and allows stakeholders taking risks that may enhance the benefits derived from the operation of the system. Risky investment decisions may include, for example, the possibility of delaying the execution of a task; the possibility of abandoning the project before or after completion; or the possibility of an expansion. This paper discusses the importance of flexibility in infrastructure management and presents a model, based on a single redesign, that can be used for evaluating and implementing a mayor project expansion. At the end, two illustrative examples show the advantages of the proposed approach and the potential for the future management of large infrastructure systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assesses the financial viability and environmental evaluation of Photovoltaic (PV) panels from the perspective of the recent economic recession due to the Russia-Ukraine war. The financial viability of PV installation is calculated based on the estimated price, solar rebates, feed-in tariff, energy supply cost, and other evaluation parameters available at the assessment time. This calculation implicitly assumes variable discount rates (4%, 7%, and 12%) to show how the future will unfold and its correlations with design parameters. Details of economic appraisal integrating current inflation, rebates, and incentives of solar systems have been analyzed for the first time in this study. Financial indicators reveal the advantages of installing a grid-connected solar system (SS) over a solar battery storage system (SSWB). Compared to other installation systems, the lowest payback (PB) and highest internal rate of return (IRR) are observed for a 7 kW grid-connected solar system. Relative uncertainties of solar installation systems represent the necessity of government subsidies (r = -0.602) for solar storage batteries. LCA signifies the energy-intensive process of manufacturing metallurgical-grade (MG) silicon is the primary cause of significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and cumulative energy demand (CED) for PV panels. A potential amount of metal and fossil fuels is depleted for interconnective components of solar installation systems. Amorphous solar panels exhibit lower impacts than polycrystalline, but further upgradation in service life is required to become cost-effective and cope with current inflation. [Display omitted] • Financial and environmental impacts are calculated from the recession perspective. • Grid-connected and battery-storage solar systems are compared for optimization. • Grid-connected is the cost-effective basis on discount rates and time horizons. • Subsidies for solar storage battery is required to mitigate investment uncertainty. • Life span, conversion, and eco-friendly technology are the criteria for future PV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper designing and assessment of a solar PV plant for meeting the energy demand of girl’s hostel at MNIT University Jaipur city was analyzed. A solar PV plant was designed with its financial and environmental assessment considering recent market prices. All the aspects related to a solar PV plant were considered for financial feasibility of PV plant near this location. The different financial parameters which affect the financial feasibility of PV plant were considered i.e. discount rate, effective discount rate, rate of escalation of electricity cost, salvage value of the plant etc. The environmental aspect related with the energy generated with PV plant i.e. reduction in carbon emission and carbon credits earned was also considered. Result obtained with the assessment of the proposed plant with different discount rate and current rate of inflation shows that the max IRR 6.85% and NPV of $1,430,834 was obtained with a discount rate of 8% and an inflation rate of 7.23% when no land cost considered and if land cost was considered the maximum IRR was 1.96% and NPV of $630,833. Minimum discounted payback of the plant will be 13.4 years if inflation was considered.

Reduced mobility in broilers can contribute to leg health problems. Environmental enrichment has been suggested as one approach to combat this through stimulating increased physical activity. Past studies have tested the effect of environmental enrichments on bird behaviour, health and welfare, but few have estimated their financial impacts. This study tested the impact of eight types of environmental enrichment on enterprise net margin, accounting for direct intervention costs plus indirect effects via changes to bird mortality, weight, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, and foot pad dermatitis. The trial used 58 pens each containing approximately 500 broilers (Ross 308) at a stocking density of 40 kg/m2. The environmental enrichments were: roughage, vertical panels, straw bales, elevated platforms (5 and 30 cm), increased distances between feed and water (7 and 3.5 m) and stocking density reduced to 34 kg/m2, plus a control group. Mortality was recorded daily and feed intake and weight weekly. Footpad dermatitis was assessed on day 35. Only one intervention improved financial performance (3.5 m between feed and water) above the control, suggesting that most environmental enrichment would have a negative financial impact due to the additional intervention costs, unless consumers were willing to pay a price premium.

