School of Applied Sciences (SAS) (2006-July 2014)
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Item Open Access Analysis of cold weather patterns over the period 1991-2012(2013-01-22T00:00:00Z) Farewell, Timothy S.; Hallett, Stephen H.; Truckell, Ian G.Within the context of an observed increase in the numbers of burst pipes associated with colder winters in the Anglian water region, we have analysed temperature data for England and Wales from the period 1991-2012 to identify cold winter periods. To do so, we have calculated the annual accumulated temperature below 1 °C for each MORECS square over the winter period. The resulting data has been mapped for both the whole of England and Wales as well as just for the Anglian Water region. The data shows that the four winters between 2008-2012 were considerably colder than the preceding eleven winters. Additionally, for the winter of 2011-2012, the average temperature for all England of Wales was warmer than the 1991-2011 period average. However locally, in the Anglian Water region, the average temperatures were colder than the 1991-2011 average. The available MORECS data shows that while there are some periods of time with warmer winters (e.g. 1997-2008) and periods with colder winters (1990-1994, 1995-1997 and 2008- 2012), the lengths of these periods are considerably variable. From the MORECS data for the period 1991-2012, there does not appear to be a cyclical or predictable pattern in determining the harshness of the winter period.Item Open Access Analysis of the 2007/8 Defra Farm Business Survey Energy Module(2010-11-30T00:00:00Z) Williams, Adrian G.; Pearn, Kerry R.; Sandars, Daniel L.; Audsley, Eric; Parsons, David J.; Chatterton, Julia C.Key points This study has delivered an invaluable baseline estimate of energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on commercial farms in England. Energy use and GHG emissions associated with particular commodities were quantified and results broadly agreed with those derived by Life Cycle Assessment, but with much scatter in the environmental performance of farms.Direct energy use on farms was generally less that indirect (embedded) energy use, except for horticulture, which is dominated by heating fuel use. In contrast, most GHG emissions are incurred on farms, rather than as embedded emissions.Scatter in both environmental and economic performance underlies the somewhat disappointing finding of no clear positive link between farm financial performance and energy use or GHG emissions. However, the mere existence of these ranges shows that there is scope for improvement in both financial and environmental performance and that there is no apparent barrier for both to be achievable in harmony. The recording of such farm-level energy data is essential for the future, as it should enable improvements to be made in efficiency of energy use. The improved UK agricultural GHG inventory will depend on high quality energy data on agricultural activities. This study will be invaluable in identifying the level of detail needed. Future data requirements include: contractor work rates and fuel use per unit area and per unit time, fertiliser and pesticide use by brand name, enhanced output data, especially animal live weights, and horticultural produce recorded by weight rather than by value.Item Open Access Assess the design of lorries and quarries for aggregates transport. Report to the Minerals Industry research Organisation(2010-05-05T00:00:00Z) Brighton, James L.; Richards, Terence E.The majority of aggregates extracted in the UK are transported from the quarry to the point of sale by construction trucks of either rigid chassis or articulated vehicle design. These vehicles have a unique set of requirements for haulage logistics as many of them must be capable of driving on unmade surfaces and constructed dirt roads not only within the quarry but more importantly at the goods destination. Such vehicles have to balance the on-road requirements of minimum energy consumption, low capital cost, low maintenance and low noise with the off road requirements of maintaining overall mobility whilst minimising their impact on the environment. This project investigates the environmental impacts of these vehicles and evaluates their design and use from an environmental perspective to establish whether changes to vehicle design or the layout of the quarries could lessen the impacts. The project considered current practices used for aggregate transport by road including operational methods vehicle choice and logistics. A structured survey technique was used to gather data from quarries producing sand and gravel, limestone and igneous metamorphic rock, located throughout the UK. The predominant findings were: 85% of road going aggregate transport trucks were required to travel on unsealed surfaces within the quarry. Trucks may be required to travel on unsealed surfaces at the point of delivery. 7% of the quarries surveyed had no means of cleaning debris from trucks before they left the quarry. All quarries covered loads when travelling on the highway.The major environmental impacts were: Aggregate transport trucks generate a significant amount of noise especially when unladen. Aggregate transport trucks can contaminate the public highway, with quarry and/or delivery point acquired debris, both near to, and at some distance from the quarry depending on prevailing weather conditions. To corroborate these findings using the general public's perspective, a small public survey was conducted using a face to face structured interview technique in three villages near to quarry operations. The results of this survey confirmed that noise from unladen trucks and debris deposited on the highway were the most significant impacts. To further investigate these issues an experiment was conducted to determine how the noise level from construction trucks compared to other road vehicles on the public highway. The results highlight the potential for empty trucks to generate significantly high impulse noise when travelling over uneven surfaces including potholes, manhole covers and drains. The predominant source of this noise is from the relative movement between the body and chassis. To control this movement the design of body