The aim of this study is to shed light on the importance of biofuels as an alternative to conventional energy, in addition to the importance of preserving agricultural crops, which are the main source of this fuel, to maintain food security, especially in developing countries. The increase in global oil prices, in addition to the fear of global warming, are among the main factors that draw the world’s attention to searching for alternative sources of traditional energy, which are sustainable on the one hand, and on the other hand reduce carbon emissions. Therefore, the volume of global investment in renewable energy in general, and in liquid biofuels and biomass in particular, has increased. Global fears emerged that the excessive conversion of large farms suitable for growing food to energy production would threaten global food security. In the first ten years of the new millennium, biofuel production increased fivefold, and the largest increase in biofuel production was recorded in 2007-2008, coinciding with a sharp rise in food prices. Compared to the average food prices in the period 2002-2004, the average global prices of cereals, oils and fats traded were 2 to 2.5 times higher in 2008, this continuous increase in the use of food crops to produce biofuels has reflected on global food security. Accordingly, this review article will address previous studies on biofuel production; identify the theoretical framework for the concept of biofuels and its characteristics, and the relationship between biofuels and food security. In this study, we presented biofuels, which are considered one of the important categories in the field of renewable energy and its environmental and economic effects, as well as the experiences of some countries in its production, and the possibility of benefiting from the natural resources available for its production. We will discuss the scientific (chemical) principles of biofuel production.
The influence and hazard of fire flame are one of the most important parameters that affecting the durability and strength of structural members. This research studied the influence of fire flame on the behavior of reinforced concrete beams affected by repeated load. Nine self- compacted reinforced concrete beams were castellated, all have the same geometric layout (0.15x0.15x1.00) m, reinforcement details and compressive strength (50 Mpa). To estimate the effect of fire flame disaster, four temperatures were adopted (200, 300, 400 and 500) oC and two method of cooling were used (graduated and sudden). In the first cooling method, graduated, the tested beams were leaved to cool in air while in the second method, sudden, water splash was use
... Show MoreThis study was carried out to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation with different levels of parsley on semen quality of local Iraqi ganders. A total of thirty-two local ganders were used in this study during the period from the beginning of February to the end of April. The ganders were allocated for 4 treatment groups containing 8 ganders each. The treatment groups were as follows: Control diet (free from parsley); T1: Control diet + 80 g/d parsley; T2: Control diet + 160 g/d parsley; T3: Control diet + 240 g/d parsley. Semen samples were collected twice a week, fortnightly, from each gander by the dorsal-abdominal message method. The first semen collection was used to evaluate semen volume, sperm concentration, live in total
... Show MoreIn this work, an optical fiber biomedical sensor for detecting the ratio of the hemoglobin in the blood is presented. A surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based coreless optical fiber was developed and implemented using single- and multi-mode optical fibers. The sensor is also utilized to evaluate refractive indices and concentrations of hemoglobin in blood samples, with 40 nm thickness of (20 nm Au and 20 nm Ag) to increase the sensitivity. It is found in practice that when the sensitive refractive index increases, the resonant wavelength increases due to the decrease in energy.
Twenty five vaginal swabs from outpatients' healthy women were collected from Kamal Al-Samarai Hospital, Baghdad, to isolate and identify of Lactobacillus acidophilus. Three isolates were diagnosed as L. acidophilus which represents 15% of the total number of lactic acid bacterial (LAB) isolates; other LAB types represent 65% (20 isolates).The ability of L. acidophilus to produce surlactin was detected after measuring its biological activity to inhibit the adhesion of biofilm formed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa to surfaces using test tube method. It was found that all isolates were able to produce surlactin but the activity of surlactin was varying in each isolate. Surlactin produced by isolates 1 and 13 was the most effective. Biological appl
... Show MoreThe varied thermal conductivity (insulation) of silica aerogel with heating for different pH has been investigated, it has been depended on ambient pressure drying method in the preparing silica aerogel samples, also six different pH of samples (1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 9) were treated under five degree of heating with (50,100,150,200 and 250) ᴼC. This technique is important to test the carry-outs hydrophobic silica to temperature without high-quality material changes in the basic characteristics. The hot-wire technique is used in this work to examine the thermal conductivity, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) depended to characterize the bonds and their artificial by heating. Resu
... Show MoreSpray pyrolysis technique (SPT) is employed to synthesize cadmium oxide nanostructure with 3% and 5% Cobalt concentrations. Films are deposited on a glass substrate at 350 ᵒC with 150 nm thickness. The XRD analysis revealed a polycrystalline nature with cubic structure and (111) preferred orientation. Structural parameters represent lattice spacing, crystallite size, lattice parameter and dislocation density. Homogeneous surfaces and regular distribution of atoms were showed by atomic force microscope (AFM) with 1.03 nm average roughness and 1.22 nm root mean square roughness. Optical properties illustrated a high transmittance more than 85% in the range of visible spectrum and decreased with Co concentration increasing. The absorption
... Show MoreStraight tendons in pretensioned members can cause high-tensile stresses in the concrete extreme fibers at end sections because of the absence of the bending stresses due to self-weight and superimposed loads and the dominance of the moment due to prestressing force alone. Accordingly, the concrete tensile stresses at the ends of a member prestressed with straight tendons may limit the service load capacity of the member. It is therefore important to establish limiting zone in the concrete section within which the prestressing force can be applied without causing tension in the extreme concrete fibers. Two practical methods are available to reduce the stresses at the end sections due to the prestressing force. The first method based
... Show MoreIn this paper, SiO2 nanoparticles thin films were synthesised at different PH values of solution by sol gel method at fixed temperature (25oC) and molar ratio (R =H2O/precursor) of (Tetra Ethyl Ortho Silicate) TEOS as precursor at (R=1). The structure and optical properties of the thin films have been investigated. All thin films were tested by using X-RAY diffraction. All X-RAY spectrum can be indexed as monoclinic structure with strong crystalline (110) plane. The morphological properties of the prepared films were studied by SEM. The results indicate that all films are in nano scale and the particle size around (19-62) nm .The size of silica particles increases with increasing PH value of solution where both the rate of hydrolysis and
... Show MoreThe Karolinka earth-fill dam was constructed between 1977 and 1984 on the Stanovnice river above the town of Karolinka in the region of Vsetínsko in Czech Republic. Because of leakage on the downstream dam face due to technological indiscipline when filling dam layers during the dam construction stage, there were some steps to improve state dam safety. The final rehabilitation is to construct the diaphragm walls from self-hardening cement-bentonite suspension along the length of the dam. In addition to connecting the gallery and abutment (2 × 25 m long) by using jet piles. The article presents numerical modeling of safety factor evaluation associated with the state of the dam body and foundation; before, and after seal
... Show MoreFaujasite type NaY zeolite catalyst was prepared from locally available kaolin, then the prepared NaY zeolite have been modified by exchanging of sodium ion with ammonium to produce NH4Y zeolite. NH4Y zeolite was converted to HY zeolite by ion exchanging with oxalic acid. Zinc and nickel promoters have been added to the prepared HY zeolite catalyst, and the effect of these promoters on the catalytic activity of the prepared HY catalyst was studied in fluid catalytic cracking process using light gas oil as a feedstock. The experimental results show that the promoted catalyst gives higher gas oil conversion and gasoline yield than HY zeolite catalyst at the same reaction temperature and WHSV. It was also found that the promoted catalyst gi
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