T.M. Lai

The causal relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth in a Gaming and Tourism Center: The case of Macao SAR, the People’s Republic of China

Abstract A number of Asian cities decided to establish gaming and resort facilities in order to capitalize on the growing number of gamblers and their family members in Asia. In doing so, they expect to sustain economic growth but, on the other hand, will consume a considerable amount of energy. Nevertheless, the causal relationship between economic growth and electricity consumption in this type of service-oriented territories has never been investigated. Using the historical data obtained from the Government of Macao SAR, we found that electricity consumption and economic growth in terms of gross domestic product are co-integrated for the period of 1999 Quarter 1–2008 Quarter 4. Moreover, vector error correction (VEC) models indicated a lack of short-run relationships but showed that there was a long-run equilibrium relationship between electricity consumption and gross domestic product. The accuracy of VEC models was assessed by using the mean squared error and the mean absolute error. The error analysis shows that VEC models reproduced time series of gross domestic product and electricity consumption in difference form accurately.

Characterization of commercial clothes dryers based on energy‐efficiency analysis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of commercial clothes dryers based on energy‐efficiency and environmental impact analyses.Design/methodology/approach – The study consisted of reviewing and examining the energy consumption of clothes dryers. It adopted the US Department of Energys uniform test method for measuring the energy consumption of electric and gas‐fired commercial clothes dryers. Time efficiency, the cost of drying clothes and the environmental impact caused by the operation of commercial clothes dryers were studied.Findings – Electric commercial clothes dryers were found to be the most efficiency one in terms of energy per kilogram loadings. However, gas‐fired commercial clothes dryers were found to produce less environmental impact in global terms. Liquefied petroleum gas‐fired commercial clothes dryer was the most cost effective and time efficient.Research limitations/implications – All tests were conducted using three types of testing loads, namely towe...

Destination choice of cross-border Chinese students: an importance-performance analysis

Higher education institutions are competing with one another to recruit students. As a major developing country with emphasis on human capital development, China has the largest group of tertiary students studying locally and aboard, including cross-border students in the Greater China region. This paper examines the destination choice of cross-border Chinese students. The empirical findings reveal that the most important attributes are programme reputation, recognition of university qualifications, availability of course information, safety and cost of living in the host cities. Importance-performance analysis was applied to the survey data. Results show that students are satisfied with the safety aspect, but not with the cost of living. Regression analysis indicates that student satisfaction was significantly affected by the perceived value of the programme, followed by accessibility. These findings can help improve the quality of education services of higher education administration by addressing the perceptions and concerns of cross-border Chinese students.

Intent to pursue further studies among Chinese Students

The number of students pursuing graduate qualifications has increased, especially in Asian countries and cities, such as China, Macao and Hong Kong. This paper examines the intent to pursue further studies among Chinese students according to the theory of planned behaviour. Based on responses from 321 final-year students in higher education institutions in Macao, Hong Kong and mainland China, path analysis shows that subjective norm, perceived behavioural control and attitude toward graduate studies owing to intrinsic motivation significantly affects the intent to pursue further studies. The paper also identifies the important attributes that influence students’ choice of a graduate programme. These findings can help higher education management improve the effectiveness of graduate recruitment and address the concerns of Chinese students.

Harmonic simulation of MTR traction system by EMTP

The proliferation of nonlinear loads resulting from new technologies has increased the levels of harmonics in power systems, and traction systems represent large nonlinear loads. This paper presents results of a simulation and site measurement study of the harmonics related to Mass Transit Railway (MTR) in Hong Kong. Simulation results from the ATP Electromagnetic Transient Program (EMTP) are compared with the site measurements so as to verify the simulation model of the network. Summaries of the parameters affecting the harmonic performance of the traction system and estimates of the most predominant harmonics in a network are also presented and recommendations are made for the improvement of the power quality.

Electricity consumption in Hong Kong: trend analysis and greenhouse gases emission

The consumption of electricity has increased continuously in the past four decades. Inevitably, the emission of greenhouse gases has increased in the same period even though Hong Kongs power companies have produced a certain percentage of electricity using “cleaner” fuels such as natural gas and nuclear power in recent years. This paper presents a four-parameter logistic model (To WM, Lai TM, Lo WC, Lam KH, Chung WL. The growth pattern and fuel life cycle analysis of the electricity consumption of Hong Kong. Environ Pollut. 2012;165:1–10) that describes the growth pattern of Hong Kongs overall electricity consumption. The same approach was used to model the sectoral electricity consumption in Hong Kong. In addition, a fuel life cycle analysis was used to determine greenhouse gases emission due to electricity consumption. It was found that the emission factor due to the electricity generated in Hong Kong was 0.824 kg CO2-equivalent per kWh while the emission factor due to the electricity consumed in Hong Kong was 0.751 kg CO2-equivalent per kWh, as 23% of the electricity consumed was imported (net import) from the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant located in Shenzhen in 2012. Future electricity demand is presented.

RMS percent of wavelet transform for the detection of stochastic high impedance faults

High impedance faults (HIF) are faults which are difficult to detect by overcurrent protection relays. This paper presents a practical pattern recognition based algorithm for electric distribution high impedance fault detection. The scheme recognizes the distortion of the voltage and current waveforms caused by the arcs usually associated with HIF. The analysis using rms ratios of Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) yields three phase voltage and current in the low frequency range which are fed to a classifier for pattern recognition. The classifier is based on the algorithm using artificial neural network (ANN) approach. A HIF model was also developed, where the random nature of the arc was simulated using MATLAB.

IT-enabled comprehensive building environmental assessment

Building environmental assessment is a holistic approach that evaluates the environmental performance of a building from its planning, design, construction to its operation, maintenance and demolition, with the usability and functionality of the whole building system taken into consideration. Hence, not only a healthy, comfort and functional indoor environment can be achieved but also environmental impacts arisen from a building throughout its life cycle can be minimised. However, a buildings environmental assessment cannot be performed without understanding the ingress of external pollution into the building as it affects the design of building envelope. The paper presents some 3D modelling approaches that determine noise and air pollution levels at the building envelope. An e-commerce web application for building environmental assessment was developed based on the well-established technology acceptance model (TAM). Using mobile and cloud technology, this App guides building designers to perform a detailed building environmental assessment in an interactive manner.