Journal of Energy Research and Reviews

Pipelines have been recognized to be one of the most effective means of transportation in any oil producing state. It however has its technicalities, hence the provision of regulations and guidelines for their operation. Nigeria as an oil producing state has been operating with pipelines for many years now, but in all ramifications it has not had the best and efficient oil pipeline system. This research work was as a result of the failure of the Oil Pipelines Act and its subsidiary Regulation, Guidelines and Procedure for the Construction, Operation and Maintenance of Oil and Gas Pipelines and their Ancillary Facilities, to create for an effective pipeline operation. This research applied a doctrinal type of methodology and adopted an analytical, comparative and descriptive approach. It was found that the problem with the Nigerian Oil Pipelines Act, is that it is outdated. The Act has been in existence for more than 50 years; and because of this, it cannot meet the current needs and trends in the country. Some of the needs are: meeting up with Technological Advancements, Managerial and maintenance skills, Environmental Protection, Efficiency in transportation and Security issues. More importantly it cannot take care of the current exigenecies in the country with regard to transportation of oil. This research has offered some recommendations to improve the oil pipeline system. Some of which includes a proper creation for an effective monitoring system. This should be done by qualified personnel and also with the use of advanced technology obtainable in some countries like the US. This advanced technological monitoring system will not only report any vandalization, but will also indicate when there is need for maintenance especially pipeline corrosion. There should be more creation of oil and gas pipelines in all the cities to discourage transportation of petroleum products through tanker which over the years have been the cause of so many road accidents and fire outbreaks. There should be an improvement on the types of pipelines operated; this should include new age pipelines. These problems associated with the Oil Pipelines Act necessitated the call for its amendment.

Aims: This study analysed and compared the amount of voltage, current and power generated in a piezoelectric system from human foot beats.

Study Design: The study was an experimental study which made use of piezoelectric materials together with human loads (weights) from the foot beats of dancers in a dance club, and connected to a rechargeable battery and multimeter. In this system, mechanical deformation was expected to cause conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy which can be stored in a rechargeable lead acid battery for future use.

Place and Duration of Study: Awka Anambra State, Nigeria, between November 2018 and February 2020.

Methodology: A sheet of plywood measuring 300 mm x 300 mm x 3 mm thick was placed on a hard wooden board of 300 mm x 300 mm x 25 mm thickwhere twelve piezoelectric sensors were connected in series with foam spring inserted as separators and to aid in returning after deformation. As the dancers step on the platform, multimetr was used to take the voltage and current readings while at the output point Lead acid rechargeable battery could be connected at the output point to store energy generated in the system and orLight Emitting Diodes (LED) and Universal Serial Bus (USB) outputs.

Results: The result revealed that the amount of voltage, current and power generated in the system were principally dependent on the load (weight of dancers in kg). In this case, 1 foot beat of an average 50 kg dancer generated an average of 0.555 mV and 0.063 mA respectively. Whereas, 60 kg and 80 kg dancers generated 0.668 mV and 0.838 mV respectively, and 0.081 mA and 0.087 mA respectively. It further showed that at constant number of foot beats, the amount of voltage, current and power increases as the weight of dancer increases and the lesser the weight the more number of foot beats required to generate the same quantity of electricity. In this case, 100 foot beats of a 50 kg, 60 kg and 80 kg dancer generated 55.5 mV, 66.8 mV, and 84,1 mV of voltage; 6.3 mA, 8.2 mA, and 8.8 mA of current and 349.65 mW, 544.42 mW and 740.08 mW of power respectively.

Conclusion: Implicitly, this system has the potential of alleviating the problem of electricity supply and meeting of vision 2030 Sustainable Development Goals for electricity mix in Nigeria. However, it is mostly required where there are high volumes of human traffic and places that consume minimal amount of electricity, since it usually generates very small amount of energy. In view of this, there is need for a more robust research in this area and increase genuine interest in alternative and sustainable energy research by the Nigerian government.

This paper determined the impact of community biogas plant implemented by rural development academy in rural areas of Bogura, Bangladesh. Data were collected by structured questionnaire having open and closed form questions. Researchers collected data with the help of BCS health care foundation trainees from the selected 68 families who were the direct beneficiaries of community biogas plant. Focus group discussion and information from union parishad were also taken into consideration. The research found that biogas plant is useful to produce a renewable, high-quality fuel i.e. biogas which is using as a alternative of biomass fuels (firewood and dried dung) for meeting energy utilization demands. In the past fuel demand was fulfilled by deforestation and land degradation which results in different health and societal problems and also cause excessive emission of greenhouse gases. Biogas is used for cooking, lighting, heating and feedstock etc while slurry of biogas increases soil fertility and taste of foods. Number of cattle also increases for biogas plants. The biogas production derives from various agricultural resources, such as manure and harvest remains enormously available. Biogas technology represents a sustainable way to produce energy for household, particularly in developing countries. It can be cost-effective and environment friendly technology for the people in rural areas. So, Biogas can be a best substitute of biomass fuels for use in rural areas.

Waste materials such as periwinkle shells (PS) and waste cooking oil (WCO) were considered as heterogeneous catalyst and renewable feedstock for biodiesel production respectively in line with the current search for alternatives of the environmentally unfriendly and gradually depleting fossil fuel. PS were size reduced and calcined at 673K for 4 hours to remove carbonaceous and volatile matter in the sample. Physicochemical analyses on the WCO revealed high FFA (2.81%) therefore the need for esterification (0.42%). One factor at a time (OFAT) results show that methanol to oil ratio, catalyst loading, reaction temperature and time had significant effect on the biodisel yield. The transesterification reaction kinetics data was modelled using the zero-order, pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order models. The results presented from the error functions: root mean square error (RMSE), chi-square (χ²), mean absolute error(MAE) and coefficient of determination (R²) adjudged that the pseudo-first order model best described the process. An activation energy of 16.47 KJ/mol was obtained. Gas chromatography result revealed that a biodiesel yield of 73.92% was achieved at 8:1 methanol to oil ratio, 1% catalyst loading, 300 rpm stirring speed, 333K reaction temperature and 90 minutes contact time. The findings suggest potentials of PS as a viable catalyst for biodiesel production.

Improper waste management and disposal in major cities of Malawi transpires to be one of the major environmental setbacks as waste remains uncollected and usually disposed in open dump sites. Such waste emits greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere that contribute to global warming and climate change in addition to pollution of water sources. The effects of climate change to Malawi have been far reaching to the extent of experiencing floods and droughts. This in retrospect has also had lasting impacts on Shire River where more than 95% of the country’s electricity is generated. Consequently, the rate of power generation is greatly hindered which has thus left only 11% of the population with access to electricity partly due to droughts. This paper therefore focusses on the capturing of methane from municipal solid waste as a solution to climate change and energy challenges through the utilization of methane, a combustible gas which is beneficial in regard to cooking, heating and electricity generation. This is amplified with particular review of the challenges, opportunities, policy framework in place and the pertinent role of anaerobic digestion as the game changer in climate change mitigation and adaptation in Malawi.