An ever-increasing drift of energy consumption, unequal geographical distribution of natural wealth and the quest for low carbon fuel for a cleaner environment are sparking the production and use of biodiesels in many countries around the globe. In this work, jatropha and karanja biodiesels were produced from the respective crude vegetable oils through transesterification, and the different physical properties of the produced biodiesels have been presented and found to be acceptable according to the ASTM biodiesel specification standard. This paper presents the experimental results of the research carried out to evaluate the BTH, BSFC exhaust emission characteristics of jatropha and karanja blends in a single-cylinder diesel engine at different engine load. Comparative measures of brake thermal efficiency, smoke opacity, HC, CO, and NOx have been presented and discussed. Engine performance, in terms of higher brake thermal efficiency and lower emissions (HC, CO, NOx) with jatropha-based biodiesel (JB50) operation, were observed compared to karanja-based biodiesel (KB50).

This paper examines the relationship between domestic water sources, demand and associated problems in the context of a rapidly increasing household population in Nassarawa Eggon town, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The data for this research were generated using a questionnaire survey of systematically selected households, and analysed using descriptive statistics in the form of frequencies and percentages, and are presented as tables and graphs. The study revealed that the major sources of water in the area are hand-dug wells and streams, with no pipe-borne water. This has greatly affected the inhabitants of the locality, resulting in cases of water-related diseases. Consequently, due to the recent inter-communal and ethnic crisis in some parts of the local government area and the state, which led to massive immigration of people into Nassarawa Eggon, pressure on the available sources of domestic water has intensified, resulting in insufficiency in meeting domestic water demand. Against this backdrop, the paper seeks to examine in detail the various sources of domestic water and the problems associated with accessing it.

The main objective of this study was to reveal the impact of nine climate indices on temperature changes and climate oscillations in Golestan Province along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. Climate indices data from across the Atlantic-Eurasian sector were collected from the NCEP/NCAR, the Climate Prediction Centre (CPC) and the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) over a period of 40 years (1971-2010). The climate indices are then compared and correlated with temperature observations from 47 weather stations collected from meteorological and energy organizations. The correlations are based on the 12-month moving average. The study results show a significant increasing temperature trend in most months over different regions of Golestan. For maximum temperature, a significant increasing trend was seen in 55.64, 41.8 and 40% of the land area in the province during August, June and July, respectively. In general, summer had the most significant maximum-temperature trends, with an average of 37.8% of the land area. On the other hand, increasing minimum-temperature trends were seen in 58% of the land area of the province compared to the other seasons. It was concluded that there is high correlation between climate indices and temperature components. The correlation coefficients obtained for various indices including North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), North Sea Caspian Pattern (NCP), Arctic Oscillation Index (AO), East Atlantic (EA), East Atlantic/West Russia (EATL/WRUS), Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO), North Tropical Atlantic (NTA), Polar/Eurasia (PE), and Scandinavia teleconnection index (SCAND) suggest an inverse relationship between these indices and temperature components. Therefore, the higher the values of these indices, the lower the temperature values, and vice versa.

Bedload transport is an essential component of river dynamics and estimation of its rate is important to many aspects of river management. In this study, measured bedload by Helley- Smith sampler was used to estimate the bedload transport of Kurau River in Malaysia. An artificial neural network, genetic programming and a combination of genetic programming and a neural network were used to estimate the bedload carried in Kurau River, based on bedload transport measurement data and hydraulic variables. A statistical analysis was carried out to validate methods by computing RMSE, MARE and inequality ratio (U). In general, the ability of the artificial neural network combined with genetic programming with R2 equal to 0.95, RMSE equal to 0.1 as a precipitation predictive tool for predicting the bedload transport rate was observed as being acceptable.

Regarding the importance of the prevention of hazards and adverse environmental impacts in industrial and populated areas such as southern parts of Tehran city, the response of impulsive period ground-supported tanks were assessed. Having considered the study area's soil properties, the response of ground-supported tanks was modelled. Regarding the soil properties of southern parts of Tehran, the soil structure interaction method explained in FEMA 368 revealed that the interactional impulsive period (~T) was greater than non-interactional one (T). In addition, results showed that Poisson's ratio and stiffness ratio (K/Kx) were more effective regarding the response of the interactional period of ground-supported tank systems. According to the achieved results, the liquid mass density effect on impulsive period was as low as the thickness of the ground-supported walls effect. Results showed that wall materials significantly affected the variation within the impulsive period. Generally, concrete materials were shown to be more periodic than steel materials. Overall, in southern parts of Tehran, when the soil fluid structure interaction method was used, the period increased from 1 to up to 3.6 times greater than the normal impulsive period.