damping systems should be investigated as a low cost solution. The major source of material transfer into the environment was via the trucks tyres. Experimental results showed that halving the tyre's recommended inflation pressure had a significant effect on the material collected within the tyre tread on a sandy loam soil. However, the relationship between soil-tyre adhesion, axle load and the soil's initial bulk density remains unclear and requires a further detailed investigation. A chassis sheeting/enclosure system has been suggested as a low cost method of preventing material being transferred to the chassis which would otherwise fall off on the road. Considering the design of construction trucks three areas were investigated namely; the tyre choice and use, the drive train and the body design along with the vehicles use within the quarry. Tyre choice is predominantly dictated by the aggregate's destination, which is often off-road and hence an off road biased tyre is chosen. Although in reality the majority of sites will not challenge the vehicles mobility, for those that might, the risk of getting a vehicle stuck was too great to justify the use of a more road biased tyre. However, the results from a tread cleaning experiment showed that inflation pressure could be used to reduce tread clogging. It is well reported in the literature that manipulating inflation pressure can improve the tractive capability of a tyre and maintaining the correct road inflation pressure can contribute to reduced fuel consumption. Central tyre inflation systems that are commercially available, allow inflation pressure to be controlled and monitored, however, further research is required to determine the optimum tyre pressure to be used for a given set of operating conditions. Alternative methods of powering truck ancillary equipment, including load bed tipping, have been investigated to reduce the need to run the engine at high speed under low load when tipping the body. A kinetic energy recovery system has the potential to reduce the overall environmental impact of the transport operation by reducing fuel use and engine emissions, and this could be employed to power auxiliary systems, but would be far better utilised to assist with vehicle propulsion during the drive cycle. Considering quarry design three options were highlighted that reduce the environmental impact of road going trucks: 1. Upgrade roads within quarries to enable low rolling resistance on-road tyres to be used on road going trucks without sacrificing mobility. 2. Adopt a demountable body system 3. Employ a flexible conveyor system from excavation face to quarry exitEach option reduces the distance a truck must move within the quarry on un-sealed surfaces. The use of a demountable system would permit a clear segregation between on-road and off road vehicle use within the quarry, but the practical issues associated with the system such as reduced payload and container storage would prevent its widespread adoption where off road capability remains a requirement at the delivery point. The ultimate solution could be considered to be a flexible conveyor system, and low carbon goods transit thereafter. This could be achieved by an advance in conveyor design to allow it to follow the excavator's movements, and transfer the material to the edge of the quarry for onward movement by low carbon transport.Item Open Access Assessing optimum irrigation water use: additional agricultural and non- agricultural sectors. Environment Agency Science Report - SC040008/SR1(2008-04-01T00:00:00Z) Knox, Jerry W.; Weatherhead, E. K.; Rodriguez Diaz, J. A.The Water Act (2003) and its preceding legislation requires the Environment Agency to assess and justify authorisations for irrigation abstraction, whether for agricultural, horticultural, amenity, sports turf or other use. A previous study, Optimum use of water for industry and agriculture (W6-056), has provided a framework for assessing the ‘optimum’ or ‘reasonable’ needs of a wide range of crops. In this study, water use was analysed for a range of other agricultural and non-agricultural sectors dependent on irrigation, but not included in the W6-056 study. These include some sectors where new authorisations for trickle will be required, as well as for existing and new spray irrigation abstractions. The sectors considered include golf courses, racecourses, turf production, frost protection, horticultural nursery stock, pot plant and bedding plant production and glasshouse proItem Open Access Assuring the microbiological quality of water used to irrigate salad crops: an assessment of the options available(2004-03-02T00:00:00Z) Tyrrel, Sean F.; Knox, Jerry W.; Burton, C. H.; Weatherhead, E. K.- Headline. Although no evidence to link the irrigation of salads to disease outbreaks in the UK has been found, the industry should be seen to be taking the issue of irrigation water quality seriously. The strategy should be to take proactive measures to pre-empt the adoption of unnecessarily cautious standards within grower protocols. - Background and expected deliverables. Concerns have been expressed by some of the major supermarkets that salad vegetables may become contaminated with pathogens as a result of crop irrigation using poor quality water sources. As salads are likely to be eaten raw and will have received a minimal level of processing there are fears that consumers may be put at risk if irrigation water quality is not controlled. To assure product quality and to protect consumer confidence, some supermarkets may set stringent irrigation water quality standards in future grower protocols. Product quality is of paramount importance to growers, processors, retailers and consumers alike. However, the salad growing industry advocates a proportionate, science-based approach to the development of grower protocols rather than the adoption of an excessively precautionary principle. The aim of this project was to generate the baseline information needed by the industry to respond in a positive way to the concerns of retailers. The findings should help to inform the decisions and actions necessary to demonstrate and assure the quality of these products. The work should also support and contribute to the broader commercial objectives of the HDC regarding the efficient use of water. - Summary of the project and main conclusions. The following research tasks were undertaken in pursuit of the project’s aim. 1 A review of literature relating to the microbiological quality of irrigation water and of salad crops. 