Design, Sizing, and Energy Management of Microgrids in Harbor Areas: A Review

Energy efficiency and low-carbon energy systems are increasingly taken into account in seaports, due to climate change challenges and the evolution of environmental regulations. Thus, technological breakthroughs must be brought to numerous systems in harbors, such as harbor cranes, seaport vehicles, or the power supply of berthed vessels. These aspects may require the establishment of a microgrid in the harbor area. Microgrids have been subjected to a wide development on the mainland and islands, mostly for domestic loads. However, these are still scarce in harbor areas. Their development in such places faces several challenges, such as high power requirements, monitoring and management of a wide range of loads, energy policy framework, etc. Moreover, the establishment of a microgrid involves a study of sizing and of energy management, to avoid prohibitive costs and to verify load requirements. This paper provides a literature survey related to the development of microgrids in seaport areas. Firstly, the main components that occur in harbor microgrids are listed, and then a review of studies dealing with sizing and energy management is proposed. Finally, from this survey, innovative concepts and barriers are listed, with an up-to-date review of microgrid development in seaports worldwide.

Capacitive Sensing Algorithm for Elderly Activity Detection Scheme Indoor Environment

The aim of this research is to assist elderlies in accomplishing their everyday tasks through facilitating their home atmosphere with sensors, actuators, and computational resources. A significant effort is needed to incorporate them to make them effective in daily life. Particularly, the tracking and detection of elderly people’s daily tasks, associated with the information of the user's location in the home environment signify the key pillars of this work. The detecting and tracking algorithm uses the sensory data to indicate an associated situation in order to allow elderly people with special requirements. Monitoring the elderly’s behaviour over a long period of time will allow prediction of their forthcoming alarming situation which allows the finding of the elderly’s behavioural deviations in their everyday routine. The proposed resolution has been methodically assessed in the laboratory.

Can Latino food trucks (loncheras) serve healthy meals? A feasibility study

ObjectiveTo conduct a pilot study to assess the feasibility of modifying food truck meals to meet the My Plate guidelines as well as the acceptability of healthier meals among consumers.DesignWe recruited the owners of Latino food trucks (loncheras) in 2013–2014 and offered an incentive for participation, assistance with marketing and training by a bilingual dietitian. We surveyed customers and we audited purchases to estimate sales of the modified meals.SettingCity of Los Angeles, CA, USA.SubjectsOwners or operators of Latino food trucks (loncheras) and their customers.ResultsWe enrolled twenty-two lonchera owners and eleven completed the intervention, offering more than fifty new menu items meeting meal guidelines. Sales of the meals comprised 2 % of audited orders. Customers rated the meals highly; 97 % said they would recommend and buy them again and 75 % of participants who completed the intervention intended to continue offering the healthier meals. However, adherence to guidelines drifted after several months of operation and participant burden was cited as a reason for dropout among three of eleven lonchera owners who dropped out.ConclusionsLonchera owners/operators who participated reported minimal difficulty in modifying menu items. Given the difficulty in enrolment, expanding this programme and ensuring adherence would likely need to be accomplished through regulatory requirements, monitoring and feedback, similar to the methods used to achieve compliance with sanitary standards. A companion marketing campaign would be helpful to increase consumer demand.