In this paper, three PCM based foot warmers of cylindrical and rectangular in shape were designed, developed and fabricated to store solar energy during sunshine hours. The stored energy was utilised to warm the feet in the late evening to replace electric heaters. By trial experiment, it was...

In this paper, three PCM based foot warmers of cylindrical and rectangular in shape were designed, developed and fabricated to store solar energy during sunshine hours. The stored energy was utilised to warm the feet in the late evening to replace electric heaters. By trial experiment, it was...

Fuelwood is one of the major fuels for rural households and cottage industries in developing countries. Most of the fuelwood consumed in rural areas come from nearby forests. The estimates on the availability of fuelwood are based on gross national estimates and may not reflect the local...

This study demonstrates an empirical application of a cost benefit analysis for hydro projects, which includes social and environmental as well as economic aspects. The model treats uncertain inputs by specifying them as probability distributions. A proposed hydro project in Sri Lanka is used as...

Fluidised bed gasification technology with oxygen-enriched air suitable for gasifying loose biomass materials was developed. Gasification experiments with different biomass materials such as rice straw, rice hull, wheat straw, sawdust and municipal wastes, were carried out. The tests showed that...

Biomass based fuel technologies are rapidly developing and the barriers in implementing such technologies are being identified to achieve their widespread commercialisation. The two most common biofuels are biodiesel and bioethanol. About 500 million litres of ethanol is required in India itself...

Being a by-product of the well-established charcoal industry, slow pyrolysis bio-oil can be an excellent, cost-effective and renewable liquid fuel. However, even in Brazil, a country with a very clean energy profile and large-scale charcoal production, bio-oil is not properly utilised yet. A...

Apart from cost, the net production of energy is the most important factor in evaluating the feasibility of producing renewable fuels from woody biomass. Unlike sugar, the effort required to make woody materials fermentable is considerable, and has been a major barrier to the use of such...

There is scope internationally to utilise surplus and degraded agricultural land for biomass crops that might also be environmentally beneficial. For example, dryland salinity in southern Australian could be ameliorated using profitable woody biomass crops. A model was developed to predict...

During the development of biogas digesters, a problem, which is how to appraise the economic benefits, always exists. This paper mainly discusses the necessity of cost-benefit analysis on biogas digesters, clearly defines some vague concepts during the analysis, tells how to quantitatively...