The paper will examine the use of eco-design tools within the Korean electronics industry, with particular reference to mobile phone design & manufacture. Economic growth in Korea has been driven by aggressively exporting products, primarily to the US & China. Industries - such as semiconductor fabrication & electronic products - have been at the forefront of this export strategy. With impending environmental legislation threatening many of Korea’s global export markets, this study represents a timely appraisal of the industry’s ability to respond. The paper goes on to consider the extent to which eco-design tools are implemented within the Korean electronics industry, & which are most appropriate in environmental and business perspective. Whilst a simple question, this demands a non-trivial set of answers, each step posing significant problems. This is conditional on both the relevant environmental protocol for each market region, & the development of a means of cross-comparing what are very different metrics of environmental damage. In resolving this, the paper adopts Eco (or Fussler’s) Compass as a graphical representation, & uses this to evaluate the impact of a range of concepts, developed using each of the identified design tools, & based on Lifecycle Analysis (LCA- environmental quantitative evaluations method). The paper concludes by presenting cross comparing in environmental effectiveness against business and major international environmental legislations, ranking each of the tools against eco-benefit, relevance to a particular region/market & cost to the organisation, the latter being measured in times of: current capability; required investment in process; requisite developments in technology (R&D investment &/or licensing); & anticipated problems in cultural adaptation.

Master of Science / Department of Agronomy / Ignacio Ciampitti / Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] has greater drought resilience than many other crops, producing food in the most stressful environments. Sorghum is a reasonable crop choice for farmers working with limited-water supply. The objective of this study was to compare sorghum hybrids differing in yield strategies under varying water supply environments. Yield, biomass, grain harvest index (HI), and yield components (seed number and seed weight) were compared in both rainfed and irrigated situations. Field experiments were established in 2014 and 2015 at Topeka, Scandia, Hutchinson, Garden City, and Tribune, KS. Three sorghum hybrids (Pioneer 85Y40, Pioneer 84G62, and Dekalb 53-67) with different yield potentials at varying water supply were studied. Hybrids 85Y40 and 84G62 tended to have greater yields than hybrid 53-67 when the environment's average yield level was greater than 8.5 Mg haˉ¹. The opposite scenario where hybrid 53-67 had greater yields than the other two hybrids tended to occur for environments yielding less than 8.5 Mg haˉ¹. Both biomass and HI were significantly correlated with grain yield (r values of 0.62 and 0.32 respectively), with biomass having an overall stronger correlation than HI in all environments. In yield group 3 (<8.5 Mg haˉ¹), biomass was much more strongly correlated (r=0.85) to yield than in the yield groups 1 and 2 (>9.5 Mg haˉ¹ and 8.5-9.5 Mg haˉ¹ with r values of 0.35 and 0.52 respectively) suggesting that biomass production is of utmost importance for yield production in drought prone environments. Harvest index on the other hand had a much stronger correlation with yield in group 1 (r=0.62) when compared to group 2 and 3 (r 0.13 and 0.36 respectively) showing the importance of not only biomass, but also of HI to maximize yield in high yielding environments. Hybrids 85Y40 and 84G62 had larger HI values relating to the yield trends in the highest yielding environments. Seed number had a stronger correlation with yield (r=0.77) than seed weight (r=0.37) supporting the importance of increasing seed number to improve yield in sorghum.

Environmental problems such as climate change resulting from greenhouse gas emissions present alarming challenge to carbon intensive energy systems. In response, the European Union at the regional level and the United Kingdom at the national level responded to this development by formulating and implementing proactive low carbon transition policies over the past few decades. Using recent transition theories, this thesis provides explorative analysis of low carbon transition pathways that have taken place and that are likely to take place, in the UK road transport and electricity generation sectors. Using reliable data and information, this research applied the concepts of transition pathway theory (the multi-level and multi-phase perspectives) in the context of energy system (as a socio-technical system) to analyse low carbon energy transition prospects in the two case study sectors. Findings indicate that transition in the road transport sector is currently at the take-off phase of transformation pathway to biofuel blends, hybrid electric vehicles, as well as niche technologies such as battery electric vehicles. For the emergence of an ideal low carbon road system in the UK, it is shown that the transformation pathway is insufficient and the likely pathway sequence to full decarbonisation will be transformation-substitution-de-alignment/re-alignment. On the other hand, the fossil fuel electricity generation sector is currently at the take-off phase of substitution pathway to renewable electricity. For the emergence of a single power generation technology, the result shows that the most likely scenario is the de-alignment/re-alignment pathway. Under this pathway, the power industry will be characterised by loosely coupled grid islands located close to consumers, necessitating bidirectional flows of electricity to balance demand and supply. At the national level, the transition assessment indicates that the overall carbon performance of the UK energy system is successful and is in agreement with the targets set in the Kyoto Protocol.

ITC/USA 2015 Conference Proceedings / The Fifty-First Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 26-29, 2015 / Bally's Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV / Changing from L/S-Band to C-Band requires not only new equipment. Even the characteristics of the new frequencies just as the new frequency environment are a challenge for the operations in this bands when changing from a well-known frequency environment to a unknown new one. This paper describes the way used at Airbus Defense and Space Flight Test Ground Station to get experience with new equipment and to learn more about the new environment. Repeatable and comparable tests allowed training for the operators and the optimization of the equipment and procedures with the new environment. Although many of the problems or features observed during the tests where expected in advance, but even unexpected results could be identified.