2 A survey of current UK irrigated salad production to assess current usage and underlying trends. 3 An evaluation of the technological and economic feasibility of on-farm water treatment options. 4 An analysis and discussion of the data collected and development of recommendations for the industry. The main conclusions of this work are: Irrigation water is one of many potential sources of contamination of salads. No published direct evidence has been found to link the irrigation of salads to disease outbreaks in the UK. However, there is a clear potential for this to occur. Published laboratory trials have shown that pathogens associated with poor quality irrigation water may survive on lettuce until harvest. Epidemiological investigations (not from UK) have indicated a link between disease and poor quality irrigation water. On occasions, some UK salad crops are probably irrigated with water of a lower microbiological standard than that recommended for comparable uses (e.g. reuse of wastewater for irrigation and bathing). The actual extent to which this occurs should be quantified and reviewed. The lack of guidance on irrigation water quality is a deterrent to proper water quality monitoring as most growers are unsure how they should respond to the data that is generated. This situation should be corrected as a matter of priority. It is reported that some of the multiple retailers in the UK favour a standard for irrigation water close to that which would meet the requirements for drinking water (i.e. absence or infrequent presence of E. coli in 100 ml water). Our review of standards suggests that this may be an unnecessarily cautious and expensive option. A grower faced with doubts about water quality appears to have four options: Demonstrate existing water is of adequate quality; Treat existing water; Change water source; Relocate crop. A site specific water resources study should be undertaken before assuming that treatment is necessary. Where water quality cannot be assured by management or sourcing strategies, treatment technologies may be considered. Of the many options, three technologies are likely to be suitable: ultra-violet (U/V) treatment, thermal treatment, and sand filters. U/V is considered to be attractive when taking all of the factors into account. Thermal treatment is the most rigorous and reliable. With heat recovery, such treatment could be viable in some cases. Sand filters offer the most farmer-friendly solution but these systems offer less assurance of water quality. - Financial benefits. There are no direct financial benefits to be gained by growers from this work. It may be prudent for growers to take proactive measures to improve monitoring procedures to pre-empt the adoption of unnecessarily cautious (and costly) standards in future grower protocols. - Action points for growers. There is likely to be increasing scrutiny of the microbiological quality of irrigation water. It is advised that growers review their monitoring strategy as a matter of priority. Regular sampling of water sources, at least monthly during the irrigation season, for faecal indicator bacteria would be a good start. The development of such a dataset would aid future decisions regarding the acceptability of particular sources.Item Open Access Carbon Brainprint Case Study: ceramic coatings for jet engine turbine blades(2011-07-31T00:00:00Z) Parsons, David J.; Chatterton, Julia C.; Nicholls, John R.Ceramic thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are applied to jet turbine blades to protect them from the high temperature gases leaving the combustion chamber and to increase the efficiency of the engine. Professor John Nicholls of the Surface Science and Engineering Group, Cranfield University has been working with Rolls- Royce plc for about 17 years to improve the insulating performance of TBCs. As a result, the TBCs used in the current generation of aircraft turbofan jet engines achieve a temperature drop about 80ºC greater than at the start of the work, with an estimated fuel saving of about 1%. This case study considered two engine types: Trent 700, used on about half the Airbus A330 aircraft currently in service, and Trent 500, used on all Airbus A340-500 and A360-600 aircraft. The greenhouse gas emissions considered were, in order of magnitude, carbon dioxide from combustion of the fuel, emissions during extraction and refining of the fuel, and emissions of other greenhouse gases during combustion. Emissions associated with transport of the fuel were found to be negligible compared with these, and all emissions not related to fuel consumption, for example manufacture of the coating, were also assumed to be insignificant or excluded from the assessment because they were unaffected by the change in the TBC. The baseline fuel consumption during each flight phase (landing and take-off cycle and cruise) was estimated from publicly available data. Airline activity data for A330 and A340 models from European operators was taken to represent typical patterns of use, enabling annual emissions per aircraft to be calculated. Data on current operating aircraft and orders were then used to estimate the total current and projected future emissions. From these, the higher emissions that would have occurred in the past if the improved TBCs had not been used, and the corresponding future emissions, were estimated. The best estimates of the current emissions (the retrospective brainprint) for individual aircraft were 1016, 1574 and 1646t CO2e/year for A330, A340-500 and A340-600 respectively, giving 568 kt CO2e/year for the total fleet. Including all the aircraft on order, the prospective emissions reduction was 833kt CO2e/ year. Assuming a service life of 20 years, the total brainprint was approximately 17MtCO2e. An uncertainty analysis was performed with assumed uncertainties for aircraft activity, fuel consumption and the efficiency change. The 95% confidence interval for the current annual emissions reduction