• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.10 no.7
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• pp.33-41
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to analyse the state of the energy industry and to determine the efficiency of its functioning on the basis of energy conservation principle and application of innovative technologies aimed at improving the ecological modernisation of agricultural sectors of Kazakhstan. The research methodology is based on an integrated approach of financial and economic evaluation of the effectiveness of the investment project, based on calculation of elasticity, total costs and profitability, as well as on comparative, graphical and system analysis. The current stage is characterised by widely spread restructuring processes of electric power industry in many countries through introduction of new technical installations of energy facilities and increased government regulation in order to enhance the competitive advantage of electricity market. Electric power industry features a considerable value of creating areas. For example, by providing scientific and technical progress, it crucially affects not only the development but also the territorial organisation of productive forces, first of all the industry. In modern life, more than 90% of electricity and heat is obtained by Kazakhstan's economy by consuming non-renewable energy resources: different types of coal, oil shale, oil, natural gas and peat. Therefore, it is significant to ensure energy security, as the country faces a rapid fall back to mono-gas structure of fuel and energy balance. However, energy resources in Kazakhstan are spread very unevenly. Its main supplies are concentrated in northern and central parts of the republic, and the majority of consumers of electrical power live in the southern and western areas of the country. However, energy plays an important role in the economy of industrial production and to a large extent determines the level of competitive advantage, which is a promising condition for implementation of energy-saving and environmentally friendly technologies. In these circumstances, issues of modernisation and reforms of this sector in Kazakhstan gain more and more importance, which can be seen in the example of economically sustainable solutions of a large local monopoly company, significant savings in capital investment and efficiency of implementation of an investment project. A major disadvantage of development of electricity distribution companies is the prevalence of very high moral and physical amortisation of equipment, reaching almost 70-80%, which significantly increases the operating costs. For example, while an investment of 12 billion tenge was planned in 2009 in this branch, in 2012 it is planned to invest more than 17 billion. Obviously, despite the absolute increase, the rate of investment is still quite low, as the total demand in this area is at least more than 250 billion tenge. In addition, industrial infrastructure, including the objects of Kazakhstan electric power industry, have a tangible adverse impact on the environment. Thus, since there is a large number of various power projects that are sources of electromagnetic radiation, the environment is deteriorated. Hence, there is a need to optimise the efficiency of the organisation and management of production activities of energy companies, to create and implement new technologies, to ensure safe production and provide solutions to various environmental aspects. These are key strategic factors to ensure success of the modern energy sector of Kazakhstan. The contribution of authors in developing the scope of this subject is explained by the fact that there was not enough research in the energy sector, especially in the view of ecological modernisation. This work differs from similar works in Kazakhstan in the way that the proposed method of investment project calculation takes into account the time factor, which compares the current and future value of profit from the implementation of innovative equipment that helps to bring it to actual practise. The feasibility of writing this article lies in the need of forming a public policy in the industrial sector, including optimising the structure of energy disbursing rate, which complies with the terms of future modernised development of the domestic energy sector.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2017

Arsenic (As) has been considered as the most toxic one among various hazardous materials and As contamination can be caused naturally and anthropogenically. Major forms of arsenic in groundwater are arsenite [(As(III)] and/or arsenate [(As(V)], depending on redox condition: arsenite and arsenate are predominant in reduced and oxidized environments, respectively. Because arsenite is much more toxic and mobile than arsenate, there have been a number of studies on the reduction of its toxicity through oxidation of As(III) to As(V). This study was initiated to develop photocatalytic oxidation process for treatment of groundwater contaminated with arsenite. The performance of two types of light sources (UV lamp and UV LED) was compared and the feasibility of goethite as a photocatalyst was evaluated. The highest removal efficiency of the process was achieved at a goethite dose of 0.05 g/L. Based on the comparison of oxidation efficiencies of arsenite between two light sources, the apparent performance of UV LED was inferior to that of UV lamp. However, when the results were appraised on the basis of their emitting UV irradiation, the higher performance was achieved by UV LED than by UV lamp. This study demonstrates that environmentally friendly process of goethite-catalytic photo-oxidation without any addition of foreign catalyst is feasible for the reduction of arsenite in groundwater containing naturally-occurring goethite. In addition, this study confirms that UV LED can be used in the photo-oxidation of arsenite as an alternative light source of UV lamp to remedy the drawbacks of UV lamp, such as long stabilization time, high electrical power consumption, short lifespan, and high heat output requiring large cooling facilities.