About
35
Publications
7,199
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
690
Citations
Introduction
"The environment and the economy are really both two sides of the same coin. If we cannot sustain the environment, we can’t not sustain ourselves." - Wangari Maathai
Current institution
Publications
Publications (35)
Waves are the dominant influence on coastal morphology and ecosystem structure of tropical islands. The geographical positioning of Mauritius near to the Tropic of Capricorn ensures that the eastern regions benefit from the persistent southeast trade winds which influence the incoming surface waves. In this study, we present the high dependence of...
The tropical island of Mauritius (20.3°S, 57.6°E), situated in the southwestern Indian Ocean, is blessed with abundant sunshine throughout the year. In this study, eleven regression models grouped into three main categories: sunshine-based, temperature-based and hybrid-parameter-based are investigated using twenty-nine years meteorological data whi...
Determining economically viable and highly efficient strategic locations for utility-scale solar power plants is a costly procedure that depends on several factors. This paper investigates the spatial suitability for installations of ground-mounted solar farms based on legal, social, technical, economic, environmental and cultural perspectives thro...
Tropical and subtropical islands benefit from a wide spectrum of renewable energy resources and advancement in technology has made it feasible for harnessing these clean and abundant energy sources. Mauritius being located in the tropical belt, receives plenteous sunshine all year round. Consequently, to provide assistance to the Government and oth...
A new hybrid forecasting tool is developed in this study which makes use of satellite remote sensing data of surface solar irradiation coupled to a Double Exponential Smoothing time series model. The prediction capabilities of the Double Exponential Smoothing model are reported to be higher than the ARMA and NAR-Neural Network. The mean absolute pe...
Small islands have long been considered as one of the most drought fragile regions. Analysis of rainfall trends from 1931 to 2020 in Mauritius reveals a significant decline in rainfall, reducing surface and aquifer recharge by up to 22.3% and 24.7%, respectively. This decline, coupled with rising water consumption driven by economic growth and sign...
This policy brief summarizes the key policies discussed in the research paper titled 'Risk assessment of coral reef vulnerability to climate change and stressors in tropical islands: The case of Mauritius' and published in the Journal of Science of The Total Environment
Coral reefs play a critical role in the socio-economic development of oceanic islands, besides offering coastal protection against the destructive forces of the sea under storm conditions. A Multi-Criteria Decision Making-based geospatial model is used which combine highly influential climatic, ecological, and anthropogenic reef degradation factors...
Significant climate finance gaps exist for small islands in transitioning to net zero, as climate commitments far outweigh the government budget and international financing. To create alignment between resource allocation and climate commitments, a roadmap for strategic and cost-effective decarbonization is of supreme importance. This paper present...
The identification of offshore wind farms necessitates the consideration of multiple factors, including technical, social, economic, and ecological ones, amongst others. In the current study, a multi-criterial model is applied by incorporating wind speed, water depth, grid proximity, tourism activities, and marine spatial constraint factors to dete...
Small island states are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, despite not contributing much to global greenhouse gas emissions. Crafting effective science-based adaptive strategies to conserve and sustain natural resources in the face of the changing climate has important socio-economic, political, and ecological dimensions. The ana...
Countries worldwide have pledged to phase out coal by 2030, giving rise to a fundamental reshuffling of the dynamics of energy demand and supply. Implementation of clean technologies to aid this transition necessitates space, whilst small islands face increasing land degradation issues. Furthermore, they are blessed with pristine remote environment...
Africa has the potential to provide for its growing energy needs with renewable electricity sources. We implement a multi-criterial geospatial optimization to locate the most favorable sites for utility-scale, grid-connected onshore wind and solar PV. Legal, technical, political, environmental, socio-economic and investment risk factors were incorp...
This chapter lays the theoretical foundation governing solar radiation processes and variations on both spatial and temporal scales. The origin of the insolation parameter in the Sun’s core, its journey to the Earth’s atmosphere, the interaction with the atmosphere, and its conversion into electricity in photovoltaic modules are discussed. The spat...
Identification of optimum locations for the placements of solar photovoltaic power plants necessitates the consideration of multiple factors, ranging from climatic suitability, technical appropriateness of the land and the legal conforming use of the chosen site. In this chapter, we propose a framework that would enable countries to efficiently har...
Proper land planning and management in terms of agro-suitability of crops and adequate placement of solar photovoltaic and thermal technologies require a knowledge of how the solar insolation parameter varies on spatial and temporal scales. In this chapter, we explore methodologies including satellite remote sensing, Numerical Weather Prediction (N...
Rooftop photovoltaic and solar water heating technologies have enormous potential to decrease reliance on fossil fuel sources for domestic energy needs. Decarbonizing the domestic sector through solar energy technologies holds the promise of a more resilient, reliable, and affordable clean energy future. In this chapter, we explore both solar energ...
Mauritius faces significant solid waste management challenges owing to its growing population, limited waste management infrastructures, and increasingly limited land space. Selection of new solid waste management sites is currently limited by a siloed approach, where previous geospatial studies have focused on identifying new suitable landfill sit...
Economic growth and population expansion in Mauritius have driven unprecedented rates of development. Most notably, increased urbanization of flood-prone regions has exacerbated challenges around resilience and vulnerability to recurrent flooding. We implement a multi-criteria model consisting of a physical-oriented, a social-oriented and an econom...
Rising sea level and increasing tropical storm frequency caused by the changing climate are threatening small Island economies which depend on their coastal environments and resources. Owing to the high socioeconomic and environmental values of tropical sandy beaches, monitoring the evolution trends of shorelines are regarded as an essential strate...
Mauritius relies heavily on fossil fuel imports to satisfy the energy requirements of its population. Urged by policies to address climate change at the national and international levels, the government is committed to promote sustainable development, with emphasis laid on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, we provide an assessment of...
This paper presents a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) process together with Geographic Information System (GIS) to analyse multiple constraints that affect the siting of wind farms. Firstly, exclusion zones are identified and are removed from the potential wind farm placement regions of the wind resource map layer. A set of nine selected eval...
The ocean provides a plethora of structurally-diverse bioactive compounds that are potential candidates for drug development. Marine sponges have been studied over the past decades and have been found to be a rich source of these bioactive chemicals. This study is focused on the antioxidant properties of marine sponges collected from Mauritius wate...
In this paper, an analytical framework is developed using fuzzy logic to evaluate optimal sites for wind, solar and hybrid wind-solar farms; using criterial components for energy optimization through climatological, topographic and human factors. The model is applied through a case study to the island of Mauritius which bears a highly complex topog...
The geographical location of Mauritius near the warm tropical waters of the Indian Ocean coupled to the vast exclusive economic zone approximating 2.3 million square kilometers, encourage the promotion of ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) systems. Technological advancements have enabled offshore structures to pump the cold water lying at 1000...