was 429-721kt CO2e/year excluding the efficiency change uncertainty, and 258-1105 if it was included. The relative changes in the other output measures were similar. Assuming that older engines do not and will not benefit from the improvement, reduced the total brainprint to 14MtCO2e. The assessment did not include an adjustment for the effect of emissions at high altitude, which would increase all the outputs by a factor of 1.9.Item Open Access Carbon Brainprint Case Study: intelligent buildings(2011-07-31T00:00:00Z) Parsons, David J.; Chatterton, Julia C.; Clements-Croome, Derek; Elmualim, Abbas; Darby, Howard; Yearly, Tom; Davies, Gareth J.It is estimated that non-domestic buildings were responsible for 18% of UK total greenhousegas emissions (582 Mt CO2e/year) in 2010. Of non-domestic building emissions, 34%(36 Mt CO2e/year) was due to lighting, office equipment and catering and 46%(49 Mt CO2e/year) was due to heating. A team consisting of researchers at the University of Reading, the University's FacilitiesManagement Directorate and Newera Controls Ltd. conducted two separate investigations tomeasure and demonstrate the potential for two important and complementary approaches inachieving energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission reductions in buildings. The firstfocused on influencing user behaviour, in an office building on the main campus. The secondconsidered an interventionist approach in an accommodation block at the Henley BusinessSchool using intelligent monitoring and control systems. To date, the first investigation has demonstrated a 20% saving in lighting, office equipment andcatering energy use, largely through user awareness and behaviour change. The second has indicated that savings in heating energy of the order of 24% can be achievedby enhancement of legacy Building Management Systems (BMS) using a Building EnergyManagement System (BEMS). There is also scope for further savings if the BEMS system isextended to other services such as lighting.Item Open Access Carbon Brainprint Case Study: novel offshore vertical axis wind turbines(2011-07-31T00:00:00Z) Parsons, David J.; Chatterton, Julia C.; Brennan, Feargal P.; Kolios, Athanasios J.As part of the transition to a ‘low carbon economy', renewable technologies are expected toplay an increasing role in reducing dependence on fossil fuels for energy and electricity. Windpower in particular is likely to become a much larger contributor to the UK's energy mix. Thecurrent dominant design for large, grid-connected wind turbines is a three blade rotor with ahorizontal rotating axis. The concept of a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) is relatively new, buthas several advantages over horizontal axis alternatives. It is able to capture the wind from anydirection, and the vertical axis is such that the rotor equipment is located at base level, makingit is simpler and less costly to install and maintain. The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) is a UK-based company formed from global industriesand the UK government. One of three projects looking at new turbine design and concepts foroffshore wind is the Novel Offshore Vertical Axis (NOVA) project, a UK-based consortiumlaunched in January 2009 to look at the feasibility of a NOVA turbine. achieved through the installation of NOVA wind turbines, in comparison to conventionalhorizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs) for offshore power generation. The increased powerrating of the NOVA turbines compared to current HAWTs is expected to provide considerablereductions in lifetime greenhouse gas emissions. It compared the emissions from 1 GWinstallations over 20 years, based on a life cycle analysis of construction, operation anddisposal. The comparison used the popular Vestas V90 3 MW model and the proposed NOVA10 MW units. The estimated lifetime emissions were 521 kt CO2e for the conventional design and419 kt CO2e for NOVA. Using budget share to attribute the reductions to the project partners,Cranfield's brainprint was 34 kt CO2e. As there are no current NOVA units in operation, there were high uncertainties associated withthe estimates. A Monte-Carlo simulation resulted in a mean difference in emissions betweenthe two installations of 102 kt CO2e, with a standard deviation of 108.Item Open Access Carbon Brainprint Case Study: optimising defouling schedules for oil- refinerypreheat trains(2011-07-31T00:00:00Z) Parsons, David J.; Chatterton, Julia C.; Wilson, Ian; Ishiyama, EdwardIn an oil refinery, crude oil is heated to 360-370°C before entering a distillation columnoperating at atmospheric pressure where the gas fraction and several liquid fractions withdifferent boiling points (e.g. gasoline, kerosene, diesel, gas oil, heavy gas oil) are separated off.The crude oil is heated in two stages. The preheat train - a series of heat exchangers - heats itfrom ambient temperature to about 270°C when it enters the furnace, known as the coil inlettemperature. The furnace then heats the oil to the temperature required for distillation.The purpose of the preheat train is to recover heat from the liquid products extracted in thedistillation column. Without this, 2-3% of the crude oil throughput would be used for heating thefurnace; with the preheat train up to 70% of the required heat is recovered. It also serves tocool the refined products: further cooling normally uses air or water. Over time, fouling reduces the performance of the heat exchangers, increasing the amount ofenergy that has to be supplied. It is possible to bypass units to allow them to be cleaned, withan associated cost and temporary loss of performance. The cleaning schedule thus has animpact on the overall efficiency, cost of operation and emissions. The group at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at Cambridgedeveloped a scheduling algorithm for this non-linear optimisation problem. It yields a good,though not-necessarily optimal, schedule and can handle additional constraints, such as thepresence of desalters with specific temperature requirements within the preheat train. This isnow being developed into a commercial software product. Data from two refineries - one operated by Repsol YPF in Argentina and the Esso FawleyRefinery in the