Thesis (Ph.D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-194). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2008. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 75 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 68-71).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-128). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2009. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ball State University, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Sept. 09, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. [65]-73).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2010. / Principal faculty advisor: Young-Doo Wang, School of Urban Affairs & Public Policy. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2005. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 148 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-124).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 191-207). Also available in electronic version.

The main objective of idle reduction devices is to reduce the amount of energy wasted by idling trucks, decrease exhaust emissions and save in fuel use and maintenance costs and vehicle life extension. To achieve reductions emissions from vehicle idling in heavy-duty trucks, strategies and actions have been employed through the use of various technologies, namely auxiliary power units (APUs), direct-fire heaters (DFHs), truck stop electrification (TSE) and advanced truck stop electrification (ATSE). Little quantitative data exists on the amount of emissions that are emitted by heavy-duty trucks during idling. In general, diesel engines emit less CO and hydrocarbons (HC) when compared to gasoline engines since fuel-lean mixtures tend to reduce CO and HC emissions. The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic review that illustrates the status of data present in literature for costs and emissions reduced for APUs, DFHs, TSEs and ATSEs. From the review process, a cost calculator was devised from the synthesis of literature data to measure cost-effectiveness of these technologies in dollars per year per ton per year of emissions reduced over a 30 year investment period. Data on capital costs, maintenance and operational costs, and fuel costs were reported in order to calculate net present values, payback periods and fuel savings from each technology. Given the relevant data available from various studies that compute the efficiency of competing technologies, TSEs were the most cost-effective for the investor and the truck owner in regards to NOx emissions reduction. Cost-effectiveness measured for investors at $1,707.57 and $1,473.27 per ton of NOx reduced, and $16,799.91, $22,261.44, and $20,583.79 per ton of NOx reduced for truck owners. The calculator also served as a tool to illustrate insufficient data currently present in the body of literature. Limited quantitative data and unknown variability of costs as a function of time over the 30-year investment period was used to assess best practices. Thus, policymakers and other stakeholders can benefit from this review in order to conduct future studies that would enlighten greater understanding of data points from specifications of the operating context and devise more robust models for the sake of comparing these technologies based on impact and risk

Since wood fuel when used sustainably provides an energy source that does not contribute to greenhouse warming, its use in future is likely to increase. Contractors prefer to chip trees and residues green to minimise power required and machinery wear. For non-specialised combustion systems the green woodchips should then be dried to increase their calorific value and to allow buffer storage without significant dry matter loss or the development of hazardous fungal spores. As the drying of wood chips has never been rigorously defined, a study was undertaken to determine the drying characteristics of green woodchips. A drying bin was built to simulate storage drying in one dimension. Data from three drying runs using spruce and birch whole tree provided data to validate a one-dimensional heat and mass transfer drying model converted from an existing grain drying routine. The specific energy consumption varied from 2.0 MJ/kg of moisture removed using unheated air during summer drying to 5.0 MH/kg during winter when dried with air warmed by 28°C. Dry matter loss in birch during drying and a period of two months cool storage was approximately 2%. Mean evaporation rate ranged from 1.9 kg/h in winter to 2.9 kg/h in summer. This gave a drying rate of 1% and 2.2% per day, inwinter and summer respectively. Hardwoodbirch released its moisture more readily than softwood Sitkaspruce. Airflow rates used ranged from 0.26-0.63 m³/s pertonne of dry matter. The dust levels on the woodchips ranged from 3.0 mg/m³ ofair before drying up to 55 mg/m³ of air after drying. The concentrations of colony forming units on woodchips ranged from2.0 X 10⁴ cfu/m³ of air before drying up to 8.0 X 10⁵cfu/m³ of air after drying.