Chapters authored
A Comprehensive Review on Available/Existing Renewable Energy Systems in Malaysia and Comparison of Their Capability of Electricity Generation in Malaysia
Malaysia is one of the fastest emerging and developing countries in the world. To drive the economical workhorse, large amounts of power is required. The power demand has risen to 156,003 GWh per year in the year 2016, almost 30,000 GWh more than 5 years prior. Fossil fuels such as natural gas, coal, oil, and diesel have been the driving force powering Malaysia’s grids. However, these resources will not last forever, and they do harm to our environment. To counter this, renewable energy (RE) projects have been constructed all around Malaysia. This paper discusses on available and existing renewable energy systems (single/hybrid) in Malaysia and provides a comparison of their electricity generation capabilities. The renewable energy sources that are covered in this paper include Solar, Hydropower, Biomass, Tidal and Geothermal. At the moment, hydropower is the largest renewable energy producer, contributing to almost 15% of the country’s total energy generation. A lot of resources have been channeled towards the initiative of hydropower and it has definitely borne much fruit. This is followed by Solar Energy. Even though it is not as successful as hydropower, there is still a lot of avenues for it to grow in a tropical country like this. Malaysia is still relatively new in terms of power generation using biomass sources. There has been a gradual increase in the power generation using biofuels through the years and its future does look bright. Energy generation from wind, tidal, and geothermal sources has been rather challenging. Because of Malaysia’s geographical location, it experiences slow winds on average throughout the year. This has led to insufficient output for its financial input. Besides that, Malaysia also has relatively low tide, if compared to other Asian countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines. This contributed to the failure of tidal energy in Malaysia, but there have been signs of locations that can be suitable for this energy generation. Besides that, the country’s first geothermal power plant project failed due to a lack of preparation and discipline during the project’s execution. There is a high initial cost for geothermal projects, and the chances of failure are high if the necessary precautions are not followed. This could be one of the reasons why this branch of renewable energy has not been explored deeply.
Part of the book: Entropy and Exergy in Renewable Energy
Nano-Cellulosic Fibers from Agricultural Wastes
In recent years, the potential of agricultural wastes has received increasing attention from academia and industry. The aim has been to identify strategies for the conversion of low-value wastes into new materials and other value-added products. Cellulose is a naturally abundant polymer that is readily available in various agricultural wastes. It is a linear polymer consisting of β-D-glucopyranose units (disaccharides) joined by glycosidic β-1,4 bonds. Nanoparticles can be extracted from cellulose fibers using a top-down mechanically or chemically treatment. Cellulose nanomaterials have generated significant interest due to their intrinsic properties such as large surface-to-volume ratios, high tensile strength, stiffness, and flexibility in addition to good dynamic mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties. The use of nanocellulose for reinforcement in matrices improves thermo-mechanical properties, decreases the sensitivity of polymers to water, and preserves biodegradability. The mixing of nanocellulose with polysaccharides improves mechanical properties. Nano-sized cellulose fibers possess unique physical, chemical, and morphological characteristics. Hence, nano-sized cellulose fibers are considered versatile materials for addition to polymers, and application in high gas barriers and packaging materials. Other uses include electronic devices, foods, medicine, cosmetics, and health care. This chapter focuses on the cellulose nanofibers attained from banana, pineapple and corn-based agricultural wastes.
Part of the book: Cellulose Science and Derivatives