UK - were used to model the systems and test the algorithm. For the Repsol YPF refinery, when compared with current practice and including a constrainton the desalter inlet temperature, the most conservative estimate of the emissions reductionwas 773 t CO2/year. This assumed a furnace efficiency of 90%. The emissions reductionincreased to 927 t CO2/year at 75% efficiency and 1730 t CO2/year at 40%. These were basedon a stoichiometric estimate of the emissions from the furnace. Using a standard emissionfactor increased them by 7.4%. For Esso Fawley, the estimated emission reduction compared to no maintenance was1435 t CO2/year at 90% furnace efficiency. This increased to 1725 t CO2/year at 75% and3225 t CO2/year at 40% efficiencItem Open Access Carbon Brainprint Case Study: training for landfill gas inspectors(2011-07-31T00:00:00Z) Parsons, David J.; Chatterton, Julia C.; Longhurst, Philip J.Anaerobic deterioration of biodegradable wastes in landfill sites is an important source ofgreenhouse gases. Of the estimated UK total of 2330 kt methane emitted in 2008, 966 kt(equivalent to 24 Mt of carbon dioxide) came from landfill, compared with 876 kt from livestockagriculture, the next largest source. Increasing the amount of methane that is recovered andused as fuel is an important method of reducing emissions. In 2008 Cranfield University was asked by the Environment Agency (EA) to run a 12 day course to train 12 EA officers, based on the knowledge of a retired EA industry expert. At the end of thecourse, the students split into two groups, each of which undertook 12 site visits. These 24sites were subsequently assessed by the EA, who estimated that the additional measuresrecommended had collected an additional 7,600 m3/hr of landfill gas. A further 12 officers havenow received the advanced training, and another 70 have attended a foundation course inwhich they learn how to audit and assess landfill gas controls on sites. The additional collection of methane resulting from the first set of visits is equivalent to453 kt CO2e/year. Extrapolating from this by making conservative assumptions about possiblediminishing returns, the savings to the end of 2010 from the two groups (the retrospectivebrainprint) are about 1,330 kt CO2e with a 95% confidence range of 1,091-1,570 kt CO2e. Usingthe same assumptions, if both groups continue working for a further three years, the savingsover the five year period (the prospective brainprint) will be 5,380 kt CO2e with a 95%confidence range of 3,695-7,309 kt CO2e.Item Open Access Carbon Brainprint: final report on HEFCE project LSDHE43(2011-07-31T00:00:00Z) Parsons, David J.; Chatterton, Julia C.; Clements-Croome, Derek; Elmualim, A.; Darby, Howard; Yearly, T.; Wilson, I.; Ishiyama, EdwardThe need for organisations to reduce their carbon footprint is now well accepted. HEFCE has recently published its policy (2010/01) requiring universities to set targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and targeting reductions of 34% and 80% across the sector by 2020 and 2050 respectively. Universities, however, also help other organisations to reduce their own carbon footprints, both through providing existing or potential employees with the necessary knowledge and skills and, more directly, though research and consultancy projects. These reductions cannot be offset against the university's footprint, but the intellectual contribution to reducing the carbon footprint of others, termed their "carbon brainprint", is immensely valuable in meeting the challenge of global warming. This project aimed to help quantify the HE sector's Carbon Brainprint. It used a set of case studies from Cranfield, Cambridge and Reading Universities to establish a robust, repeatable method, informed by life cycle analysis methods and PAS2050 for carbon footprinting, for calculating and verifying the contribution of universities to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This method could be applied across the sector to assess the impact of HE intellectual activities. Guidelines were drawn up at the start of the project and revised as the case studies progressed. These included general principles, based on carbon footprinting standards, appropriate spatial, temporal and conceptual boundaries for brainprint studies, the scope and limits of applicability, appropriate levels of detail, uncertainty analysis and the possible need to attribute the brainprint among project partners. The guidelines set out the main steps in a brainprint assessment: system description, boundary definition, data gathering, assessment of emissions and changes to evaluate the retrospective and prospective brainprint, and uncertainty analysis. The case studies covered * Ceramic thermal barrier coatings for jet engine turbine blades, which help to improve engine efficiency and reduce aircraft fuel consumption. * Novel offshore vertical axis wind turbines that will be able to generate ‘green' electricity using less material for construction than conventional designs. * Improved delivery vehicle logistics to reduce delivery vehicle fuel use in the food sector. * Training for landfill gas inspectors to capture emissions of methane from landfill sites. * Intelligent buildings to reduce fuel consumption by both behavioural change and advanced monitoring and control. * Optimising defouling schedules for oil-refinery preheat trains, to maintain efficiency and reduce the consumption of oil within the refinery. These included developments that were already implemented in practice, including some where data on the results were available, and others that have yet to be used. All demonstrated the positive effects of research, consultancy or teaching in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, although the scale of the effect varied considerably. The largest totals came from the jet engine thermal barrier coatings, due to the large quantities of fuel consumed by aircraft engines, and the training of landfill gas inspectors, due to substantial changes in the emissions of a highly potent greenhouse gas. In other cases the unit reductions were smaller, but the potential total effects are large if they are widely adopted. On the basis of these studies, it seems likely that a relatively small number of projects focussed on applications with high energy or greenhouse gas flows will represent the majority of the brainprint of most institutions. Those where good monitoring data from full-scale application are available will normally be comparatively simple to assess and provide clear results. The project has demonstrated that it is possible to begin to quantify the impact that universities have on society's greenhouse gas emissions, and that this impact is large. The current annual brainprint of the four projects assessed at Cranfield University is over 50 times the university's own annual carbon footprint.Item Open Access CCDeW: Climate Change and Demand for Water.