This thesis includes the results of a PhD study about methods to compare Sonic Detection And Ranging (SODAR) measurements to measurements from other instruments. The study focuses on theoretical analysis, the design of a transponder system for simulating winds and the measurement of the acoustic radiation patterns of SODARs. These methods are integrated to reduce uncertainty in SODAR measurements. Through theoretical analysis it is shown that the effective measurement volume of a range gate is 15% of a cone section based on the SODAR's Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM). Models of the beam pattern are used to calculate the ratio of air passing a turbine to that measured by a SODAR over 10 minutes with values of 3-5% found at 10ms-1. The model is used to find angles where significant Sound Pressure Levels (SPLs) occur close to a SODARs baffle giving the highest chance of fixed echoes. This is converted into an orientation guide for SODAR set-up. The design of a transponder system is detailed that aims to provide a calibration test of the processing applied by a SODAR. Testing has shown that the transponder can determine the Doppler shift equation used by a SODAR although further work is needed to make the system applicable to all SODARs. It is shown that anechoic measurements of single elements are useful for improving array models. Measurements of the FWHM and acoustic tilt angle can be achieved in the field using a tilt mechanism and a Sound Level Meter (SLM) on a 10m mast. The same mechanism can be used to calculate an effective tilt angle using the Bradley technique. It is proposed that these methods are integrated to calculate error slopes for the SODAR measurement with regards to a secondary location. It is shown that the slopes could be between 0 and 5% if the methods are fully realised and a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model is incorporated.

This thesis investigates the relationship between facilities management (FM) and design on construction projects in the Middle East region. Input provided by facilities management, the party responsible for developing and maintaining a facility support services system, is found to be vital for enhancing the design’s supportive function and preventing operation problems from occurring during the occupancy phase. An extensive literature review is undertaken to study both FM and design practices, their responsibilities during a facility’s life cycle and the types of services each discipline provides. The nature of facilities management input into design is also explored. The review of literature reveals a limited integration among the facilities management and design professions, a problem mainly caused by the nature of project delivery processes that prevent external input into the design. Accordingly, the research aims of investigating integration in practice and determining the actions to be taken to improve the situation are developed. The survey method is chosen for carrying out the research, involving FM and design practitioners. Semi-structured interviews are utilised for collecting qualitative rich information on professional views and experiences. Research findings disclose the nature of the relationship between facilities managers and designers as well as the status of their current collaboration on construction projects in the Middle East. FM-related concerns occurring during the occupancy phase are identified to show the prominence of their consideration during the design stage. This research also presents the various benefits of achieving successful integration and identifies the different means which could be implemented to improve the process of integration and avoid negative consequences currently affecting facilities and their occupants.

Environmental concerns comprising pollution and global warming are among the key parameters that steer policy making actions regarding sustainability. Energy industry that comprises energy generation, distribution, and transmission phases of energy loop is at the core of these concerns and faces challenges. Due to handling capabilities, present electricity grid is not robust enough to utilize desired level of renewable energy sources due to their intermittent nature. On the other hand, emerging policies are targeting the increased utilization of renewable energy sources. In the light of environmental policies and increased stability requirements of the electricity grids, a new concept called “smart grid” emerges. Smart grids are intended to eliminate the limitations of present electricity grids such as offering increased handling capacity for renewable energy, increased interaction of the consumers with the utilities, and increased supply and demand management. It is not easy to express a solid smart grid definition as each party (energy generation, distribution, and demand side management) has its own approach in line with the desires. Due to the potential environmental benefits of smart grids, some governments engage smart grid projects to their agenda. As solid smart grid definition does not exist, there is no available solid strategy for smart grid implementations. On the other hand, it is well understood that failure in deployment of smart grids (regardless of the technology) will have undesirable impacts on growth of renewable energy generation, and failure in meeting EU carbon targets consequently. This research seeks to develop a model that seeks optimization of smart grid implementations, and it assists decision makers with deciding on the priory areas for smart grid applicability. Stated areas in this case are neighbourhoods comprising of residential buildings where considerable amount of energy is consumed. A set of criteria regarding to residential energy use and renewable energy technologies, are defined in the study. Proposed model is embedded in a GIS platform, and the main process carried out is a prioritization mechanism that comprises Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and geospatial computations like clustering and regression analysis in order to evaluate the alternative neighbourhoods. Proposed model optimizes smart grid projects by ranking of alternatives in terms of smart grid applicability. Such an aid in optimizing smart grid projects has the potential to maintain progress of smart grids in a timely manner.

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How can I as a storyteller talk about humans and nature and the relation between us and the natural world? How can storytelling contribute to create interest and engagement in nature and the environment? In this project I have investigated different ways of talking about nature, climate and humans, trying to find a different voice and angle on this everlasting important theme. Through practical research I have tried different strategies, voices and moods, with the result being a very personal approach to nature and environmental anxiety in a short, dark, poetic film. / <p>The full thesis contains copyrighted material</p><p>which has been removed in the published version.</p>