Tag Archives: investments
Smart gates to reduce airport waiting time
Smart gates to reduce airport waiting time Muaz Shabandri / 11 July 2013 Waiting in long immigration queues at Dubai’s airports will soon become a thing of the past, as new smart gates will be introduced at Terminal 1 and 2 to speed-up the immigration process. Travellers using the smart gates will be able to complete their passport control procedures in as little as 20 seconds and head for the baggage reclaim immediately. Any traveller wanting to use the service will have to first register their biometrics, which is a one-time procedure. Once registered, the traveller will be able to swipe his/her passport on the reader and complete the immigration formalities. The technology is being rolled out in all of Dubai’s airports as part of a partnership between Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects (DAEP) and Emaratech. A total of 14 smart gates were installed at Terminal 3 earlier this year and more gates are now being introduced at Terminal 1 and 2. The smart gates are able to read electronic passports from the 33 pre-approved visa countries, UAE citizens, residents and GCC nationals. In addition, the reader also accepts Emirates ID or the e-Gate as an identification document. “The smart gates and upgrading immigration counters mark another important milestone in our continuing strategy to fully harness the potential of Dubai’s International Airports and passenger handling capacity,” said Suzanne Al-Anani, CEO of DAEP. The service is being provided free of cost and people are encouraged to register their biometrics before travelling. “The smart gate is recognised as the most efficient and most advanced around the world from a technical, operational and security integration aspect that ensures the highest standards of safety and security to all passengers. This is what we have delivered to Dubai”, said Thani Al Zaffin, board member and director general of Emaratech. The gates use facial and eye recognition technology to identify and verify the user. Once the checks are made, the gate opens automatically for travellers to pass through to baggage reclaim areas. How to use it Register your biometric details (see last point). To complete immigration, approach any of the smart gates at the airport. Scan your passport’s personal details page in the passport scanner, or insert Emirates ID card or place your e-Gate card in the location identified at the smart gate. The first gate will open and the traveller will have to stand on the marked footprints. User stands still and looks at the camera until the word “OK” appears on the screen. The second gate opens for the user to proceed to the baggage reclaim area. Approved locations for registering biometrics LOCATIONS : Terminal 3 departure and arrival hall, Terminals 1 & 3 arrival halls, DNATA office on Shaikh Zayed Road, headquarters of Emirates Airlines, General Directorate for Residency and Foreign Affairs. muaz@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
In 1776, Energy Was Rooted In Wood
In 1776, an “all of the above” approach to energy basically meant wood. The course of human events has run 237 years since then, and we’re pretty much independent of fuel from trees. The fossil fuels coal, natural gas and oil now provide about 90 percent of the energy Americans consume, according to a special Fourth of July report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But wood is getting a federal push for a comeback, this time as technically revolutionary advanced cellulosic biofuel. The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act requires refiners to blend 36 billion gallons of biofuels into gasoline and diesel by 2022 , putting pressure on oil producers to invest in alternative fuel sources, such as sugar, algae and wood chips. Cellulosic biofuels include fuels produced from wood, grasses, or the inedible parts of plants, and, more recently, algae . The Obama administration has urged the development of non-carbon resources, as an alternative to fossil fuels that contribute to climate change. And while the oil industry has challenged biofuel mandates citing lack of available cellulosic fuel , the future mandated targets still stand, with tax credits and other incentives further encouraging companies to invest. To help meet the upcoming mandates, Chevron Technology Ventures teamed with forest products giant Weyerhauser in 2008 to form Catchlight Energy. It supplies raw material to Pasadena-based Kior, which makes advanced biofuels from southern yellow pine at a plant in Columbus, Miss. The commercial scale plant, which began shipping its product earlier this year, can process 500 tons of woody biomass per day. The resulting biofuel is blended with gasoline and diesel to reduce the petroleum component and carbon emissions of those fuels. Wood chip-based fuel, however, costs about $4.50 a gallon to produce, said Desmond King, president of Chevron Technology Ventures. And on Thursday, the nationwide average retail price per gallon was $3.48 for regular gasoline and $3.82 for diesel, according to AAA. The main challenge in wood’s return as a fuel source is that there isn’t enough of it. “You can look at the cost to make a gallon, but the problem is how much biofuel you need to make a difference to the world’s oil supply,” King said. The world’s annual timber production would only generate 3 million barrels a day of biocrude, he said. Meanwhile, according the Energy Information Administration, the world is consuming about 90 million barrels of oil a day. Continue reading
Second Gen Biofuels Most Efficient Use Of EU Bioenergy
July 10, 2013 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin Bioenergy should be produced in line with EU objectives to use resources more efficiently, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA), including reducing the land and other resources needed to produce each unit of bioenergy and avoiding environmental harm from bioenergy production, extracting more energy from the same material input, and avoiding negative environmental effects potentially caused by bioenergy production. In 2010, bioenergy comprised approximately 7.5 percent of energy used in the EU and is expected to rise to around 10 percent by 2020, according to EU Member States’ National Renewable Energy Plans. According to the EEA analysis, the most efficient energy use of biomass is for heating and electricity as well as advanced biofuels or second generation biofuels. The research shows that the current energy crop mix is not good for the environment and recommends a broader mix of crops to reduce environmental impacts, including perennial crops which are not harvested annually like energy grasses or short rotation willow plantations to enhance ecosystem services such as flood prevention and water filtration. Bioenergy is often considered carbon neutral, as the carbon dioxide released in combustion is assumed to be compensated by the CO 2 absorbed during plant growth. However, the research shows that indirect land use change can negate any greenhouse gas savings from biofuel production based on energy crops due to the displacement of crop production onto previously unused land, which can lead to the conversion of forests and savannah to agriculture ultimately harming biodiversity and increasing greenhouse gas emissions. “Bioenergy is an important component of our renewable energy mix, helping to ensure a stable energy supply. But this study highlights the fact that forest biomass and productive land are limited resources, and part of Europe’s ‘natural capital,'” Hans Bruyninckx, EEA executive director, said. “So it is essential that we consider how we can use existing resources efficiently before we impose additional demands on land for energy production.” For more: – download the report Read more: Second gen biofuels most efficient use of EU bioenergy – FierceEnergy http://www.fierceene…0#ixzz2YfQfXVKy Subscribe at FierceEnergy Continue reading