(2003-02-01T00:00:00Z) Downing, T. E.; Butterfield, R. E.; Edmonds, B.; Knox, Jerry W.; Moss, S.; Piper, B. S.; Weatherhead, E. K.The Climate Change and Demand for Water Revisited project (CCDeW) revisits and updates the benchmark study by Herrington (1996) and takes advantage of new data sets, regional coverage of demand projections and new methodologies for climate impact assessment. Domestic demand, industrial and commercial water use and irrigated agriculture and horticulture are included in the CCDeW study. Leakage was excluded from the CCDeW study. This report presents the outcome of an extensive UK research programme concerning: demand forecasting; demand management; sensitivity of demand to climatic variations; and sources of risk and uncertainty. While the CCDeW study focuses on demand, climate change uncertainties feed into supply side and demand estimates of water requirements. Therefore, the report’s conclusions should be seen as one element in the dynamic management of the supply/demand balance over the course of the next twenty years and beyond (see Section 9). Clearly, the extent to which water consumption will be influenced by climate change depends upon the sensitivity of different sectors to specific aspects of climate change as well as potential behavioural and regulatory changes, in part related to different socio-economic and climatic futureItem Open Access Challenges in real world optimisation using evolutionary computing(2004-11-10T00:00:00Z) Tiwari, Ashutosh; Roy, RajkumarChallenges in real world optimisation using evolutionary computing With rising global competition, it is becoming increasingly more important for industry to optimise its activities. However, the complexity of real-life optimisation problems has prevented industry from exploiting the potential of optimisation algorithms. Industry has therefore relied on either trial-and-error or over- simplification for dealing with its optimisation problems. This has led to the loss of opportunity for improving performance, saving costs and time. The growth of research in the field of evolutionary computing has been encouraged by a desire to harness this opportunity. There are a number of benefits of evolutionary-based optimisation that justify the effort invested in this area. The most significant advantage lies in the gain of flexibility and adaptability to the task in hand, in combination with robust performance and global search characteristics. This report presents the proceedings of the workshop on ‘Challenges in Real World Optimisation Using Evolutionary Computing’. This workshop is organised in association with the Eighth International Conference on Parallel Problem Solving from Nature (PPSN VIII) held in Birmingham (UK) on 18- 22 September 2004. The aim of this workshop is to explore the use of evolutionary computing techniques for solving real-life optimisation problems. It is the purpose of this workshop to bring together researchers working in the area of industrial application of evolutionary-based computing techniques such as genetic algorithms, evolutionary programming, genetic programming and evolutionary strategies. The workshop provides a great opportunity for presenting and disseminating latest work in optimisation applications of evolutionary computing in varied industry sectors and application areas, e.g. manufacturing, service, bioinformatics and retail. It provides a forum for identifying and exploring the key issues that affect the industrial application of evolutionary-based computing techniques. This report presents three papers from the workshop. The first paper examines the possibilities of train running time control using genetic algorithms for the minimisation of energy costs in DC rapid transit systems. The second paper provides an overview of soft computing techniques used in the lead identification and optimisation stages of the drug discovery process. The third paper proposes a micro-evolutionary programming technique for optimisation of continuousItem Open Access Climate change impacts on water for irrigated horticulture in the Vale of Evesham. Final Report(Cranfield University/Environment Agency, 2007-02-19) Knox, Jerry W.; Rodriguez Diaz, J. A.; Weatherhead, E. K.; Khan, K.This project has undertaken a scoping review and assessment of the impacts of climate change on irrigated horticulture in the Vale of Evesham, an area of intense irrigated production located within the Environment Agency’s Warwickshire Avon CAMS Catchment. The research was based on a combination of methodologies including desk-based review of published and grey literature, computer agroclimatic and water balance modelling, GIS mapping, meetings with key informants and a stakeholder workshop. Future climate datasets were derived from the latest UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKICIP02) climatology, using selected emission scenarios for the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s. These scenarios were then used to model and map the future agroclimatic conditions under which agriculture might operate and the consequent impacts on irrigation need (depths of water applied) and volumetric demand. This was complimented by a postal survey to abstractors and a stakeholder workshop, to identify, review and assess farmer adaptation options and responses. The key findings arising from the research, implications for water resource management and recommendations for further work are summarised below. Using a geographical information system (GIS), a series of agroclimate maps have been produced, for the baseline and selected UKCIP02 