The 2nd International Conference on the Applications of Information Technology in Developing Renewable Energy Processes and Systems of the Smart Cities commenced. The Faculty of Information Technology (FIT) of the University of Petra (UOP) organized the conference in cooperation with National Research University Moscow Power Engineering.
In his statement during the opening session of Conference, UOP President Prof. Marwan Muwalla said that energy in general and renewable energy in particular is a critical matter for Jordan which lacks fossil fuels and imports 96% of its oil and gas needs from the neighboring countries. “UOP-FIT realized that UOP must play a leading role in directing research efforts to this field. Therefore, the 1st Conference on the Applications of Information Technology in Developing Renewable Energy Systems in 2013. Today, the 2nd conference 2017 commenced with a view to joining up efforts of researchers in the fields of information technology, communications and renewable energy,” Prof. Muwalla added.
Prof. Muwalla noted that UOP campus has transformed to using solar panels in order to protect the environment and reduce electricity costs. “According to Green Metric 2016, UOP took the third place to Jordanian universities and took No. 221 place to world's universities,” Prof. Muwalla said.
“I have full confidence that the papers to be discussed during the conference sessions would offer future research and cooperation opportunities in the fields of information technology, communications and renewable energy for developing efficiency and effectiveness of renewable energy systems, reduce energy costs and transform to green or smart cities,” Prof. Muwalla added. “I look forward to receiving the recommendations of the conference,” Prof. Muwalla added.
Prof. Adnan Badran, the Chancellor of the University of Petra and its Board of Trustees, presented a paper on UOP experience in transforming to renewable energy and green university. Prof. Badran said that UOP, as a center of knowledge creation and technology transfer, must improve its campus to be a place that provides quality education and scientific research opportunities and provide local community with creative and innovative ideas and solutions.
“UOP has followed a pre-defined strategy for transforming its campus to a smart and green environment, thereby benefit from natural resources and make its infrastructure friendly to students and staff,” Prof. Badran added.
Prof. Badran clarified that transforming to green university has begun with saving energy by buying energy-saving and eco-friendly electrical appliances, installing energy-saving lamps and replacing old electrical appliances with energy-saving modern electrical appliances.
Prof. Badran said UOP has installed solar panels to generate its needs of electricity and reduce energy costs. “That was driven by the facts that Jordan imports 95% of its oil and gas needs to generate electricity and relying on fossil fuel lead to polluting environment due to CO2 emissions. Thus, UOP has installed greater than 5500 solar panels in order generate 1.5 MW and reduce electricity costs from one million JD to 50000 JD annually,” Prof. Badran added.
Prof. Badran said that UOP has developed a policy for waste-water recycling and has established a station for gathering and recycling waste-water at a rate of 200 cubic meters daily in the lowest spot of UOP campus using earth gravity feature. Thereafter, recycled water is pumped to tanks for drip irrigation of gardens, grasses and trees.
Prof. Badran added that UOP is currently building a 50K cubic meters well under UOP stadium to gather rainwater using earth's gravity.
Prof. Ghassan Issa, the Conference President and UOP-FIT Dean, said that the conference aims at narrowing the gap between information technology and renewable energy researchers and addresses information technology applications in building renewable energy systems, which opens up new research opportunities.
Prof. Issa noted that the Conference discusses five tracks: ICT Solutions and Support for Smart and Green Cities, Smart Renewable Energy, Renewable Energy Sources and Systems (RESS), Applications of Renewable Energy in Smart and Green Cities, including: Buildings services, freshwater production and waste water treatment. The last track of the conference is Smart and Green Cities Management, Economics, and Future Challenges.
Eng. Abdul Fattah Al-Daradkeh, the Director General of the National Electricity Company (NEPCO), said that cooperation between information technology and renewable energy experts may resolve a number of problems of utilization of renewable energy. Eng. Al-Daradkeh said: “Although renewable energy is a clean energy, some operational problems may occur due to its impact on electrical systems”.
"NEPCO carries out a number of studies and keeps pace with latest developments in electric energy storage system to find solutions for the problems of integrating the sources of renewable energy in the electricity grid and use renewable energy safely by adopting connection policies and using appropriate storing systems," Eng. Al-Daradkeh added.
Eng. Al-Daradkeh noted that Jordan and Saudi Arabia will sign a MoU on Thursday 7/12/2017 over electricity grid connection project. “This project would help us in overcoming fluctuations in electric loads and best use of renewable energy in electricity system,” Eng. Al-Daradkeh added.
The conference continues for two days and sees participation of researchers from several Arab and foreign states.