The objective of this work is to compare and to evaluate the performance parabolic trough solar collector (PTC) and the linear Fresnel solar reflector (LFR) for the climate conditions of Athens, Greece. These collectors are examined under the same operating conditions and they are evaluated energetically, exergetically and financially. The analysis is conducted for all the year period using twelve typical days, one for every month. Performance curves for the solar systems are taken from the literature in order to estimate the collector performance for different operating temperature levels, solar irradiation level and solar angles. According to the final results, the mean yearly incident angle modifier for the PTC is about 83.73%, while for the LFR is 58.66%, at the examined climate conditions. It has been found that the mean yearly thermal efficiency at 350 °C is 52.25% for the PTC and 35.39% for the LFR, while the mean yearly electrical efficiency of the equivalent power production system is 16.11% with the PTC and 10.92% with the LFR. The simple payback period for process heat production was found close to 3–4 years, while for power production close to 8–9 years. Moreover, it is proved that the specific cost of the LFR has to be lower than 185 €/m 2 in order to be a more attractive choice financially compared to the PTC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many students and staff utilize the facilities of The University of The West Indies St. Augustine campus at night. Inadequate lighting can make the school environment unsafe. This paper documents methodologies and the results of an audit conducted on the campus. The audit was performed to determine the adequacy of the campus lighting. Areas audited were identified via a survey distributed to students of the campus. The illuminance levels were measured at these locations and compared to applicable standards of the Illuminating Engineering Society. The results confirmed that none of the areas evaluated satisfied the lighting levels detailed in the standards. Recommendations and implementation plans accompanied by cost-benefit analyses were developed for each area ensuring the standards are satisfied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the integration of photovoltaic (PV) systems into the grid involves new and competitive ways to realize this. Thus, it is necessary to define procedures that not only include energy calculations but also incorporate economic and funding feasibility features. According to the literature review, there are numerous tools that are available to carry out a profitability analysis of a photovoltaic system. However, certain shortcomings have been identified, either in the definition of the economic and financial scenarios or in the results obtained, as they do not provide all the necessary information, do not use all the most common economic criteria, or in some cases the complexity and training requirements for their correct implementation may discourage their use. Therefore, in this paper a complete procedure that can be used as a preliminary decision tool prior to the design of an in-depth PV self-consumption system is proposed. Realistic input data makes it possible to not only obtain results for common economic and financial feasibility criteria (Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, Discounted Pay-Back Time and Net Cash Balance), but it also allow for a cost-competitiveness evaluation based on the Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE). The novel concept of the direct cost of PV self-consumed electricity is also introduced.

Copyright of Revista Criterio Libre is the property of Revista Criterio Libre and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Sewage sludge treatment is gaining more importance worldwide because humanity is currently facing the highest levels of urbanism in its history. Processing by anaerobic fermentation is considered the most effective method of its treatment. The ratios of C to other nutrients (especially N and P) are established as a key part process management. The deployment of hydrothermal pretreatment (also known as steam-explosion) is increasingly becoming popular because it accelerates the subsequent fermentation process and thereby enables savings in reactors’ volume. However, experiments in the pilot plant that was equipped with the above-mentioned units indicate that the established C analytical methods cannot fully respect the changes in nutrients bioavailability that are being caused by the pretreatment. A new, simple, and cheap method that better respects the bioavailability of the C pool is presented. Process optimization using the new methods has outperformed the traditional techniques from both the technological and economical points of view. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Problems arising in the railway sector service and its development is one of the main trends in the Republic of Kazakhstan. It's of great importance to develop the railway sector service in the new development stage of Kazakhstani economy. The railway sector service problems and its development dynamics in the Republic of Kazakhstan are analysed in the article. Recommendations which were directed to the increase in railway sector service efficiency and its impact on management process are offered in the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing waste paper recycling technologies are based on partial incorporation of recycled cellulose fibers into “new” paper products. The main usage is in low-grade products, such as paperboards or wrapping papers. However, due to electronization of mass media in combination with increasing quantities of leaflets and continuous downward pressures on paper production costs, the waste paper currently used in the recycling scheme is of lower quality than paper used decades ago. It contains much more fillers, adhesives, dyes, polishers, and similar additives that are problematic for conventional paper recycling technologies. A sharp growth of this trend encourages conceptual reengineering of the existing technological processes in waste paper management. A techno-economic analysis of energy utilization by means combustion, anaerobic fermentation (also accelerated by steam-explosion), and pyrolysis was carried out in a pilot scale. The results have revealed that if the current trend continues, it might be reasonable to divert waste paper from returning back into production (recycling) and to prefer its commercial pyrolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]