scenario. The maps show major changes in agroclimate within the catchment over the next 50 years. The driest agroclimate zones are currently located around Worcester, Evesham, Tewkesbury and Gloucester, corresponding to areas where horticultural production and irrigation demand are most concentrated. By the 2020s, all agroclimate zones are predicted to increase in aridity. By the 2050s the entire catchment is predicted to have a drier agroclimate than is currently experienced anywhere in the driest parts of the catchment. This will have major impacts on the pattern of land use and irrigation water demand. Cont/d.Item Open Access A comparative assessment of trickle and spray irrigation: Science Report - SC040008/SR3, Environment Agency(2007-06-01T00:00:00Z) Knox, Jerry W.; Weatherhead, E. K.; Rodriguez Diaz, J. A.Recent research (Assessing optimum irrigation water use: additional agricultural and nonagricultural sectors SC040008/SR1) complements existing guidelines (W6- 056) for the Environment Agency to assess and set the ‘optimum’ or ‘reasonable’ irrigation needs for an abstraction licence, across a wide range of agricultural, horticultural, amenity and sports turf sectors. For those abstractors with time-limited licences, demonstrating efficient use of water is one of three tests required by the Environment Agency for successful licence renewal. However, the definition of efficiency under UK conditions of supplemental irrigation has been the subject of widespread debate between academics, the regulator, industry and individual abstractors. To improve our understanding of efficiency, and particularly the differences between overhead (spray) and micro (trickle) irrigation, this report offers a comparative study of the efficiency of water use with these contrasting irrigationItem Open Access Cost engineering: why, what and how?(2003-09-18T00:00:00Z) Roy, Rajkumar; EditorCost has become a major business driver in many industries. It is observed that there is a lack of understanding about the process to estimate, manage and control costs across the lifecycle of a product. This report presents a business case to understand the principles of ‘Cost Engineering’ within the manufacturing industries. The main focus of the report is in the techniques and tools used in cost estimating – one of the major activities in cost engineering. Five different methods of cost estimating are discussed in the report along with cost management issues including risk analysis. The report also presents research findings on ‘industry practice’ in hardware and software development cost estimating. The study shows the lack of research in hardware cost estimating and highlights the lack of communication within different groups of people involved in cost engineering. The report then focuses on the research trends in cost engineering and presents two case studies from recent research projects at Cranfield University. The case studies clearly show the progress in formalising the cost engineering process and the improvements in the current understanding about the domain. Two major areas of research as identified in the report are: i) integrating the cost engineering capability with the ERP (enterprise resource planning) environment so that data can be shared effectively, and ii) capture and reuse of human expertise in cost engineering for performance improvement. Finally, the report also identifies the need for simpler and cheaper cost engineering software for Small and Medium scale EnterprisItem Open Access Decision Engineering Report Series : Industrial Product-Service Systems (IPS2): THINK TANK(Cranfield University, 2011-07-11) Shehab, Essam; Tiwari, Ashutosh; Annamalai Vasantha, Gokula Vijaykumar; Lightfoot, Howard; Roy, RajkumarCranfield University and Rolls-Royce plc designed and developed a one-day ‘Think- Tank’ international workshop to establish the future research direction for Industrial Product-Service Systems (IPS2). The workshop was held at Cranfield University, UK, by invitation only to visionary academics across the globe, senior industrialists and funding organisations. The workshop aimed to trigger discussions on high impact challenges involved in IPS2. The research directions from the workshop could inform IPS2 researchers and research funding decisions in the future. The overall objectives were to: Engage multi-disciplinary academics and practitioners in a deeper discussion to identify major research directions for the future. Identify the unique challenges faced in IPS2 and also any country specific requirements. Prioritise the research directions into mid-term and long-term categories. Identify major industry and public procurement trends across different countries. The workshop design has gone through two main phases. Prior to commencing the event, the participants submitted their thoughts on either “IPS2 Research Directions” or “Industrial requirements for IPS2” and these were thoroughly analysed. During the event, the analysed results were presented and followed by capturing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) to IPS2 research across different countries. One of the main strengths of the research area is that IPS2 research is maturing in international profile and creating wide awareness of its importance among stakeholders. How the bigger picture of IPS2 was described and the immaturity of models, tools and techniques developed for real industrial applications were major weaknesses of IPS2 research. To develop an enhanced understanding of IPS2 research results across countries, wider opportunities to establish a common case studying pool is suggested. Finally, prolonged research funding for analysing real impact on industry is a major threat widely discussed. Every delegate had to express his/her views on potentially high-impact in their countries. Combined grouping analysis of these answers gave ten common themes within them. Examples of these common themes are cost, skills, design and manufacturing, society, and case studies. These themes underwent a rigorous prioritization process by the delegates to identify high impact challenges. From the prioritization of grouped challenges, the themes - Design and Manufacturing, Case studies, Business capability, Cost and Complexity, all emerged as the foremost areas on which to concentrate.Item Open Access Development of a range of plausible future land use, land management and growing season changes(2014-06-11) Holman, Ian P.; Hess, Tim M.This report is part of the "Land use, climate change & water availability (Phase 2a)" project which was commissioned and funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Based on a review of the literature, it describes plausible characteristics of future land use and management changes (induced by climate or social change by the 2050s) that are likely to influence water availability.Item Open Access Effects of EMFs from Undersea Power Cables on Elasmobranchs and Other Marine Species.