title: Developing a GIS-Based Decision Support Tool For Evaluating Potential Wind Farm Sites

authors: Xu, Xiao Mark

subjects: Wind farm site selection

abstract: In recent years, the popularity of wind energy has grown. It is starting to play a large role in generating renewable, clean energy around the world. In New Zealand, there is increasing recognition and awareness of global warming and the pollution caused by burning fossil fuels, as well as the increased difficulty of obtaining oil from foreign sources, and the fluctuating price of non-renewable energy products. This makes wind energy a very attractive alternative to keep New Zealand clean and green. 

There are many issues involved in wind farm development. These issues can be grouped into two categories - economic issues and environmental issues. Wind farm developers often use site selection process to minimise the impact of these issues. This thesis aims to develop GIS based models that provide effective decision support tool for evaluating, at a regional scale, potential wind farm locations. This thesis firstly identifies common issues involved in wind farm development. Then, by reviewing previous research on wind farm site selection, methods and models used by academic and corporate sector to solve issues are listed. Criteria for an effective decision support tool are also discussed. In this case, an effective decision support tool needs to be flexible, easy to implement and easy to use. More specifically, an effective decision support tool needs to provide users the ability to identify areas that are suitable for wind farm development based on different criteria.  Having established the structure and criteria for a wind farm analysis model, a GIS based tool was implemented using AML code using a Boolean logic model approach. This method uses binary maps for the final analysis. There are a total of 3645 output maps produced based on different combination of criteria. These maps can be used to conduct sensitivity analysis. This research concludes that an effective GIS analysis tool can be developed for provide effective decision support for evaluating wind farm sites.

text: Developing a GIS-Based Decision Support Tool For Evaluating Potential Wind Farm Sites In recent years, the popularity of wind energy has grown. It is starting to play a large role in generating renewable, clean energy around the world. In New Zealand, there is increasing recognition and awareness of global warming and the pollution caused by burning fossil fuels, as well as the increased difficulty of obtaining oil from foreign sources, and the fluctuating price of non-renewable energy products. This makes wind energy a very attractive alternative to keep New Zealand clean and green. 

There are many issues involved in wind farm development. These issues can be grouped into two categories - economic issues and environmental issues. Wind farm developers often use site selection process to minimise the impact of these issues. This thesis aims to develop GIS based models that provide effective decision support tool for evaluating, at a regional scale, potential wind farm locations. This thesis firstly identifies common issues involved in wind farm development. Then, by reviewing previous research on wind farm site selection, methods and models used by academic and corporate sector to solve issues are listed. Criteria for an effective decision support tool are also discussed. In this case, an effective decision support tool needs to be flexible, easy to implement and easy to use. More specifically, an effective decision support tool needs to provide users the ability to identify areas that are suitable for wind farm development based on different criteria.  Having established the structure and criteria for a wind farm analysis model, a GIS based tool was implemented using AML code using a Boolean logic model approach. This method uses binary maps for the final analysis. There are a total of 3645 output maps produced based on different combination of criteria. These maps can be used to conduct sensitivity analysis. This research concludes that an effective GIS analysis tool can be developed for provide effective decision support for evaluating wind farm sites.

year: 2007

title: Manufacture of Casein from Milk Retentates

authors: Hills, Michael

subjects: Casein

abstract: Casein is the major protein component of cow’s milk and is extracted commercially for a wide range of applications. Before casein is precipitated from milk by acid, milk is commonly concentrated by ultrafiltration to increase throughput and partly recover lactose. The degree to which the milk can be concentrated is limited due to higher concentrations producing a tough rubbery curd that causes downstream processing difficulties, particularly when casein is washed to remove calcium, lactose, whey and other impurities. This thesis examines using milk protein concentrates, MPC70 and MPC85 retentates from ultrafiltration, to manufacture casein. MPC85 was used on a large scale process, and MPC70 was used on lab scale process. Lab scale casein production techniques were developed to produce a similar casein to process scale. Effects of dilution and pH were examined on casein properties and calcium and lactose removal. Diluting the retentates prior to acidification was effective at reducing the residual levels of calcium and lactose in the casein, and no increase in residual whey protein was found compared to conventional casein production. The optimal precipitation pH remained at 4.60, and the resulting casein was not found to have any reduction in its functional performance. Lowering precipitation pH increased casein losses due to fines being formed and difficulty in separating wash water from the curd. Use of milk retentate for casein manufacture allows greater recovery of lactose and may have positive implications for the economics of the process in reducing washing required to produce high quality casein.

text: Manufacture of Casein from Milk Retentates Casein is the major protein component of cow’s milk and is extracted commercially for a wide range of applications. Before casein is precipitated from milk by acid, milk is commonly concentrated by ultrafiltration to increase throughput and partly recover lactose. The degree to which the milk can be concentrated is limited due to higher concentrations producing a tough rubbery curd that causes downstream processing difficulties, particularly when casein is washed to remove calcium, lactose, whey and other impurities. This thesis examines using milk protein concentrates, MPC70 and MPC85 retentates from ultrafiltration, to manufacture casein. MPC85 was used on a large scale process, and MPC70 was used on lab scale process. Lab scale casein production techniques were developed to produce a similar casein to process scale. Effects of dilution and pH were examined on casein properties and calcium and lactose removal. Diluting the retentates prior to acidification was effective at reducing the residual levels of calcium and lactose in the casein, and no increase in residual whey protein was found compared to conventional casein production. The optimal precipitation pH remained at 4.60, and the resulting casein was not found to have any reduction in its functional performance. Lowering precipitation pH increased casein losses due to fines being formed and difficulty in separating wash water from the curd. Use of milk retentate for casein manufacture allows greater recovery of lactose and may have positive implications for the economics of the process in reducing washing required to produce high quality casein.

year: 2011

title: Culture, for and against: patterns of "Culturespeak" in New Zealand

authors: Goldsmith, Michael

subjects: multiculturalism

abstract: Culture is invoked not only as a means of justifying redress for discrimination or historical injustice, but also as a standard of accountability by which the upholding of rights (or their suppression) can be measured. Rather than assume conceptual coherence regarding the notion of culture that such applications appear to share, it is proposed to analyse them as terms within a broad and open-ended field of 'culturespeak', a concept generally ascribed to Ulf Hannerz.

text: Culture, for and against: patterns of "Culturespeak" in New Zealand Culture is invoked not only as a means of justifying redress for discrimination or historical injustice, but also as a standard of accountability by which the upholding of rights (or their suppression) can be measured. Rather than assume conceptual coherence regarding the notion of culture that such applications appear to share, it is proposed to analyse them as terms within a broad and open-ended field of 'culturespeak', a concept generally ascribed to Ulf Hannerz.

year: 2003-09-01