Agricultural waste fibers have been found to be suitable as reinforcement in cement-based composites, but studies on oil palm fiber as reinforcement in gypsum-cement wall panels are scarce. A mixture of two equal weights of gypsum and cement, with water-binder ratios of 0.45 and 0.55 were prepared. In each mix a varying percentage of fiber contents of 2%, 3% and 4% by weight of the binders were added. The properties of the wall panels were determined from cast specimen sizes of 100x 100 x 40 mm for density, moisture content and water absorption; 160 x 40 x 40mm for compressive strength, and 650 x 100 x 25 mm for bending strength. The specimens were cured in water and tested at ages of 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days. The results of density of the wall panels were within the range of 1634–1742 kg/m3, while the moisture content range of 3.30–8.45%, and the water absorption varies from 5 to 12%. The compressive strengths were found within the range of 1.92–5.20N/mm2 and, generally, decreases with the increasing percentage of fiber contents, but increased with curing age. The bending strength falls within the range of 2.04–4.13 N/mm2that increases with curing age and slightly increased with fiber content. It is concluded that oil palm fiber reinforced gypsum-cement wall panels are suitable as wall element.

Noise is one of the main parameters to be considered to achieve a healthy indoor ambience in ferries. Therefore, the noise standards need to be more specialized and specifically based on real sampled data and case studies. In the present research, the noise levels in a ship, under different working conditions, were sampled and compared with those specified in the new and old standards. An initial study showed two main noise sources- clients and main engine- that influence other indoor environments, reducing the quality of life on board. The real-time data revealed that the maximum noise level limits set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in the older Resolution A.468 (XII) was mostly respected, except in areas where maintenance of the noise level was difficult, owing to the continuous influx of people, especially at the time of boarding and disembarking of the passengers and at the food self-service areas. In this sense, under the new Resolution MSC.337 (91), the maximum noise level allowed in the accommodation has been reduced by 5 dB (A), but this environment does not meet the standard. More results show that future standards must not only consider the noise level in a working place and add another variable, such as, the number of working hours, to obtain a representative equivalent energy, and they must also consider that a simple modification of this standard implies a redesign of most of the indoor ambiences onboard.

Rajasthan is one of the main mineral potential state of India. During the last 30 years it has witnessed enormous expansion of mining industries, but mining of most of the minor minerals coupled with changing climate has posed serious problems to the environmental fabric in the state, apart from base metal beneficiation plants. Groundwater is also being polluted day-by-day by effluents generated from mineral wastes and beneficiation processes in the vicinity of mining sites such as Khetri. Pollutant concentrations were measured in groundwater at the vicinity of Khetri copper mining project, Rajasthan to investigate the influence of copper mining on environment. Pollutant concentrations in groundwater were investigated. Copper metal concentration in water samples were found above the maximum desirable limit in two sources: G4 and G5, due to washing away of mineral with water. Mining industry has deteriorated quality of groundwater resources in the state of Rajasthan, and these industries are becoming centers of pollution sources which need timely actions at government level so that natural resources such as groundwater can be protected.

This comprehensive work explores the research performed inoptimization of the collection bin and in recycle bin location-allocation issues in solidwaste management. Although the collection phase of solid waste management accountsfor a significant proportion of the municipal budget, it has attracted only limitedattention of the researchers. Optimization of the collection bin and recycle bin location-allocation problems in solid waste management can be advantageous with respect to binaccess to every individual person of municipality, reduction in the numbers of opendumping yards, considerable profit if the recycled products are properly processed, andas an effort toward sustainable and green world. Hence, the topic of interest should bepursued, especially in developing countries, to enable development of a cost-efficient and sustainable solid waste management system.

The impact assessment method seeks to bring about a more ecologically, socio-culturally and economically sustainable and equitable environment. Determining the main factors affecting the attitudes of stakeholders is crucial for understanding the impacts of development plans. This approach helps planners and decision makers to identify the values and traits of stakeholders and accelerate the diffusion of innovations through designing proper incentives and removing available obstacles. The purpose of this study is to examine factors affecting laser land levelling project impacts in Fars Province, Iran. The sample included 285 farmers who were selected using multi-stage random sampling. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were measured and revisions were made to improve measurement scales. The results of structural equation modelling indicated that reduction in water consumption was the most important variable which affected the recognition of impacts among laser land levelling adopters. Furthermore, laser land levelling impacts as dependent variables were influenced by the direct effect of the duration of adoption, attitude towards water and soil conservation, need perception and attitude toward prior projects. Based on the results, practical recommendations have been presented.