(2011-05-31T00:00:00Z) Tricas, Timothy; Gill, Andrew B.Anthropogenic electromagnetic fields (EMFs) have been introduced into the marine environmentaround the world and from a wide variety of sources for well over a century. Despite this, littleis known about potential ecological impacts from EMFs. For decades, power transmissioncables have been installed across bays and river mouths, and connecting near-shore islands to themainland, with little consideration of possible effects to marine species from EMFs. At a time ofgreater environmental awareness, the US now faces the possibility of a new source of EMFs overa much greater extent of the seabed from offshore renewable energy facilities in coastal waters.This literature review synthesizes information on the types of power cables and models theexpected EMFs from representative cables. Available information on electro- and magnetosensitivityof marine organisms, including elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) and other fishspecies, marine mammals, sea turtles, and invertebrates is summarized and used in conjunctionwith the power cable modeling results to evaluate the level of confidence the existing state ofknowledge provides for impact assessment. Gaps in our knowledge of power cablecharacteristics and the biology needed to understand and predict impacts are summarized andform the basis of recommendations for future research priorities. Potential mitigationopportunities are described with a discussion of their potential secondary impacts as well assuggested methods for monitoring mitigation effectiveness. Finally, because interest in offshorerenewable energy has increased throughout US coastal waters, there is a concern that organismscould be exposed to multiple seabed power cables. Cumulative effects of this exposure are discussed.Item Open Access Effects of Pile-driving Noise on the Behaviour of Marine Fish(2010-03-31T00:00:00Z) Mueller-Blenkle, Christina; McGregor, Peter K.; Gill, Andrew B.; Andersson, Mathias H.; Metcalfe, Julian; Bendall, Victoria; Sigray, Peter; Wood, Daniel T.; Thomsen, FrankStudies on the effects of offshore wind farm construction on marine life have so far focussed onbehavioural reactions in porpoises and seals. The effects on fish have only very recently come intothe focus of scientists, regulators and stakeholders. Pile-driving noise during construction is ofparticular concern as the very high sound pressure levels could potentially prevent fish from reachingbreeding or spawning sites, finding food, and acoustically locating mates. This could result in longtermeffects on reproduction and population parameters. Further, avoidance reactions might result indisplacement away from potential fishing grounds and lead to reduced catches. However, reactionthresholds and therefore the impacts of pile-driving on the behaviour of fish are completely unknown.We played back pile-driving noise to cod and sole held in two large (40 m) net pens located in a quietBay in West Scotland. Movements of the fish were analysed using a novel acoustic tracking system.Received sound pressure level and particle motion were measured during the experiments.There was a significant movement response to the pile-driving stimulus in both species at relativelylow received sound pressure levels (sole: 144 – 156 dB re 1μPa Peak; cod: 140 – 161 dB re 1 μPaPeak, particle motion between 6.51x10-3 and 8.62x10-4 m/s2 peak). Sole showed a significantincrease in swimming speed during the playback period compared to before and after playback. Codexhibited a similar reaction, yet results were not significant. Cod showed a significant freezingresponse at onset and cessation of playback. There were indications of directional movements awayfrom the sound source in both species. The results further showed a high variability in behaviouralreactions across individuals and a decrease of response with multiple exposures.This study is the first to document behavioural response of marine fish due to playbacks of pile-drivingsounds. The results indicate that a range of received sound pressure and particle motion levels willtrigger behavioural responses in sole and cod. The results further imply a relatively large zone ofbehavioural response to pile-driving sounds in marine fish. Yet, the exact nature and extent of thebehavioural response needs to be investigated further. Some of our results point toward habituationto the sound.The results of the study have important implications for regulatory advice and the implementation ofmitigation measures in the construction of offshore wind farms in the UK and elsewhere. First, theconcerns raised about the potential effects of pile-driving noise on fish were well founded. Thissuggests to both regulators and developers that the costs imposed by some mitigation measures thathave so far been applied following the precautionary principle go some of the way to addressing areal problem. We also suggest that our behavioural thresholds are considered in assessments ofimpacts of offshore wind farms in the UK and elsewhere. Mitigation measures should be furtherdiscussed developed and, if meaningful, applied especially if these could lead to a reduction ofacoustic energy that is emitted into the water column.Further studies should investigate the response at critical times (e.g. mating and spawning) and theeffects of pile-driving on communication behaviour. It will also be necessary to further investigatehabituation to the sound to effectively manage effects of pile-driving sound on marine fish.
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